Divisional rankings: Light heavyweight

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

Check out my rankings within each division by clicking on the links below.

Who is the best fighter regardless of weight class? See ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings.

For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.

Note: Results through June 20. 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

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 175 POUNDS)

1. Adonis Stevenson (27-1)
Adonis Stevenson Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
Quebec’s Stevenson burst onto the scene to win the world title by 76-second knockout of Chad Dawson in 2013, but he has disappointed many by not fighting the top opponents available, such as Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal. Nonetheless, since bailing on a deal to face Kovalev, Stevenson has faced Andrzej Fonfara in a life-and-death struggle followed by three mismatches against Dmitry Sukhotsky, Sakio Bika and Tommy Karpency. The Karpency fight in September was a pointless match, as Stevenson smoked him in two rounds in a result as predictable as the sun rising. He next will defend against Thomas Williams Jr. (20-1), who knocked out Edwin Rodriguez in the second round of a de facto eliminator on April 30.
Next: July 29 vs. Williams

2. Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1)
Kovalev, a punching machine from Russia, beat down the great Bernard Hopkins in a one-sided decision in November 2014 to unify three belts and followed with a similarly one-sided eighth-round knockout of former champion Jean Pascal in March 2015. Still unable to get champion Adonis Stevenson to fight him, Kovalev then crushed mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi and Pascal in a rematch in January. Now he has another big fight. With a deal in place to face former super middleweight champion Andre Ward (29-0) in November, Kovalev will take on contender Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2) in a Russian homecoming fight first.
Next: July 11 vs. Chilemba

3. Andre Ward (29-0)
On March 26, in his hometown of Oakland, California, Ward, the former super middleweight champion, ended a nine-month layoff and fought for only the fourth time since the end of 2011 when he dropped and routed Sullivan Barrera in a lopsided decision win in a title eliminator. Despite the layoff, Ward looked superb, as always, as he moved closer to a much-anticipated Nov. 19 showdown in Las Vegas against unified titleholder Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1), who watched at ringside. Ward is due to have an interim bout on Aug. 6 against Colombia’s Alexander Brand (25-1), but the details are still being finalized.
Next: TBA

4. Juergen Braehmer (48-2)
Germany’s Braehmer made the sixth defense of his secondary world title on March 12 and won a clear unanimous decision — 118-110, 116-111 and 116-111 — against Eduard Gutknecht in a rematch of Braehmer’s similar decision win to claim the European title in 2013. His next defense, likely in September, could come against former titlist Nathan Cleverly (29-3) of Wales.
Next: TBA

5. Artur Beterbiev (10-0)
Beterbiev, a two-time Russian Olympian, is on the fast track as a pro and seemingly on his way to a world title shot. However, his quick move was slowed when he suffered a right shoulder injury and had to pull out of a November title eliminator for the right to challenge Sergey Kovalev, whom Beterbiev defeated in the amateurs. Beterbiev had surgery and was out for one year until returning on June 4 and destroying Argentina’s Ezequiel Maderna in the fourth round of a one-sided fight.
Next: TBA

6. Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (19-0)

Alvarez, a 2008 Olympian from Colombia fighting out of Montreal, earned a mandatory shot against world champion (and fellow Montreal fighter) Adonis Stevenson by virtue of his close decision win against Isaac Chilemba in their title eliminator in November. Alvarez is due back in action against Argentina’s Maximiliano Gomez (22-5) on the undercard of Stevenson’s next fight as they build up their likely meeting later in the year.

Next: July 29 vs. Gomez.

7. Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (16-0)
A native of Ukraine based in Los Angeles, Shabranskyy is a powerful puncher with a good amateur background. He got his first high-profile fight when he headlined on HBO Latino against tough Cuban contender Yunieski Gonzalez on Dec.19 and won a hard-fought, action-packed majority decision. Shabranskyy, who could make some major noise in a hot division, returned April 15 and hammered journeyman Derrick Findley in a third-round knockout win.
Next: TBA

8. Isaac Chilemba (24-3-2)
Although Chilemba is coming off a decision loss (a very questionable one) to Eleider Alvarez in a November title eliminator, he will still get a world title shot against Sergey Kovalev (29-0-1) thanks to the fact that they share promoter Main Events and it was an easy deal to make. Chilemba will go to Kovalev’s home country of Russia for the fight hoping to win and upset the fall plans for a Kovalev-Andre Ward HBO PPV fight.

Next: July 11 vs. Kovalev

9. Joe Smith, Jr (22-1)

In a shocking upset, New Yorker Smith, a construction worker by trade, had his Rocky moment in his first televised fight on June 18. That’s when he went to Polish contender Andrzej Fonfara’s turf in Chicago and scored two heavy knockdowns in a first-round knockout victory. Fonfara never saw the shots coming.

Next: TBA

10. Andrzej Fonfara (28-4)

Fonfara, born in Poland and based in Chicago, made his name in a surprisingly close decision loss challenging Adonis Stevenson for the title in May 2014 and then by dropping Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for the first time in his career in the ninth round and making him quit in April 2015. He scored another excellent win in October, outpointing former titlist Nathan Cleverly in a wildly entertaining fight that was so action packed that they broke several division CompuBox records. But when Fonfara met untested and unknown Joe Smith Jr. on June 18 on NBC in prime time, he suffered a stunning first-round knockout loss.

Next: TBA