Devin Haney moved up in weight and dominated Regis Prograis to win the WBC junior welterweight title in a shutout victory in San Francisco on Saturday.
Haney (31-0, 15 KOs), a former undisputed lightweight champion, relinquished his 135-pound titles to challenge Prograis (29-2, 24 KOs). The victory against Prograis, a fighter who has campaigned most of his career in the division and was considered one of the best at 140, was so impressive that Haney moves up one spot to No. 6.
«Whether you believe Haney beat Vasiliy Lomachenko, and I do believe he beat Lomachenko [a controversial decision in May], Haney has always gone after the best challenges,» two-division champion and current ESPN TV analyst Timothy Bradley Jr. said after moving Haney up two spots on his list. «From going to Australia twice to beat George Kambosos Jr. and then going up to 140 pounds to face a guy many thought was the best fighter in the division, a dangerous guy in Regis Prograis, a two-time junior welterweight champion, and Haney made it look easy. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a 120-107 scorecard in a title fight. A long time.»
ESPN boxing insider Mike Coppinger also praised Haney for his performance, but found it hard to move him up due to the strong fighters in front of him.
«Haney delivered a virtuoso performance by picking apart Prograis in his 140-pound debut on Saturday,» Coppinger said. «Haney is no doubt an elite fighter and there’s an argument he already belongs in the top five at age 25, but Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol are blocking his path at the moment on my list. That could change at some point in 2024, though, as Haney lands bigger fights and the others age.»
Shakur Stevenson, who defeated Edwin De Los Santos to win the WBC lightweight title on Nov. 16 in Las Vegas, loses one spot after a poor performance that saw him land only 65 punches throughout 12 rounds. Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) drops one place to No. 9 even with the win.
Our panel of Mike Coppinger, Ben Baby, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Crystina Poncher, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhof, shares its votes.
More rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through Dec. 13.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Errol Spence Jr., July 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. NAOYA INOUE 
Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 25-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO8) Stephen Fulton, July 25
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 26 vs. Marlon Tapales
3. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 21-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Daniel Dubois, Aug. 26
NEXT FIGHT: Feb. 17 vs. Tyson Fury
4. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 60-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jermell Charlo, Sept. 30
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. DMITRY BIVOL Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 21-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gilberto Ramirez, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 23 vs. Lyndon Arthur
6. DEVIN HANEY 
Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 31-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Regis Prograis, Dec. 9
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. ARTUR BETERBIEV 
Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 19-0, 19 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO8) Anthony Yarde, Jan. 28
NEXT FIGHT: Jan. 13 vs. Callum Smith
8. GERVONTA DAVIS Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 29-0, 27 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Ryan Garcia, April 22
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. 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: TBA
10. TYSON FURY Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 34-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Francis Ngannou, Oct. 28
NEXT FIGHT: Feb. 17 vs. Oleksandr Usyk
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: Teofimo Lopez Jr. (21), David Benavidez (7), Vasiliy Lomachenko (5), Errol Spence Jr. (4), Emanuel Navarrete (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Davis, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Beterbiev, 9.Alvarez, 10. Fury
Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Haney, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Coppinger: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Haney, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Davis, 9. Lopez, 10. Fury
Tessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Stevenson, 8. Alvarez, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis
Parkinson: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Haney, 8. Davis, 9. Fury, 10. Lopez
Raskin: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Stevenson, 7. Haney, 8. Benavidez, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev
Baby: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Bivol, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Benavidez
Phelps: 1. Crawford, 2. Alvarez, 3. Inoue, 4. Haney, 5. Usyk, 6. Fury, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Bivol, 9. Spence, 10. Lopez
Osuna: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Haney, 7. Lopez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Rodriguez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Stevenson
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Haney, 5. Davis, 6. Fury, 7. Lopez, 8. Usyk, 9. Stevenson, 10. Spence
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Bivol, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Davis, 9. Fury, 10. Spence
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Davis, 10. Lopez
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Haney, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Benavidez, 9. Fury, 10. Navarrete
Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Stevenson, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Haney, 8. Bivol, 9. Lopez, 10. Fury
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Haney, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Alvarez, 10. Lopez
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Haney, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Davis, 10. Lomachenko
Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Fury, 8. Davis, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Stevenson
Delgado Averhof: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Haney, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Fury, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Crawford (18), Inoue (1)
Second place: Inoue (17), Crawford (1), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Usyk (10), Alvarez (5), Bivol (2), Inoue (1), Stevenson (1)
Fourth place: Usyk (5), Alvarez (5), Bivol (5), Beterbiev (2), Haney (2)
Fifth place: Haney (7), Bivol (5), Usyk (3), Alvarez (2), Beterbiev (1), Davis (1)
Sixth place: Haney (7), Bivol (4), Beterbiev (3), Fury (2), Alvarez (1), Stevenson (1), Davis (1)
Seventh place: Beterbiev (6), Haney (3), Davis (3), Stevenson (2), Lopez (2), Alvarez (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1)
Eighth place: Davis (4), Beterbiev (3), Stevenson (3), Bivol (2), Fury (2), Benavidez (2), Usyk (1), Alvarez (1), Lopez (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (4), Fury (4), Davis (3), Lopez (3), Alvarez (2), Beterbiev (2), Spence (1)
10th place: Davis (4), Lopez (4), Fury (3), Stevenson (2), Spence (2), Beterbiev (1), Lomachenko (1), Benavidez (1), Navarrete (1)