Divisional rankings: Light heavyweight

— -- Check out my rankings within each division by clicking on the links below.

Who is the best fighter regardless of weight class? See ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings.

For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.

Note: Results through March 28. In an effort to provide the most up-to-date rankings, ESPN.com's division-by-division boxing rankings will be updated every Tuesday.

More divisional rankings

Heavyweight - Cruiserweight - Light heavyweight - Super middleweight

Middleweight - Junior middleweight - Welterweight - Junior welterweight

Lightweight - Junior lightweight - Featherweight - Junior featherweight

Bantamweight - Junior bantamweight - Flyweight - Junior flyweight/Strawweight

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 175 POUNDS)

2. Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1)
Kovalev, a punching machine from Russia, scored two really big wins in a row. In November, he met the legendary Bernard Hopkins in one of the biggest fights of 2014. All he did was drop Hopkins and win every round to unify three belts in a masterpiece. His March 14 encore was just as impressive as he met former champion Jean Pascal on Pascal's turf in Montreal and, in a terrific action fight, knocked him down for the first time in his career in the third round and stopped him in the eighth round. With a mandatory due against Nadjib Mohammedi, Kovalev got a breather on July 25, as he mowed him down in a third-round knockout win every bit the mismatch most expected. And on Jan. 30, Kovalev faced Pascal in a pointless rematch and destroyed him in seven one-sided rounds to stay on track for a fall showdown with Andre Ward (28-0), who was ringside.
Next: TBA

3. Andre Ward (29-0)
On March 26, in his hometown of Oakland, Ward, the former super middleweight champion, ended a nine-month layoff and fought for only the fourth time since the end of 2011 when he dropped and routed Sullivan Barrera in a lopsided decision win in a title eliminator. Despite the layoff, Ward looked superb as always as he moved closer to a much-anticipated fall showdown with unified titleholder Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1), who watched at ringside.
Next: TBA

4. Andrzej Fonfara (28-3)
Fonfara, born in Poland and based in Chicago, lost a surprisingly close decision challenging Adonis Stevenson for the title in May 2014. When he got another big-name opponent he came through impressively as he dropped Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for the first time in his career in the ninth round and made him quit after the round in May. He returned Oct. 16 and outpointed former titlist Nathan Cleverly in a wildly entertaining fight that was so action-packed that they broke division CompuBox records for most combined punches thrown (2,524), most combined punches landed (936), most individual punches thrown (Fonfara, 1,413) and most individual punches landed (Fonfara, 474).
Next: TBA

5. Juergen Braehmer (48-2)
Germany's Braehmer made the sixth defense of secondary world title on March 12 and won a clear unanimous decision -- 118-110, 116-111 and 116-111 -- against Eduard Gutknecht in a rematch of Braehmer's similar decision win to claim the European title in 2013.
Next: TBA

6. Artur Beterbiev (9-0)
Beterbiev, a two-time Russian Olympian, is on the fast track as a pro and seemingly on his way to a world title shot sooner than later. In his sixth fight, he crushed former titleholder Tavoris Cloud by second-round knockout, by far Cloud's worst showing. In April 2015, he blew away former titlist Gabriel Campillo, dropping him twice in a one-sided fourth-round knockout victory. He returned June 12 and smashed southpaw Alexander Johnson, dropping him four times in a one-sided seventh-round knockout victory. Beterbiev is a bad man and his next fight was supposed to be a Showtime-televised title eliminator against Russia's Igor Mikhalkin (17-1), the European champion, on Nov. 28. However, Beterbiev suffered a shoulder injury, withdrew from the bout and had surgery.
Next: TBA

7. Eleider "Storm" Alvarez (19-0)

Alvarez, a 2008 Olympian from Colombia fighting out of Montreal, earned a mandatory shot against world champion (and fellow Montreal fighter) Adonis Stevenson by virtue of his close decision win against Isaac Chilemba in their title eliminator on Nov. 28 on the James DeGale-Lucian Bute undercard.

Next: TBA

8. Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (15-0)
A native of Ukraine based in Los Angeles, Shabranskyy is a powerful puncher with a good amateur background. He got his first high-profile fight when he headlined on HBO Latino against tough Cuban contender Yunieski Gonzalez on Dec.19 and won a hard-fought, action-packed majority decision. Shabranskyy could make some major noise in a hot division.
Next: TBA

9. Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2)

Chilemba was supposed to fight July 25 on the Sergey Kovalev-Nadjib Mohammedi undercard but the fight was canceled when the Nevada commission declined to approve the opponents put forth by promoter Main Events, so he went into his world title eliminator against Eleider Alvarez on Nov. 28 coming off an unnecessary eight-month layoff. It was a close, tactical fight that Alvarez won by majority decision.

Next: TBA

10. Jean Pascal (30-4-1)

Pascal, the former world champion, has had an outstanding career, but the tough fights have clearly taken their toll. In March 2015, he fought like a valiant warrior against unified titleholder Sergey Kovalev but got dropped for the first time in his career and stopped for the first time in the eighth round. His return fight in July was a massive struggle against Yunieski Gonzalez in a brutal slugfest on a Kovalev undercard, but Pascal got the gift decision to set up a rematch with Kovalev on Jan. 30, again in Pascal's hometown of Montreal. It was wickedly one-sided as Kovalev gave him a beatdown so severe before the fight was stopped after the seventh round that Pascal's career as a top fighter is probably over.

Next: TBA