Who is the world’s best fighter, regardless of weight class? Check out ESPN’s latest top 10.
Terence Crawford scored a TKO victory over Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and some of our panelists, including ESPN boxing commentator Joe Tessitore, were impressed by his performance. Crawford’s effort against Kavaliauskas “only further solidifies my feelings,” said Tessitore, who has Crawford at No. 1.
Steve Kim didn’t see enough of Crawford to adjust him from No. 3 on his list.
“I kept Crawford at 3 because while others may downgrade him for getting hit a bit more than expected — and even staggered (if not knocked down early in the fight) — the bottom line is that this is professional boxing,” Kim said. “You’re eventually going to get struck with punches. Egidijus Kavaliauskas is a solid fighter, and ‘Bud’ beat him down and overwhelmed him with his skills and tenacity.
“I didn’t elevate Crawford because while ‘Mean Machine’ is a solid fighter, he’s not considered an upper tier welterweight,” Kim said. “Fighters at the level of Crawford are expected to defeat guys of Kavaliauskas’ level. While he did enough to retain his WBO welterweight title, it wasn’t enough to move him up my list.”
Nigel Collins, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015, voted for lightweight sensation and IBF world titleholder Teofimo Lopez at No. 10 on his list. Lopez dominated Richard Commey with an incredible TKO victory inside two rounds.
“Very often when a prospect racks up a series of victories, people begin to wonder whether the prospect is for real or just another overhyped fighter who built a deceptive record against limited opposition,” Collins said. “Usually it’s the latter, but until proven otherwise, lightweight Teofimo Lopez is the real thing: a dazzling talent who appears to have all the tools required for a successful career at the top level.”
Collins noted that the 22-years-old is exceptionally quick with one-punch knockout power in both hands, and he’s a fantastic finisher when he has his adversary in trouble.
“Commey had never been stopped before in 31 previous fights, and the savage manner in which ‘The Takeover’ dispatched him was truly impressive,” Collins said. “Put all of the above together, and the result is a fighter worthy of a place in the pound-for-pound ratings.”
Collins is also careful to not anoint Lopez a Hall of Famer just yet.
“There are, however, two things we still don’t know about Lopez: How well he takes a big punch and how well he overcomes adversity,” Collins said. “If he passes those two tests successfully, his stay in the P4P ratings should be a lengthy one.”
Our ESPN panel of Dan Rafael, Andre Ward, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Steve Kim, Bernardo Pilatti, Eric Raskin, Nick Parkinson, Nigel Collins, Claudia Trejos, Charles Moynihan and Salvador Rodriguez share their lists.
Don’t forget to check out Dan Rafael’s divisional rankings, which are updated weekly.
For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.
Note: Results are through Wednesday, Dec. 18.
1. VASILIY LOMACHENKO 
RECORD: 14-1, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Luke Campbell, Aug. 31
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. TERENCE CRAWFORD
RECORD: 35-0, 26 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Dec. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. CANELO ALVAREZ
RECORD: 53-1-2, 36 KOs
DIVISION: Middleweight (champion), super middleweight (“regular” titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO11) Sergey Kovalev, Nov. 2
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. NAOYA INOUE
RECORD: 19-0, 16 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (unified titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Nonito Donaire, Nov. 7
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. ERROL SPENCE JR.
