Artur Beterbiev turned the primary undisputed mild heavyweight champion within the four-belt period with a majority-decision victory over Dmitry Bivol on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Beterbiev received by scorecards of 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112 so as to add the WBA belt to his WBC, WBO and IBF titles.
Coming into the struggle, Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) was boxing’s solely champion with a 100% KO proportion, however wanted to go the 12-round distance for the primary time in his profession to defeat Bivol. In 2017, Beterbiev defeated Enrico Koelling by Twelfth-round KO with simply :27 seconds to go within the struggle.
Whereas Bivol (23-1, 12 KOs) outlanded Beterbiev in complete punches and jabs — and had massive benefit in energy punches landed with 50% towards solely 29% for Beterbiev — he was respectful of the choice.
“I do not know. I simply did my job,” Bivol mentioned after the struggle. “I felt that I may have finished higher. I at all times may very well be higher. It is simply the opinion of the judges. Congratulations, Artur. … He received. What can I say?”
Even in victory, Beterbiev wasn’t comfortable together with his efficiency, and was open to a rematch.
“I didn’t good immediately,” Beterbiev mentioned. “I wished to field immediately with extra high quality. I do not know why, however I did not like this struggle. However I will be higher in the future. …If [Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority] desires [a rematch] then we will do it.”
Our panelists additionally noticed a detailed struggle and whereas most moved Beterbiev up on their listing, additionally they saved Bivol excessive.
“I scored the struggle for Bivol but it surely was shut sufficient that it is smart to respect the end result right here and transfer Beterbiev above him,” mentioned ESPN boxing insider Mike Coppinger. “And with Bivol’s resounding victory over Canelo Alvarez [in 2022] and the razor-thin loss Saturday, there is no purpose to maneuver him any decrease.”
ESPN boxing author Nick Parkinson mentioned that the matchup was a high-quality struggle with each boxers displaying technical brilliance and precision punching, and he determined to maintain Bivol above Beterbiev on his listing, regardless of the end result.
“Like lots of people I used to be anticipating Bivol’s hand to be raised on the finish, regardless of Beterbiev’s sturdy end,” Parkinson mentioned. “I assumed Bivol confirmed his high quality towards Beterbiev, and deserved the choice. This, together with the truth that Bivol has additionally overwhelmed Canelo Alvarez, places him forward of Beterbiev for me.
“Had Beterbiev maintained his 100% KO ratio and stopped Bivol, it would not be a dialogue. However Bivol has twice produced a powerful efficiency in large fights — Beterbiev has finished it as soon as versus Bivol, and in my view he wasn’t higher than Bivol final Saturday.”
After all of the votes had been counted, Beterbiev strikes to the No. 4 spot, whereas Bivol falls two locations to No. 6. With numerous votes going to Beterbiev, and a few panelists voting him larger than Naoya Inoue, the tie at No. 2 between Inoue and Terence Crawford was damaged.
Monday in Tokyo, WBC bantamweight champion Junto Nakatani retained his title with a sixth-round TKO victory over Petch Sor Chitpattana. Nakatani (29-0, 22), who has been on the surface trying in for the previous couple of months, lastly makes the listing at No. 10. Nakatani has received world titles in three divisions.
Our panel of Coppinger, Timothy Bradley, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Pleasure 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.
Extra ESPN rankings: Divisional rankings and women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Be aware: Outcomes are by Oct. 17.
1. OLEKSANDR USYK 
Earlier rating: 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 Earlier rating: No. 2
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Israil Madrimov, Aug. 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. NAOYA INOUE 
Earlier rating: Tied for No. 2
RECORD: 28-0, 25 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Luis TJ Doheny, Sept. 3
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 24 vs. Sam Goodman
4. ARTUR BETERBIEV 
Earlier rating: No. 6
RECORD: 21-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Mild heavyweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (MD12) Dmitry Bivol, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. CANELO ALVAREZ Earlier rating: No. 5
RECORD: 62-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Tremendous middleweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Edgar Berlanga, Sept. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. DMITRY BIVOL Earlier rating: No. 4
RECORD: 23-1, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Mild heavyweight
LAST FIGHT: L (MD12) Artur Beterbiev, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ Earlier rating: No. 7
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Junior bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Juan Francisco Estrada, June 29
NEXT FIGHT: Nov. 9 vs. Pedro Guevara
8. GERVONTA DAVIS Earlier rating: No. 8
RECORD: 30-0, 28 KOs
DIVISION: Light-weight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO8) Frank Martin, June 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON Earlier rating: No. 9
RECORD: 22-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Light-weight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Artem Harutyunyan, July 6
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. JUNTO NAKATANI Earlier rating: N/R
RECORD: 29-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Tasana Salapat, Oct. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The system
The rankings are primarily based on a descending factors system, with a first-place vote awarding 10 factors, a second-place vote awarding 9 factors and so forth. A tie goes to the fighter with the best rating, then the one with essentially the most votes at that rating.
Others receiving votes: Teofimo Lopez Jr. (17), David Benavidez (7), Tyson Fury (7), Vasiliy Lomachenko (5), Devin Haney (1).
How our writers voted
Bradley: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3: Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Bivol, 9. Lopez, 10. Stevenson
Coppinger: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Nakatani, 10. Haney
Atlas: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Davis, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Alvarez, 9. Fury, 10. Rodriguez
Tessitore: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Beterbiev, 4. Inoue, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Nakatani, 7. Bivol, 8. Alvarez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Parkinson: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Nakatani, 10. Lomachenko
Raskin: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Benavidez
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Phelps: 1. Usyk, 2. Alvarez, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Inoue, 6. Bivol, 7. Fury, 8. Lopez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Rodriguez: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Alvarez, 6. Davis, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Bivol, 9. Nakatani, 10. Stevenson
Trejos: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Lopez, 9. Benavidez, 10. Bivol
Moynihan: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Benavidez, 10. Nakatani
Pilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Nakatani, 9. Benavidez, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Davis, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani
Freeman: 1.Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Nakatani, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Usyk, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Delgado Averhof: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Beterbiev, 4. Crawford, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Bivol, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
ESPN consultants’ ballot
First place: Usyk (12), Crawford (4), Inoue (3)
Second place: Crawford (8), Inoue (7), Usyk (3), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Inoue (7), Crawford (6), Usyk (4), Beterbiev (2)
Fourth place: Beterbiev (9), Alvarez (4), Bivol (2), Crawford (1), Inoue (1), Rodriguez (1), Stevenson (1)
Fifth place: Beterbiev (7), Bivol (5), Alvarez (3), Rodriguez (2), Inoue (1), Davis (1)
Sixth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (5), Davis (3), Rodriguez (2), Beterbiev (1), Nakatani (1)
Seventh place: Rodriguez (9), Alvarez (3), Davis (3), Bivol (1), Stevenson (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1)
Eighth place: Davis (7), Bivol (3), Lopez (3), Alvarez (2), Nakatani (2), Rodriguez (1), Stevenson (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (7), Nakatani (3), Lopez (3), Benavidez (3), Davis (2), Fury (1)
tenth place: Nakatani (5), Stevenson (4), Davis (2), Lopez (2), Bivol (1), Rodriguez (1), Benavidez (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1), Haney (1)