Claressa Shields remains atop the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings, with Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano keeping their spots behind her. But then the list changes.
Junior lightweight unified champion Alycia Baumgardner moves up one spot to No. 4 after her victory over Mikaela Mayer, while Mayer goes from No. 6 to No. 7 on the list.
Another fighter making a big move is Chantelle Cameron who moves up five places after her impressive victory over Jessica McCaskill to become the undisputed junior welterweight champion. McCaskill drops one spot after the loss.
Natasha Jonas makes her top 10 debut after defeating Marie-Eve Dicaire to unify three of the four major junior middleweight world titles.
“After the top 3 fighters, there’s a bit of a logjam trying to figure out the rest of the list — a good issue to have for the sport. While Seniesa Estrada only fought once in 2022 she looked like she picked up right where she left off — her combination of speed, power and technical prowess has her just behind the three obvious stars,” writer Michael Rothstein said about moving Estrada up on his list.
“I also moved Natasha Jonas — runner-up for ESPN fighter of the year — into the Top 10 after three title fights in a year in a new division. She might have had the most growth of any top fighter.”
Here’s the current top 10.
Note: Results are through Dec. 28.
1. CLARESSA SHIELDS
Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORDS: 13-0, 2 KOs
DIVISION: Middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Savannah Marshall, Oct. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. KATIE TAYLORPrevious ranking: No. 1
RECORDS: 22-0, 6 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Karen Elizabeth Carabajal, Oct. 29
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. AMANDA SERRANOPrevious ranking: No. 3
RECORDS: 42-2-1, 30 KOs
DIVISION: Featherweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Sarah Mahfoud, Sept. 24
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. ALYCIA BAUMGARDNER
Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORDS: 13-1, 7 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Mikaela Mayer, Oct. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
T-5. CHANTELLE CAMERONPrevious ranking: 10
RECORDS: 17-0, 8 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Jessica McCaskill, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
T-5. JESSICA MCCASKILL
Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORDS: 12-3, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: L (TKO3) Chantelle Cameron, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. MIKAELA MAYERPrevious ranking: No. 6
RECORDS: 17-1, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight
LAST FIGHT: L (SD10) Alycia Baumgardner, Oct. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. SENIESA ESTRADAPrevious ranking: 7
RECORDS: 23-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Strawweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Jazmin Gala Villarino, Nov. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. FRANCHON CREWS-DEZURNPrevious ranking: 8
RECORDS: 8-1, 2 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Elin Cederroos, April 30
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. NATASHA JONASPrevious ranking: N/R
RECORDS: 13-2-1, 8 KOs
DIVISION: Junior middleweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Marie-Eve Dicaire, Nov. 12
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
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.
Others receiving votes: Delfine Persoon (12), Savannah Marshall (7), Christina Hammer (4), Kali Reis (4), Hyun Choi (3), Yokasta Valle (2), Terri Harper (1)
How our experts voted
Michael Rothstein: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Estrada, 5. Cameron, 6. Baumgardner, 7. McCaskill, 8. Mayer, 9. Jonah, 10. Valle
Timothy Bradley Jr.: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Estrada, 6. Mayer, 7. Jonah, 8. Person, 9. Marshall, 10. Cameron
Nick Parkinson: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Baumgardner, 6. Marshall, 7. Mayer, 8. McCaskill, 9. Estrada, 10. Harper
Michelle Joy Phelps: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. McCaskill, 5. Crews-Dezurn, 6. Cameron, 7. Reis, 8. Jonah, 9. Baumgardner, 10. Mayer
Salvador RodrÃguez: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Crews-Dezurn, 6. McCaskill, 7. Jonah, 8. Estrada, 9. Mayer, 10. Cameron
Bernardo Pilatti: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. McCaskill, 6. Mayer, 7. Person, 8. Estrada, 9. Cameron, 10. Valle
Charlie Moynihan: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Mayer, 6. Person, 7. Hammer, 8. Choi, 9. Cameron, 10. McCaskill
Kel Dansby: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Bumgardner, 5. Cameron, 6. Crews-Dezurn, 7. McCaskill, 8. Estrada, 9. Mayer, 10. Jonas
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Shields (6), Taylor (2)
Second place: Taylor (6), Shields (2)
Third place: Serrano (8)
Fourth place: Baumgardner (5), Cameron (1), McCaskill (1), Estrada (1)
Fifth place: Cameron (2), Crews-Dezurn (2), Baumgardner (1), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Estrada (1)
Sixth place: Mayer (2), Crews-Dezurn (1), Baumgardner (1), Cameron (1), McCaskill (1), Persoon (1), Marshall (1)
Seventh place: McCaskill (2), Jonas (2), Mayer (1), Persoon (1), Hammer (1), Reis (1)
Eighth place: Estrada (3), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Persoon (1), Jonas (1), Choi (1)
Ninth place: Cameron (2), Mayer (2), Baumgardner (1), Estrada (1), Marshall (1), Jonas (1)
10th place: Cameron (2), Valle (2), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Jonas (1), Harper (1)