Divisional rankings: Garcia eyes lightweight belt
— -- Check out my rankings within each division by clicking on the links below. If there is a lineal champion in a weight class, he is ranked No. 1.
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 Aug. 29. 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
JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 140 POUNDS)
1. Terence Crawford (29-0)
Crawford, the 2014 fighter of the year, vacated his lightweight world title to move up to junior welterweight, where he has made four defenses, all in dominant and impressive fashion. The latest came on July 23 when, in his first pay-per-view headline fight, he scored two knockdowns and totally shut down formidable titleholder Viktor Postol in a lopsided unanimous decision to unify titles and stamp himself as the indisputable best 140-pounder in the world. The victory could set Crawford up for a big-time pay-per-view fight on Nov. 5 against unretiring superstar Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2).
Next: TBA
2. Viktor Postol (28-1)
In October, Ukraine's Postol met big puncher Lucas Matthysse for a vacant world title in an excellent match and turned in a superb performance as he scored a 10th-round knockout victory. As good as that performance was, Postol's first defense was a big disappointment on July 23, when Terence Crawford took him apart. Crawford dropped him twice in the fifth round and rolled to a lopsided division.
Next: TBA
3. Adrien Broner (32-2)
Broner turned in a poor performance against Shawn Porter in a clear decision loss on June 20, leading many to question his focus and desire to be the kind of top fighter his skills have shown he can be. But a seemingly rededicated and in-shape Broner looked very sharp on Oct. 3 as he beat down Russian southpaw Khabib Allakhverdiev, a former titlist coming off an 18-month layoff, for a 12th-round knockout victory to claim a title in his fourth weight class. For his first defense, Broner was supposed to take on journeyman Ashley Theophane but the April 1 fight nearly didn't happen because of Broner's legal problems. Then he was stripped of the title for being overweight, but the fight went on and Broner stopped Theophane in the ninth round before announcing that he would return to welterweight.
Next: TBA
4. Lucas Matthysse (37-4)
In April 2015, Matthysse, one of boxing's biggest punchers and most exciting fighters, squeaked by Ruslan Provodnikov by majority decision in fantastic battle that was a fight of the year contender. With Danny Garcia vacating one of the junior welterweight belts, Matthysse got a chance to fight for it against Viktor Postol on Oct. 3. Matthysse never got in a rhythm and was losing on two scorecards when Postol knocked him out in the 10th round. His next fight was ticketed for the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan HBO PPV undercard on May 7, but Matthysse, whose left eye is not entirely healed from the Postol fight, withdrew.
Next: TBA
5. Eduard Troyanovsky (24-0)
On Nov. 4, Russia's Troyanovsky had the home country advantage when he challenged Argentina's Cesar Cuenca for his world title and stopped him in the sixth round to claim the belt and end the unbeaten run of Cuenca, who entered the fight 48-0. In the April 8 rematch, also in Russia, Troyanovsky knocked Cuenca down in the fourth and sixth rounds before stopping him in the seventh round. He will next make a mandatory defense against Japan's Keita Obara (16-1-1) in Moscow.
Next: Sept. 9 vs. Obara
6. Antonio Orozco (25-0)
San Diego's Orozco fights in a relentless, fan-friendly style and is coming off his two best wins in a row, 10-round decisions against Emmanuel Taylor in May and respected veteran Humberto Soto, a former lightweight and junior lightweight world titlist, on Oct. 3. On March 25, he destroyed former lightweight titlist Miguel Acosta in the first round, a result that was not unexpected. Orozco, who signed a contract extension with Golden Boy Promotions, returned to headline an HBO Latino card against Mexico's Abner Lopez on July 30 and was not sharp at all in a difficult fight that seemed like it could have gone either way.
Next: TBA
7. Ricky Burns (40-5-1)
The former junior lightweight and lightweight titlist knocked out Italy's Michele Di Rocco in the eighth round on May 28 to win a vacant 140-pound belt, making him the first fighter from Scotland to win world titles in three weight classes. He will make his first defense at home in Scotland against mandatory challenger Kiryl Relikh (21-0) of Belarus.
Next: Oct. 7 vs. Relikh
8. John Molina Jr. (29-6)
In an upset, the hard-charging Molina, a former lightweight world title challenger, boxed just enough, thanks to the game plan implemented by new trainer Shadeed Suluki, to outpoint former world titlist Ruslan Provodnikov on June 11 in the biggest win of his career. Although it was not the fight of the year candidate many expected, the Showtime main event was still thoroughly entertaining.
Next: TBA
9. Ruslan Provodnikov (25-5) Former titleholder Provodnikov, one of boxing's most exciting fighters, signed a contract with Showtime and had his first bout of the deal on June 11, but it did not go as planned. Provodnikov did not seem to have his usual fire in an entertaining unanimous decision loss to John Molina Jr. Perhaps all of the hard fights Provodnikov has been in have finally caught up to him.
Next: TBA
10. Mikey Garcia (35-0)
After a 2?-year layoff because of his contract beef with promoter Top Rank, former featherweight and junior lightweight titleholder Garcia, who settled the case, made his return on July 30. He moved up in weight, scored four knockdowns and looked explosive in a fifth-round knockout of former featherweight titlist Elio Rojas. Garcia could be back in action in October to challenge lightweight titleholder Dejan Zlaticanin (22-0, 15 KOs) on Showtime.
Next: TBA