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          Boxing divisional rankings: Itauma crashes into heavyweight top 5

          Moses Itauma beat Jermaine Franklin Jr. by fifth-round TKO on Saturday night. Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images
          • Andreas HaleApr 5, 2026, 11:33 PM ET
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              Andreas Hale is a combat sports reporter at ESPN. Andreas covers MMA, boxing and pro wrestling. In Andreas' free time, he plays video games, obsesses over music and is a White Sox and 49ers fan. He is also a host for Sirius XM's Fight Nation. Before joining ESPN, Andreas was a senior writer at DAZN and Sporting News. He started his career as a music journalist for outlets including HipHopDX, The Grammys and Jay-Z's Life+Times. He is also an NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker as a producer for the animated short film "Bridges" in 2024.
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          Moses Itauma surges up the heavyweight rankings after becoming the first fighter to stop Jermaine Franklin Jr. And Sebastian Fundora proved his championship mettle, turning back Keith Thurman in a one-sided TKO.

          Itauma made easy work out of the durable Franklin, finishing the hard-nosed competitor in the fifth round to collect his tenth consecutive knockout. It's impossible not to consider Itauma, 21, as the future of heavyweight boxing. His meteoric rise continues, as he jumps from No. 8 to No. 4. He's closing in on a title opportunity, and he appears set to take over as the undeniable king of boxing's glory division for years to come.

          In Las Vegas, Fundora put together arguably his best performance, easily conquering former unified welterweight champion Thurman and becoming the first fighter to stop him after six dominant rounds.

          Fundora's 6-foot-5 ½-inch frame allowed the champion to put together blistering combinations while being out of his opponent's range. Thurman's face eventually had a purple and red hue from the volume punching, but he sought to fight back. With Thurman's face beaten up from the punishment, the fight was halted in Round 6 following a steady diet of punches from "The Towering Inferno."

          Fundora remains at No. 2 in the junior middleweight division, but his performance has closed the gap between himself and ESPN's No. 1 junior welterweight, Vergil Ortiz.

          At strawweight, Yudai Shigeoka drops out of the rankings due to inactivity. Ryusei Matsumoto takes his place at No. 4, while Takeshi Ishii enters at No. 5.

          ESPN's divisional boxing rankings highlight the best in the sport in every weight class. Rankings will change based on recent results and performances. Fighters who have announced they are moving to a different weight class will be ranked in that new division, if warranted, only once they fight in that weight class. Fighters who currently own titles in two divisions can be ranked in both.

          Fighters who haven't competed in the past 12 months -- and don't have a fight scheduled -- will be dropped from the rankings until they fight again. Any fighter who tests positive for a performance-enhancing substance will also be removed. That boxer will be eligible to reenter the rankings after his next bout.

          For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here. For ESPN women's divisional rankings, click here.

          Jump to weight classes with changes: Heavyweight, middleweight, junior middleweight, strawweight

          HEAVYWEIGHT (UNLIMITED)

          CRUISERWEIGHT (UP TO 200 POUNDS)

          LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT (UP TO 175 POUNDS)

          SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT (UP TO 168 POUNDS)

          MIDDLEWEIGHT (UP TO 160 POUNDS)

          JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT (UP TO 154 POUNDS)

          WELTERWEIGHT (UP TO 147 POUNDS)

          JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT (UP TO 140 POUNDS)

          LIGHTWEIGHT (UP TO 135 POUNDS)

          JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT (UP TO 130 POUNDS)

          FEATHERWEIGHT (UP TO 126 POUNDS)

          JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT (UP TO 122 POUNDS)

          BANTAMWEIGHT (UP TO 118 POUNDS)

          JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT (UP TO 115 POUNDS)

          FLYWEIGHT (UP TO 112 POUNDS)

          JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT (UP TO 108 POUNDS)

          STRAWWEIGHT (UP TO 105 POUNDS)