RECORD: 25-0, 21 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Shawn Porter, Sept. 28
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. OLEKSANDR USYK
RECORD: 16-0, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Chazz Witherspoon, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. GENNADIY GOLOVKIN
RECORD: 39-1-1, 35 KOs
DIVISION: Middleweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Oct. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA vs. Kamil Szeremeta
8. JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA
RECORD: 39-3, 26 KOs
DIVISION: Junior bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Dewayne Beamon, Aug. 24
NEXT FIGHT: TBA vs. Khalid Yafai
9. DEONTAY WILDER 
RECORD: 42-0-1, 41 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Luis Ortiz, Nov. 23
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. MANNY PACQUIAO 
RECORD: 62-7-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (titlist)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Keith Thurman, July 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
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: Mikey Garcia (15), Artur Beterbiev (9), Josh Taylor (6), Oscar Valdez (5), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (3), Miguel Berchelt (3), Leo Santa Cruz (2), Shawn Porter (1), Kosei Tanaka (1), Teofimo Lopez (1), Anthony Joshua (1)
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Lomachenko, 2. Crawford, 3. Canelo, 4. Inoue, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Pacquiao, 8. Garcia, 9. Santa Cruz, 10. Beterbiev
Rafael: 1. Canelo, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Crawford, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Inoue, 7. Pacquiao, 8. Golovkin, 9. Estrada, 10. Garcia
Bradley: 1. Canelo, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Crawford, 4. Inoue, 5. Usyk, 6. Wilder, 7. Spence, 8. Taylor, 9. Pacquiao, 10. Beterbiev
Ward: 1. Crawford, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Canelo, 4. Usyk, 5. Inoue, 6. Wilder, 7. Spence, 8. Estrada, 9. Pacquiao, 10. Beterbiev
Tessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Inoue, 4. Canelo, 5. Usyk, 6. Spence, 7. Estrada, 8. Berchelt, 9. Golovkin, 10. Beterbiev
Collins 1. Crawford, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Canelo, 4. Golovkin, 5. Inoue, 6. Spence, 7. Usyk, 8. Estrada, 9. Pacquiao, 10. Lopez
Kim 1. Inoue, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Crawford, 4. Canelo, 5. Usyk, 6. Estrada, 7. Spence, 8. Golovkin, 9. Garcia, 10. Tanaka
Parkinson: 1. Canelo, 2. Lomachenko, 3. Crawford, 4. Inoue, 5. Usyk, 6. Spence, 7. Golovkin, 8. Garcia, 9. Wilder, 10. Estrada
Raskin 1. Lomachenko, 2. Crawford, 3. Canelo, 4. Inoue, 5. Spence, 6. Estrada, 7. Pacquiao, 8. Sor Rungvisai, 9. Taylor, 10. Porter
Moynihan: 1. Lomachenko, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Canelo, 5. Inoue, 6. Wilder, 7. Usyk, 8. Golovkin, 9. Valdez, 10. Garcia
Pilatti: 1. Lomachenko, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Crawford, 5. Canelo, 6. Golovkin, 7. Wilder, 8. Valdez, 9. Estrada, 10. Pacquiao
Trejos: 1. Canelo, 2. Crawford, 3. Lomachenko, 4. Inoue, 5. Spence, 6. Garcia, 7. Usyk, 8. Pacquiao, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Golovkin
Rodriguez: 1. Canelo, 2. Crawford, 3. Lomachenko, 4. Inoue, 5. Usyk, 6. Spence, 7. Golovkin, 8. Wilder, 9. Estrada, 10. Joshua
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Canelo (5), Lomachenko (4), Crawford (3), Inoue (1)
Second place: Lomachenko (7), Crawford (5), Inoue (1)
Third place: Canelo (4), Crawford (4), Lomachenko (2), Spence (2), Inoue (1)
Fourth place: Inoue (6), Canelo (3), Usyk (2), Crawford (1), Golovkin (1)
Fifth place: Usyk (5), Spence (4), Inoue (3), Canelo (1)
Sixth place: Spence (4), Estrada (2), Wilder (3), Inoue (1), Usyk (1), Golovkin (1), Garcia (1)
Seventh place: Usyk (3), Spence (3), Pacquiao (3), Golovkin (2), Estrada (1), Wilder (1)
Eighth place: Golovkin (3), Estrada (2), Garcia (2), Wilder (1), Pacquiao (1), Valdez (1), Taylor (1), Sor Rungvisai (1), Berchelt (1)
Ninth place: Estrada (3), Pacquiao (3), Golovkin (1), Wilder (1), Beterbiev (1), Valdez (1), Garcia (1), Santa Cruz (1), Taylor (1)
10th place: Beterbiev (4), Garcia (2), Golovkin (1), Estrada (1), Pacquiao (1), Porter (1), Tanaka (1), Lopez (1), Joshua (1)