Naoya Inoue scored a powerful second-round TKO victory over Nonito Donaire of their rematch of the ESPN 2019 struggle of the yr and solidified his spot because the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs), 29, of Japan, acquired extra votes than ever earlier than from our 16-member panel, however could not take the highest spot from Terence Crawford. Nevertheless, the hole between them shrank from 40 votes to simply 10.
ESPN author Mike Coppinger moved Inoue to No. 1 on his record citing the best way he disposed of Donaire.
“Inoue was No. 2 on my record behind Canelo for years,” Coppinger stated. “However as different boxers fought higher opposition, the “Monster” feasted since his fight-of-the-year win over Donaire in 2019.
“Donaire turns 40 later this yr, however the future Corridor of Famer was on a roll at bantamweight. For Inoue to make such straightforward work of Donaire show that Inoue is not simply the fighter we thought he was as he sliced via the divisions. He could possibly be getting even higher. He is nonetheless simply 29.”
2 Associated
Nevertheless, ESPN author Ben Child believes transferring Inoue after defeating an older Donaire is an overreaction.
“Inoue’s greatness and inclusion within the pound-for-pound rankings has by no means been in query,” Child stated. “However the three guys forward of Inoue on my record have all turn out to be undisputed champions, moved up a weight class after which gained titles.
“Inoue has executed a few of that, successful titles in three divisions, lives as much as his ‘Monster’ nickname and is nicely on his option to changing into an authorized star. If he continues on his present trajectory, he’ll have the credentials to be on the highest of the pound-for-pound record. Not simply but.”
Devin Haney, who grew to become the undisputed light-weight champion by defeating George Kambosos Jr. by unanimous resolution on June 4, acquired sufficient votes to make the highest 10. Jermell Charlo, who unified all of the junior middleweight belt with a TKO victory over Brian Castano on Might 14, is knocking on the door, as is Gervonta Davis after his TKO victory over Rolando Romero on Might 28.
Our panel of Coppinger, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Michael Rothstein, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Andre Ward, Child, Eric Raskin, Eric Woodyard, Claudia Trejos, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan and Salvador Rodriguez share their votes.
Extra rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN’s girls’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Observe: Outcomes are via June 9.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD 
Earlier rating: No. 1
RECORD: 38-0, 29 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Shawn Porter, Nov. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. NAOYA INOUE Earlier rating: No. 2
RECORD: 23-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO2) Nonito Donaire, June 7
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. ERROL SPENCE JR. Earlier rating: No. 3
RECORD: 28-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Yordenis Ugas, April 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. CANELO ALVAREZ Earlier rating: No. 4
RECORD: 57-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Tremendous middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: L (UD12) Dmitry Bivol, Might 7
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. TYSON FURY Earlier rating: No. 5
RECORD: 32-0-1, 23 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Dillian Whyte, April 23
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. OLEKSANDR USYK Earlier rating: No. 6
RECORD: 19-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Anthony Joshua, Sept. 25
NEXT FIGHT: July 23 vs. Anthony Joshua
7. VASILIY LOMACHENKO Earlier rating: No. 7
RECORD: 16-2, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light-weight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Richard Commey, Dec. 11
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. DMITRY BIVOL Earlier rating: No. 8
RECORD: 20-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Mild heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Canelo Alvarez, Might 7
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON Earlier rating: No. 9
RECORD: 18-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Junior light-weight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Oscar Valdez, April 30
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. DEVIN HANEY 
Earlier rating: N/R
RECORD: 28-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Light-weight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) George Kambosos Jr., June 4, 2021
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The system
The rankings are based mostly on a descending factors system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 factors, a second-place vote receiving 9 factors and so forth. A tie goes to the fighter with the very best rating after which the one with essentially the most votes at that rating.
Others receiving votes: Gervonta Davis (17), Jermell Charlo (9), Juan Francisco Estrada (8), Josh Taylor (3), Gennadiy Golovkin (2), Stephen Fulton (2), Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (1), Artur Beterbiev (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Bivol, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Fury, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev
Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Haney
Coppinger: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Lomachenko, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney
Tessitore: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Stevenson, 7. Fury, 8. Bivol, 9. Haney, 10. Charlo
Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Fury, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Haney, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Charlo
Raskin: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Fury, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Gonzalez
Ward: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Bivol, 7. Stevenson, 8. Haney, 9. Davis, 10. Charlo
Child: 1. Crawford, 2. Alvarez, 3. Usyk, 4. Inoue, 5. Spence, 6. Lomachenko, 7. Fury, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Fulton
Rothstein: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Bivol, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Fury, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Inoue, 6. Usyk, 7. Davis, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Taylor
Trejos: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Fury, 5. Alvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Stevenson, 9. Taylor, 10. Davis
Dansby: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Haney, 8. Charlo, 9. Stevenson, 10. Fulton
Moynihan: 1. Spence, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Fury, 5. Alvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Bivol, 9. Golovkin, 10. Estrada
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Fury, 5. Lomachenko, 6. Alvarez, 7. Davis, 8. Usyk, 9. Estrada, 10. Stevenson
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Fury, 3. Crawford, 4. Spence, 5. Usyk, 6. Alvarez, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Charlo, 9. Bivol, 10. Haney
ESPN specialists’ ballot
First place: Crawford (7), Inoue (6), Spence (1), Usyk (1)
Second place: Crawford (7), Inoue (2), Spence (2), Fury (2), Alvarez (1), Bivol (1)
Third place: Inoue (5), Spence (4), Fury (2), Usyk (2), Crawford (1), Alvarez (1)
Fourth place: Alvarez (7), Fury (4), Inoue (1), Spence (1), Usyk (1), Bivol (1)
Fifth place: Spence (7), Alvarez (3), Usyk (2), Inoue (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1)
Sixth place: Usyk (7), Alvarez (3), Fury (2), Lomachenko (1), Bivol (1), Stevenson (1)
Seventh place: Lomachenko (6), Fury (2), Bivol (2), Davis (2), Usyk (1), Stevenson (1), Haney (1)
Eighth place: Haney (4), Bivol (3), Stevenson (3), Charlo (2), Fury (1), Usyk (1), Lomachenko (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (4), Davis (4), Lomachenko (2), Bivol (1), Haney (1), Taylor (1), Estrada (1), Golovkin (1)
tenth place: Davis (3), Charlo (3), Stevenson (2), Estrada (2), Fulton (2), Davis (1), Beterbiev (1), Gonzalez (1)
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