Women’s boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Four undisputed champs in the top 10

The rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano on Friday was another all-action fight that ended in a close unanimous decision in favor Taylor. Only one point separated the two fighters on each of the three judges’ scorecards (95-94, 95-94 and 95-94).

Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) retained her undisputed junior welterweight championship in her first defense after winning the belts a year ago with another close victory against Chantelle Cameron. Taylor is one of only two women in boxing history to be undisputed in two divisions (lightweight and junior welterweight). Claressa Shields has won all major major belts at junior middleweight and middleweight.

Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) has won titles in an unprecedented seven women’s divisions, from junior bantamweight to junior welterweight. She’s the current featherweight champion and has more KO wins than Taylor has fights.

Like their first encounter in 2022, the rematch was another candidate for fight of the year. Taylor and Serrano combined to throw 1,263 punches throughout the 10 rounds. Serrano landed 125 of 216 punches in the last two rounds alone, and her 324 punches landed for the fight were the most by a woman in CompuBox history.

“This is an amazing moment again for women’s boxing, and we put on a show,” Taylor said after the fight. “We put on a performance again for everybody, and just thank God for another amazing night.”

With the victory, Taylor retains her No. 2 spot in the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings. Serrano stays at No. 3, even in defeat.

Gabriela Fundora makes her P4P rankings debut after becoming the youngest undisputed champion in history with a seventh-round TKO victory over Gabriela Celeste Alaniz on Nov. 2. At just 22 years of age, Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) dropped Alaniz twice in Round 7 to unify all four major flyweight titles. Fundora is also ESPN’s No. 5 fighter under the age of 25.

Seniesa Estrada relinquishes her No. 5 spot on the P4P list after announcing her retirement from boxing in October.

Here’s the current top 10.

Note: Results are through Nov. 21.

1. CLARESSA SHIELDS     Previous ranking: No. 1

RECORD: 15-0, 3 KOs
DIVISION: Undisputed middleweight champion; light heavyweight and heavyweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO2) Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, July 27
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

2. KATIE TAYLOR     Previous ranking: No. 2

RECORD: 24-1, 6 KOs
DIVISION: Undisputed junior welterweight champion, unified lightweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Amanda Serrano, Nov. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

3. AMANDA SERRANO     Previous ranking: No. 3

RECORD: 47-3-1, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Unified featherweight champion
LAST FIGHT: L (UD10) Katie Taylor, Nov. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

4. CHANTELLE CAMERON     Previous ranking: No. 4

RECORD: 20-1, 8 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight interim champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Patricia Berghult, Nov. 2
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

5. NATASHA JONAS     Previous ranking: No. 6

RECORD: 15-2-1, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Mikaela Mayer, Jan. 20
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 14 vs. Ivana Habazin

6. GABRIELA FUNDORA     Previous ranking: N/R

RECORD: 15-0, 7 KOs
DIVISION: Undisputed flyweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Gabriela Celeste Alaniz, Nov. 2
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

7. MIKAELA MAYER     Previous ranking: No. 8

RECORD: 20-2, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (MD10) Sandy Ryan, Sept. 27
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

8. SAVANNAH MARSHALL     Previous ranking: No. 7

RECORD: 13-1, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Unified super middleweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (MD10) Franchon Crews Dezurn, July 1, 2023
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

9. ALYCIA BAUMGARDNER     Previous ranking: N/R

RECORD: 15-1, 7 KOs
DIVISION: Undisputed junior lightweight champion
LAST FIGHT: NC (No contest) Delfine Persoon, Sept. 27
NEXT FIGHT: TBA

10. YOKASTA VALLE     Previous ranking: No. N/R

RECORD: 32-3, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Strawweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Elizabeth Lopez Corzo, Nov. 1
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: Skye Nicolson (3), Hyun Choi (12), Jessica Nery Plata (2), Ellie Scotney (2), Delfine Persoon (1), Franchon Crews-Dezurn (1), Terri Harper (1).

How our experts voted

Nick Parkinson: 1. Shields, 2. Serrano, 3. Taylor, 4. Cameron, 5. Fundora, 6. Jonas, 7. Mayer, 8. Nicolson, 9. Scotney, 10. Harper

Salvador Rodriguez: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Mayer, 6. Jonas, 7. Baumgardner, 8. Fundora, 9. Nery Plata, 10. Valle

Bernardo Pilatti: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Baumgardner, 6. Marshall, 7. Jonas, 8. Fundora, 9. Mayer, 10. Crews-Dezurn

Charlie Moynihan: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Jonas, 5. Cameron, 6. Mayer, 7. Marshall, 8. Fundora, 9. Choi, 10. Persoon

Damian Delgado Averhoff: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Cameron, 5. Marshall, 6. Fundora, 7. Jonas, 8. Valle, 9. Mayer, 10. Baumgardner

ESPN experts’ poll

First place: Shields (4), Taylor (1)

Second place: Taylor (3), Shields (1), Serrano (1)

Third place: Serrano (4), Taylor (1)

Fourth place: Cameron (4), Jonas (1)

Fifth place: Cameron (1), Fundora (1), Mayer (1), Marshall (1), Baumgardner (1)

Sixth place: Jonas (2), Fundora (1), Mayer (1), Marshall (1)

Seventh place: Jonas (2), Mayer (1), Marshall (1), Baumgardner (1)

Eighth place: Fundora (3), Valle (1), Nicolson (1)

Ninth place: Mayer (2), Choi (1), Nery Plata (1), Scotney (1)

10th place: Baumgardner (1), Valle (1), Persoon (1), Crews-Dezurn (1), Harper (1)

Source: espn.com