There’s a new No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, which doesn’t come as a surprise. Oleksandr Usyk‘s victory over Tyson Fury to become the first undisputed champion in the four-belt era, and first since Lennox Lewis held three belts in 2000, catapulted him to the top spot over Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford.
Usyk’s performance was so impressive that even Crawford acknowledged after the fight that Usyk deserved consideration as the best fighter in the world.
“Man yall better put some respect on [Usyk] man,” Crawford wrote on X after the fight. “He definitely a candidate for #1 P4P fighter in the world. I’m no hater. He beat the man that beat the man in a bigger division, giving what he’s already done. Salute brother!”
Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) — a former undisputed cruiserweight champion — joins Crawford, Inoue, Katie Taylor and Claressa Shields as the only boxers to win undisputed championships in two divisions in the four-belt era.
“Usyk is the true definition of pound-for-pound,” boxing analyst Timothy Bradley Jr. said about his decision to rank Usyk No. 1 on his list. “Outweighed by almost 40 pounds by Fury, with a reach disadvantage of seven inches and a height disparity of six inches, he even scored a knockdown of Fury. And let’s not forget that he beat another giant, Anthony Joshua, not once but twice. What he accomplished Saturday night was truly remarkable.”
Boxing writer Mike Coppinger agreed, moving Usyk from the No. 3 spot to the top of his list.
“You could place any of Usyk, Crawford or Inoue in the top slot, but the Ukrainian has epitomized what it means to be the pound-for-pound best following yet another win over an elite heavyweight who was far bigger. More so, Usyk came close to stopping Fury — as well as Joshua — and he has done this after dominating the cruiserweight division.”
With the loss, Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) falls out of the top 10, making way for Teofimo Lopez Jr. to return.
Our panel of Coppinger, Bradley, 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 May 22.
1. OLEKSANDR USYK 
Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 22-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Tyson Fury, May 18
NEXT FIGHT: Oct. 12 vs. Tyson Fury
2. 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: Aug. 3 vs. Israil Madrimov
3. NAOYA INOUE Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 27-0, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO6) Luis Nery, May 6
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. 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. Malik Zinad
5. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 61-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jaime Munguia, May 4
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. 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: TBA
7. GERVONTA DAVIS Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 29-0, 27 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Ryan Garcia, April 22
NEXT FIGHT: June 15 vs. Frank Martin
8. 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: July 6 vs. Artem Harutyunyan
9. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 19-0, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Flyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Sunny Edwards, Dec. 16
NEXT FIGHT: June 29 vs. Juan Francisco Estrada
10. TEOFIMO LOPEZ Previous ranking: N/R
RECORD: 20-1, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jamaine Ortiz, Feb. 8
NEXT FIGHT: June 29 vs. Steve Claggett
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: Vasiliy Lomachenko (16), Tyson Fury (12), David Benavidez (12), Errol Spence Jr. (3), Junto Nakatani (3), Devin Haney (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Davis, 6. Lomachenko, 7. Fury, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Alvarez, 10. Benavidez
Bradley: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3: Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Davis, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Lopez Jr.
Coppinger: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Nakatani, 10. Benavidez
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. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Davis, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Nakatani
Raskin: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Stevenson, 7. Davis, 8. Benavidez, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Lomachenko
Trejos: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Crawford, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Lomachenko
Phelps: 1. Usyk, 2. Alvarez, 3. Inoue, 4. Crawford, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Fury, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Haney
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Davis, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Lopez
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis
Rodriguez: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lomachenko
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Lopez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Fury
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Spence, 9. Stevenson, 10. Benavidez
Pilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Davis, 7. Benavidez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Lopez, 9. Benavidez, 10. Rodriguez
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lomachenko
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Davis, 10. Lomachenko
Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Delgado Averhof: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Fury, 10. Stevenson
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Usyk (12) Crawford (6), Inoue (1)
Second place: Inoue (10), Crawford (6), Inoue (2), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Inoue (8), Usyk (5), Crawford (5), Bivol (1)
Fourth place: Alvarez (8), Bivol (6), Beterbiev (3), Crawford (1), Stevenson (1)
Fifth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (5), Beterbiev (5), Davis (2)
Sixth place: Beterbiev (7), Bivol (3), Alvarez (2), Davis (2), Stevenson (2), Crawford (1), Lopez (1), Lomachenko (1)
Seventh place: Davis (6), Stevenson (4), Rodriguez (2), Fury (2), Bivol (1), Alvarez (1), Beterbiev (1), Lomachenko (1), Benavidez (1)
Eighth place: Rodriguez (7), Davis (3), Lopez (3), Stevenson (2), Bivol (1), Beterbiev (1), Benavidez (1), Spence (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (4), Rodriguez (4), Beterbiev (2), Davis (2), Lopez (2), Alvarez (1), Lomachenko (1), Fury (1), Benavidez (1), Nakatani (1)
10th place: Lomachenko (5), Lopez (3), Benavidez (3), Davis (2), Fury (2), Stevenson (1), Rodriguez(1), Nakatani (1), Haney (1)
Source: www.espn.com