Gervonta Davis defeated Ryan Garcia in one of the most anticipated fights in boxing this year, a seventh-round KO at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The fight was contested at a catchweight of 136 pounds, but Davis showed he’s going to be trouble for anybody at 135 and 140 pounds.
But was the victory enough to get Davis into the top 10?
“There are seemingly 10 spots for 11 worthy pound-for-pound boxers, with little separation between the three lightweights,” said ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger. “However, Tank Davis’ talent can no longer be denied following another emphatic KO win, and this time on the grandest stage imaginable. The May 20 battle between Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko for the undisputed lightweight championship could create some clarity.”
ESPN writer Ben Baby didn’t think the victory was impressive enough to move him up on the pound-for-pound list.
“Two things can be true. Davis is now positioned to be boxing’s biggest crossover star. He also hasn’t done enough yet to be a true pound-for-pound contender,” said Baby. “Davis has not held a primary championship title since Oct. 2020, when he knocked out Leo Santa Cruz to win the WBA “super” junior lightweight belt. That was six fights ago.
“Meanwhile, Shakur Stevenson beat Oscar Valdez to win two of the four major belts at junior lightweight. If Davis takes on similar risks, he’ll be rewarded with a status reserved for boxing’s top champions.”
Davis received more support after his Garcia victory, but it wasn’t enough to make the top 10.
Our panel of Coppinger, Baby, Timothy Bradley Jr., Michael Rothstein, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Andre Ward, Eric Raskin, Crystina Poncher, Michelle Joy Phelps, Eric Woodyard, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Osuna, Bernardo Pilatti, Claudia Trejos, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro and Aladdin Freeman share their votes.
More rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through April 26.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 39-0, 30 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) David Avanesyan, Dec. 10
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. NAOYA INOUE Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 23-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO11) Paul Butler, Dec. 13
NEXT FIGHT: July 25 vs. Stephen Fulton
3. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Anthony Joshua, Aug. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. ERROL SPENCE JR. Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 28-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Yordenis Ugas, April 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 57-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gennadiy Golovkin, Sept. 17
NEXT FIGHT: May 6 vs. John Ryder
6. DMITRY BIVOL Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 21-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gilberto Ramirez, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. TYSON FURY Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 33-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Derek Chisora, Dec. 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. ARTUR BETERBIEV Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 19-0, 19 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO8) Anthony Yarde, Jan. 28
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 20-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Shuichiro Yoshino, April 8
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. DEVIN HANEY Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 29-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) George Kambosos Jr., Oct. 16
NEXT FIGHT: May 20 vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko
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: Gervonta Davis (37), Vasiliy Lomachenko (3), Jermell Charlo (2), Juan Francisco Estrada (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Bivol, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Davis, 8. Lomachenko, 9. Alvarez, 10. Beterbiev
Bradley: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Spence, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Davis
Coppinger: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Fury, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Spence, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Davis
Tessitore: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Bivol, 9. Fury, 10. Haney
Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Spence, 10. Estrada
Raskin: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Fury, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev
Ward: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Davis
Baby: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Crawford, 4. Spence, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Fury, 8. Bivol, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Rothstein: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Fury, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Spence, 8. Davis, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Phelps: 1. Alvarez, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Fury 7. Inoue, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Davis
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Davis, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Haney
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Spence, 5. Alvarez, 6. Fury, 7. Bivol, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Crawford, 6. Spence, 7. Haney, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Charlo, 10. Stevenson
Trejos: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Fury, 6. Alvarez, 7. Spence, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Davis
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Fury, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Haney, 7. Inoue, 8. Usyk, 9. Stevenson, 10. Bivol
Dansby: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Crawford, 5. Haney, 6. Spence, 7. Fury, 8. Bivol, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Haney, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Davis
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Bivol, 3. Beterbiev, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Usyk, 8. Davis, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Spence, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Bivol, 10. Haney
Mascaro: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Usyk, 5. Stevenson, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Alvarez, 9. Davis, 10. Fury
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Spence, 7. Stevenson, 8. Stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Haney
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Inoue (10), Crawford (7), Usyk (3), Alvarez (1)
Second place: Crawford (10), Inoue (5), Spence (2), Bivol (2), Usyk (1), Fury (1)
Third place: Usyk (6), Inoue (4), Spence (4), Alvarez (2), Fury (2), Crawford (1), Bivol (1), Beterbiev (1)
Fourth place: Bivol (5), Usyk (4), Alvarez (4), Spence (3), Crawford (2), Beterbiev (2), Fury (1)
Fifth place: Alvarez (6), Spence (4), Bivol (3), Fury (3), Haney (2), Crawford (1), Stevenson (1), Davis (1)
Sixth place: Alvarez (5), Fury (5), Spence (4), Usyk (4), Beterbiev (2), Haney (1)
Seventh place: Stevenson (5), Bivol (4), Spence (3), Usyk (2), Davis (2), Fury (2), Inoue (2), Haney (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (8), Bivol (4), Davis (3), Alvarez (1), Usyk (1), Fury (1), Stevenson (1), Haney (1), Lomachenko (1)
Ninth place: Haney (7), Davis (4), Beterbiev (3), Stevenson (2), Spence (1), Bivol (1), Alvarez (1), (Fury (1), Charlo (1)
10th place: Davis (6), Stevenson (5), Haney (5), Beterbiev (2), Bivol (1), Fury (1), Estrada (1)