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.
For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.
Note: Results through Dec. 18. 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 LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 130 POUNDS)
1. Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1)
Lomachenko, the brilliant two-time Olympic gold medalist from Ukraine, is perhaps the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound. He has won world titles in two weight classes, set boxing records and made his last four opponents simply quit: former featherweight titleholder Nicholas Waters, former junior lightweight titlist Jason Sosa, two-time featherweight title challenger Miguel Marriaga and Guillermo Rigondeaux, the junior featherweight titlist who moved up in weight for a historic showdown. They met on Dec. 9 in a heavily hyped ESPN fight at the sold-out Theater at Madison Square Garden in the first professional meeting between two-time Olympic gold medalists. Lomachenko was flawless. He toyed with Rigondeaux and made him meekly quit after the sixth round. Lomachenko looks like an unbeatable fighter right now.
Next: TBA
2. Miguel Berchelt (32-1)
On July 15, Berchelt made his first defense against mandatory challenger and former titlist Takashi Miura, of Japan, and won a near-shutout decision in a fight not nearly as competitive as most expected. Defense No. 2 was supposed to be against Mexican countryman and former titlist Orlando Salido (44-13-4) on Dec. 9 on HBO but Berchelt suffered a right hand injury and the fight was called off.
Next: TBA
3. Gervonta "Tank" Davis (19-0)
Davis, a dynamic fighter from Baltimore and a Floyd Mayweather protégé, was very impressive on Jan. 14 when he stepped up in competition and stopped Jose Pedraza in the seventh round of an excellent fight to win a world title. He was equally as impressive in his first defense on May 20, when he was in England, with Mayweather at ringside, and destroyed mandatory challenger Liam Walsh in a third-round knockout victory. But he was not close to that in his next fight on Aug. 26, when he was overweight by two pounds, stripped of his belt and then turned in a middling performance in an eighth-round knockout of Francisco Fonseca on the Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard.
Next: TBA
4. Alberto Machado (19-0)
Puerto Rico's Machado, a southpaw trained by Hall of Famer Freddie Roach, got knocked down in the fifth round and was trailing on all three scorecards against Jezreel Corrales in their Oct. 21 HBO fight. But in the eighth round, Machado stormed back and knocked him out to win the vacant title that had been stripped from Corrales for failing to make weight. Machado has been ordered to next make a mandatory defense against Ghana's Rafael Mensah (31-0), who has never faced an opponent remotely resembling a top fighter.
Next: TBA
5. Jezreel Corrales (22-2)
Corrales, a speedy southpaw from Panama, won his title in upset fashion against long-reigning titleholder Takashi Uchiyama by second-round knockout in April 2016. He beat Uchiyama by decision in a rematch and then signed with Golden Boy Promotions and made his American debut on July 15 on HBO. He retained the belt by very close decision against Robinson Castellanos. But before his next defense on Oct. 21, also on HBO, Corrales was stripped for missing weight against Alberto Machado. The fight went on anyway and Corrales dominated, even dropping Machado in the fifth round. But Machado rallied and scored an out of nowhere knockout in the eighth round to win the vacant belt.
Next: TBA
6. Francisco Vargas (24-1-2)
Vargas -- the Mexican Arturo Gatti -- won the 2015 fight of the year in an epic comeback knockout of Japan's Takashi Miura to win a world title and drew with former titlist Orlando Salido in the 2016 fight of the year in his first defense. But both fights were absolutely brutal and Vargas took tremendous punishment. He suffered bad cuts in both fights which came back to haunt him in his second defense on Jan. 28, when he faced countryman Miguel Berchelt in an HBO main event. It was, of course, another action-packed fight, but Berchelt took over in the later rounds after opening terrible cuts around both of Vargas' eyes and won by 11th-round TKO. Vargas made his return on Dec. 9 and came away with little damage in an entertaining ninth-round technical decision against England's Stephen Smith.
Next: TBA
7. Miguel "Mickey" Roman (58-12)
On Dec. 9, Mexico's Roman and countryman and former titleholder Orlando Salido engaged in a terrific action-packed fight of the year candidate in an HBO main event in Las Vegas. It was a rock 'em, sock 'em slugfest in which Roman pulled the mild upset. He dropped Salido three times and won by ninth-round knockout.
Next: TBA
8. Orlando Salido (44-14-4)
Mexico's Salido, who won four title belts between featherweight and junior lightweight titleholder, engaged in numerous fight of the year candidates and become a fan favorite for good reason. On Dec. 9, he was in yet another terrific brawl in an HBO main event but was knocked down three times and stopped in the ninth round by countryman Miguel "Mickey" Roman. After the bout, Salido, a warrior in the pro game for 21 years, announced his retirement. But four days later he said he changed his mind and plans to fight on.
Next: TBA
9. Robinson Castellanos (24-13)
Mexico's Castellanos, an upset specialist, pulled a big one in May when he knocked out former featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa in the seventh round of a one-sided fight. The win propelled him into a world title shot against Jezreel Corrales on July 15 on HBO. It was a highly competitive fight as Castellanos scored two fourth-round knockdowns and was also dropped in the seventh round. Ultimately, Castellanos lost a very tight 10th-round technical majority decision when it was stopped after Castellanos suffered a bad cut from an accidental head butt. Castellanos was due back to face former titlist Jason Sosa (20-2-4) on HBO on Nov. 25 on the Sergey Kovalev-Vyacheslav Shabranskyy card but Castellanos suffered a back injury and had to pull out.
Next: TBA
10. Kenichi Ogawa (23-1)
Japan's Ogawa had his first fight in the United States on Dec. 9 when he faced Tevin Farmer for a vacant world title in Las Vegas and on HBO. It was a good scrap that Farmer seemed to have the edge in, but when it was over Ogawa, who has won 15 fights in a row, had his hand raised in a split decision victory that warrants a rematch.
Next: TBA