A young fighter has been making noise in the last couple of years, taking over different weight classes and moving up the ranks. And with his performance against future Hall of Famer Juan Francisco Estrada on June 29, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez earned high praise from our panel of experts.
Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) dominated Estrada en route to a seventh-round KO win to collect the WBC junior bantamweight title. Rodriguez is only 24 years old, but he has already won titles in two weight classes. He’s also ESPN’s top fighter under the age of 25.
Rodriguez’s victory over Estrada was impressive and prompted most of our panelists to move him up on their P4P lists.
“‘Bam’ Rodriguez has quickly established himself as an elite, must-see fighter. He doesn’t just outbox his opponents; he dismantles top-level foes,” ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger said about moving Rodriguez three spots to No. 5 on his list. “The latest illustration of his greatness: the way he picked apart Estrada. Rodriguez has joined the likes of Terence Crawford, Oleksandr Usyk, Canelo Alvarez and Naoya Inoue, versatile fighters who are favorites no matter whom they fight.”
ESPN boxing analyst Timothy Bradley Jr. agrees, saying that Rodriguez’s skill set, versatility and performances against the best fighters in and around his division make him must-watch TV.
“‘Bam’ Rodriguez is undoubtedly a top-five pound-for-pound boxer,” said Bradley, who voted Rodriguez at No. 5 on his list. “Greatness is judged by the consistency of showing your best, and ‘Bam’ has certainly demonstrated that.”
Rodriguez moves up two spots to No. 7.
Shakur Stevenson and Teofimo Lopez also won their fights, but both needed to go the distance against opponents they were heavily favored to beat. Stevenson was -3500 against Artem Harutyunyan, whom he defeated by unanimous decision on July 6. Lopez entered the June 29 fight against Steve Claggett as a -1200 favorite. He also earned a unanimous decision victory, but both Stevenson and Lopez failed to score knockdowns or have their opponents in real trouble.
They take the last two spots to round out the top 10.
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 July 11.
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 Previous ranking: No. 2
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. 3
RECORD: 27-0, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO6) Luis Nery, May 6
NEXT FIGHT: TBA vs. TJ Doheny
4. DMITRY BIVOL Previous ranking: No. 4
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 Previous ranking: No. 5
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: Oct. 12 vs. Dmitry Bivol
7. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ 
Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Juan Francisco Estrada, June 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. GERVONTA DAVIS 
Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 30-0, 28 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO8) Frank Martin, June 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 22-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Artem Harutyunyan, July 6
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. TEOFIMO LOPEZ Previous ranking: No. 10
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: Vasiliy Lomachenko (10), Tyson Fury (9), David Benavidez (6), Junto Nakatani (4), Errol Spence Jr. (2), 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. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 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. Lomachenko, 9. Davis, 10. Nakatani
Raskin: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 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. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Lopez
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. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
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. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Spence, 10. Benavidez
Pilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Davis, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Benavidez, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Benavidez
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Alvarez, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 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 (6), Inoue (1)
Second place: Inoue (8), Crawford (7), 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 (6), Alvarez (5), Beterbiev (3), Davis (3), Rodriguez (2)
Sixth place: Rodriguez (6), Bivol (4), Beterbiev (3), Davis (2), Alvarez (1), Stevenson (1), Lopez (1), Lomachenko (1)
Seventh place: Davis (6), Beterbiev (4), Rodriguez (3), Bivol (2), Alvarez (2), Stevenson (1), Fury (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (4), Stevenson (4), Alvarez (2), Rodriguez (2), Davis (2), Lopez (2), Bivol (1), Lomachenko (1), Benavidez (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (5), Davis (4), Lopez (3), Beterbiev (2), Rodriguez (1), Lomachenko (1), Fury (1), Nakatani (1), Spence (1)
10th place: Lopez (5), Stevenson (3), Fury (3), Benavidez (3), Nakatani (2), Rodriguez (1), Davis (1), Haney (1)
Source: www.espn.com