Check out my rankings within each division by clicking on the links below. If there is a lineal champion in the weight class, he is ranked No. 1.
For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.
Note: Results through Dec. 12. 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 BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 115 POUNDS)
1. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1)
In a brutal slugfest on the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs undercard on March 18, Thailand's Sor Rungvisai regained the world title he once held in an extremely violent confrontation with Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. Although most thought Gonzalez deserved the decision, Sor Rungvisai, who head-butted Gonzalez several times, got the nod via majority decision. He dropped Gonzalez in the first round and knocked him from the undefeated ranks in a fight of the year and upset of the year contender. They met in a rematch on Sept. 9 and Sor Rungvisai left no doubt about the outcome this time, scoring a massive knockout of the year contender in the fourth round for perhaps the biggest victory in Thai boxing history. Next up, Sor Rungvisai will face mandatory challenger Juan Francisco Estrada (36-2) on HBO's "Superfly 2" card in another excellent matchup.
Next: Feb. 24 vs. Estrada
2. Naoya "The Monster" Inoue (14-0)
The seven-time Japanese amateur champion and two division titleholder has looked sensational fight in and fight out. He made his sixth title defense on Sept. 9 when he made his American debut on HBO against Antonio Nieves on the Srisaket Sor Rungvisai-Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez II undercard and destroyed him. Inoue battered him with body shots, dropped him with one in the fifth round and then forced Nieves' corner to throw in the towel after the sixth round. Defense No. 7 will come in Japan where he'll face France's Yoan Boyeaux (41-4). A victory would pave the way for Inoue's return to the U.S. for a Feb. 24 appearance on HBO's "Superfly 2" card.
Next: Dec. 30 vs. Boyeaux
3. Juan Francisco Estrada (36-2)
Mexico's Estrada, a former unified flyweight titlist, squared off with countryman and former junior bantamweight titleholder Carlos Cuadras on Sept. 9 on the Srisaket Sor Rungvisai-Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez II undercard in a title eliminator for the right to challenge Sor Rungvisai, who won. Estrada earned the shot by virtue of a close decision win -- 114-113 on all three scorecards -- in a fantastic fight with Cuadras, whom he knocked down in the 10th round. Estrada will next get his world title shot against Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1) on HBO in the main event of the "Superfly 2" card.
Next: Feb. 24 vs. Sor Rungvisai
4. Carlos Cuadras (36-2-1)
In September 2016, Mexico's Cuadras got the biggest fight of his career, an opportunity to defend his title against then-pound-for-pound king Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. It was a terrific fight and very competitive, but Gonzalez won a close decision to take the belt. Cuadras was denied an immediate rematch and stayed busy in a lackluster decision win against countryman David Carmona on March 18. Then Cuadras had a chance to earn another title shot against the winner of the Srisaket Sor Rungvisai-Gonzalez rematch but he lost a very close decision to countryman Juan Francisco Estrada in an eliminator Sept. 9 on the undercard. But Cuadras fought so well that HBO is bringing him back to face former two-time title challenger McWilliams Arroyo (16-3) on the "Superfly 2" card.
Next: Feb. 24 vs. Arroyo
5. Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez (46-2)
Nicaragua's Gonzalez, a protégé of the late Hall of Famer and countryman Alexis Arguello, won world titles in four weight classes -- strawweight, junior flyweight, flyweight and junior bantamweight -- and was anointed by most as the pound-for-pound king in the wake of Floyd Mayweather's retirement in September 2015. In September, Gonzalez moved up to junior bantamweight and outpointed Carlos Cuadras to win the belt in a terrific action fight. But in his first defense, on March 18 on the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs HBO PPV undercard, Gonzalez went down to controversial decision defeat to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a clear-cut fight of the year contender that won't soon be forgotten. In the Sept. 9 rematch, Sor Rungvisai scored a brutal fourth-round knockout. Some called for Gonzalez to retire, but he plans to fight on.
Next: TBA
Other contenders: Jerwin Ancajas, Khalid Yafai, Rau'shee Warren, Rex Tso, Jonas Sultan.
