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Boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Haney moves up, Shakur loses ground

Devin Haney, above right, celebrates his win over Regis Prograis to win the WBC junior welterweight world title at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California on Dec. 9. Ed Mulholland/Matchroom

Devin Haney moved up in weight and dominated Regis Prograis to win the WBC junior welterweight title in a shutout victory in San Francisco on Saturday.

Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), a former undisputed lightweight champion, relinquished his 135-pound titles to challenge Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs). The victory against Prograis, a fighter who has campaigned most of his career in the division and was considered one of the best at 140, was so impressive that Haney moves up one spot to No. 6.

"Whether you believe Haney beat Vasiliy Lomachenko, and I do believe he beat Lomachenko [a controversial decision in May], Haney has always gone after the best challenges," two-division champion and current ESPN TV analyst Timothy Bradley Jr. said after moving Haney up two spots on his list. "From going to Australia twice to beat George Kambosos Jr. and then going up to 140 pounds to face a guy many thought was the best fighter in the division, a dangerous guy in Regis Prograis, a two-time junior welterweight champion, and Haney made it look easy. It's been a long time since I've seen a 120-107 scorecard in a title fight. A long time."

ESPN boxing insider Mike Coppinger also praised Haney for his performance, but found it hard to move him up due to the strong fighters in front of him.

"Haney delivered a virtuoso performance by picking apart Prograis in his 140-pound debut on Saturday," Coppinger said. "Haney is no doubt an elite fighter and there's an argument he already belongs in the top five at age 25, but Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol are blocking his path at the moment on my list. That could change at some point in 2024, though, as Haney lands bigger fights and the others age."

Shakur Stevenson, who defeated Edwin De Los Santos to win the WBC lightweight title on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas, loses one spot after a poor performance that saw him land only 65 punches throughout 12 rounds. Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) drops one place to No. 9 even with the win.

Our panel of Mike Coppinger, Ben Baby, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Crystina Poncher, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhof, shares its votes.

More rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN's women's pound-for-pound rankings.

Note: Results are through Dec. 13.


1. TERENCE CRAWFORD   Previous ranking: No. 1

RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Errol Spence Jr., July 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA


2. NAOYA INOUE   Previous ranking: No. 2

RECORD: 26-0, 23 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO10) Marlon Tapales, Dec. 26
NEXT FIGHT: May 6 vs. Luis Nery


3. OLEKSANDR USYK   Previous ranking: No. 3

RECORD: 21-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Daniel Dubois, Aug. 26
NEXT FIGHT: May 18 vs. Tyson Fury


4. CANELO ALVAREZ   Previous ranking: No. 4

RECORD: 60-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jermell Charlo, Sept. 30
NEXT FIGHT: TBA


5. DMITRY BIVOL   Previous ranking: No. 5

RECORD: 22-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Lyndon Arthur, Dec. 23
NEXT FIGHT: June 1 vs. Artur Beterbiev


6. DEVIN HANEY   Previous ranking: No. 7

RECORD: 31-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Regis Prograis, Dec. 9
NEXT FIGHT: TBA


7. ARTUR BETERBIEV     Previous ranking: No. 6

RECORD: 20-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Callum Smith, Jan. 13
NEXT FIGHT: June 1 vs. Dmitry Bivol


8. GERVONTA DAVIS   Previous ranking: No. 9

RECORD: 29-0, 27 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Ryan Garcia, April 22
NEXT FIGHT: TBA


9. SHAKUR STEVENSON   Previous ranking: No. 8

RECORD: 21-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Edwin De Los Santos, Nov. 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA


10. TYSON FURY   Previous ranking: No. 10

RECORD: 34-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Francis Ngannou, Oct. 28
NEXT FIGHT: May 18 vs. Oleksandr Usyk


The formula

The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 points, a second-place vote receiving nine points, and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking and then the one with the most votes at that ranking.


Others receiving votes: Teofimo Lopez Jr. (21), David Benavidez (7), Vasiliy Lomachenko (5), Errol Spence Jr. (4), Emanuel Navarrete (1).


How our writers voted

Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Davis, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Beterbiev, 9.Alvarez, 10. Fury

Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Haney, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis

Coppinger: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Haney, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Davis, 9. Lopez, 10. Fury

Tessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Stevenson, 8. Alvarez, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis

Parkinson: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Haney, 8. Davis, 9. Fury, 10. Lopez

Raskin: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Stevenson, 7. Haney, 8. Benavidez, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev

Baby: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Bivol, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Benavidez

Phelps: 1. Crawford, 2. Alvarez, 3. Inoue, 4. Haney, 5. Usyk, 6. Fury, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Bivol, 9. Spence, 10. Lopez

Osuna: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Haney, 7. Lopez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis

Rodriguez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Stevenson

Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Haney, 5. Davis, 6. Fury, 7. Lopez, 8. Usyk, 9. Stevenson, 10. Spence

Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Bivol, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Davis, 9. Fury, 10. Spence

Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Lopez

Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Haney, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Benavidez, 9. Fury, 10. Navarrete

Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Stevenson, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Haney, 8. Bivol, 9. Lopez, 10. Fury

Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Haney, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Alvarez, 10. Lopez

Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Haney, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Davis, 10. Lomachenko

Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Fury, 8. Davis, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Stevenson

Delgado Averhof: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Fury, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis


ESPN experts' poll

First place: Crawford (18), Inoue (1)

Second place: Inoue (17), Crawford (1), Alvarez (1)

Third place: Usyk (10), Alvarez (5), Bivol (2), Inoue (1), Stevenson (1)

Fourth place: Usyk (5), Alvarez (5), Bivol (5), Beterbiev (2), Haney (2)

Fifth place: Haney (7), Bivol (5), Usyk (3), Alvarez (2), Beterbiev (1), Davis (1)

Sixth place: Haney (7), Bivol (4), Beterbiev (3), Fury (2), Alvarez (1), Stevenson (1), Davis (1)

Seventh place: Beterbiev (6), Haney (3), Davis (3), Stevenson (2), Lopez (2), Alvarez (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1)

Eighth place: Davis (4), Beterbiev (3), Stevenson (3), Bivol (2), Fury (2), Benavidez (2), Usyk (1), Alvarez (1), Lopez (1)

Ninth place: Stevenson (4), Fury (4), Davis (3), Lopez (3), Alvarez (2), Beterbiev (2), Spence (1)

10th place: Davis (4), Lopez (4), Fury (3), Stevenson (2), Spence (2), Beterbiev (1), Lomachenko (1), Benavidez (1), Navarrete (1)