Terence Crawford moved up in weight once again and captured a world title in a fourth division. The former undisputed junior welterweight and welterweight champion, who also held a lightweight world title, made his debut at junior middleweight on Saturday with a closely contested unanimous decision victory over Ismail Madrimov to win the WBA belt.
Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs), of Omaha Nebraska, was ESPN’s top pound-for-pound fighter until Oleksandr Usyk took his spot with an impressive victory over Tyson Fury last May. Crawford’s performance against Madrimov wasn’t as impressive as some of his previous showings, specifically his destruction of Errol Spence Jr. in July 2023. Crawford went the distance against Madrimov, ending his 11-win KO streak. The margin of victory was also very close (116-112, 115-113 and 115-113) in all three scorecards.
Madrimov’s promoter, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, wasn’t happy with the decision and thought his fighter deserved the nod after 12 hard-fought rounds.
“It was a very close main event and I thought Israil Madrimov did enough to edge it here tonight,” Hearn said after the fight. “There’s always the argument of dethroning the champion whether you think that’s a thing or not and I’m not sure Crawford dethroned Madrimov tonight.”
And while Crawford retains his No. 2 spot, the distance between himself and No. 3 Naoya Inoue has narrowed to just 4 points. ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger dropped Crawford one spot even after the victory.
“The top three spots are really interchangeable, so each performance has the chance to affect their standing,” Coppinger said. “I moved Naoya Inoue — who is riding an eight-fight KO streak — up one spot after Crawford’s ultra-competitive win over Madrimov, who is clearly a top-level boxer.”
Crawford highlighted Madrimov’s approach during the news conference after the fight, calling him “a tough competitor.”
“He wasn’t throwing wild shots like I was wanting him to do,” Crawford said. “I figured it out from the get-go, but I was being patient. I didn’t wanna rush in with anything; that’s how I got caught a couple of times, trying to eat too soon.”
Our panel of Coppinger, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Crystina Poncher, Eric Woodyard, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhoff shares its votes.
More ESPN rankings: Divisional rankings and women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through Aug. 7.
1. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 22-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Tyson Fury, May 18
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 21 vs. Tyson Fury
2. TERENCE CRAWFORD 
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Israil Madrimov, Aug. 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. NAOYA INOUE
RECORD: 27-0, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO6) Luis Nery, May 6
NEXT FIGHT: Sept. 3 vs. TJ Doheny
4. DMITRY BIVOL
RECORD: 23-0, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Malik Zinad, June 1
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 12 vs. Artur Beterbiev
5. CANELO ALVAREZ
RECORD: 61-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jaime Munguia, May 4
NEXT FIGHT: Sept. 14 vs. Edgar Berlanga
6. ARTUR BETERBIEV
RECORD: 20-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Callum Smith, Jan. 13
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 12 vs. Dmitry Bivol
7. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Juan Francisco Estrada, June 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. GERVONTA DAVIS
RECORD: 30-0, 28 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO8) Frank Martin, June 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON
RECORD: 22-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Artem Harutyunyan, July 6
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. TEOFIMO LOPEZ
RECORD: 21-1, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Steve Claggett, June 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote awarding 10 points, a second-place vote awarding nine points and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking, then the one with the most votes at that ranking.
Others receiving votes: Junto Nakatani (12), Tyson Fury (9), Vasiliy Lomachenko (7), David Benavidez (5), Devin Haney (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Davis, 6. Lomachenko, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Alvarez, 9. Fury, 10. Rodriguez
Bradley: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3: Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Davis, 7. Bivol, 8. Alvarez, 9. Lopez, 10. Stevenson
Coppinger: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Nakatani, 10. Haney
Tessitore: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Stevenson, 7. Alvarez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis
Parkinson: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Nakatani, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Davis
Raskin: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Benavidez
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Phelps: 1. Usyk, 2. Alvarez, 3. Inoue, 4. Crawford, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Fury, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Rodriguez: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Trejos: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Lopez
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Lopez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Fury
Moynihan: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Benavidez, 10. Nakatani
Pilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Davis, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Nakatani, 9. Benavidez, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Alvarez, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Freeman: 1.Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Delgado Averhof: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Fury
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Usyk (12), Crawford (4), Inoue (3)
Second place: Crawford (9), Inoue (6), Usyk (3), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Inoue (10), Crawford (5), Usyk (4)
Fourth place: Alvarez (7), Bivol (6), Beterbiev (3), Crawford (1), Rodriguez (1), Stevenson (1)
Fifth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (5), Davis (3), Beterbiev (2), Rodriguez (2)
Sixth place: Beterbiev (5), Rodriguez (5), Bivol (3), Davis (2), Alvarez (1), (Stevenson (1), Lopez (1), Lomachenko (1)
Seventh place: Davis (6), Rodriguez (4), Beterbiev (3), Bivol (2), Alvarez (2), Stevenson (1), Fury (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (4), Stevenson (3), Lopez (3), Alvarez (2), Rodriguez (2), Davis (2), Nakatani (2), Bivol (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (6), Lopez (3), Beterbiev (2), Davis (2), Benavidez (2), Rodriguez (1), Lomachenko (1), Nakatani (1), Fury (1)
10th place: Nakatani (4), Davis (3), Stevenson (3), Lopez (3), Fury (3), Rodriguez (1), Benavidez (1), Haney (1)
Source link