Women's boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Did Baumgardner do enough to overtake Serrano?
After another impressive victory to become the undisputed featherweight champion, Amanda Serrano, who has won titles in seven different weight classes, solidified her No. 3 ranking behind Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor in ESPN’s latest pound-for-pound rankings. The victory also sets up the much-anticipated rematch between Serrano and Taylor that will take place on May 20 in Ireland.
Serrano won with scorecards of 98-92, 98-92, 97-93, but Saturday’s fight against Erika Cruz was a close, entertaining back-and-forth battle.
“She’s a Mexican champion and we knew that,” Serrano said of Cruz after the fight. “And I said it from the very beginning: I knew she wasn’t gonna just let me take her belt. She worked hard for this. I worked hard for mine and that’s what we expected. That’s what we trained for.”
On the same card in New York’s Madison Square Garden, No. 4-ranked Alycia Baumgardner scored two knockdowns of Elhem Mekhaled to earn a unanimous decision win to become the undisputed junior lightweight champion. However, the victory wasn’t enough to overtake Serrano at No. 3 in our rankings.
“Alycia Baumgardner may have looked tired toward the end of her fight, but she gutted out a win and knocked down a good fighter in Mekhaled — twice,” ESPN writer Michael Rothstein said about moving up Baumgardner on his list. “She and Chantelle Cameron are very close to one another in the second tier of elite fighters, but the way she handled her latest performance gives her a slight edge over Cameron.”
The victory also puts Baumgardner in a great place for the future, with potential fights in different divisions.
“Right now we want the big fights, we want the megafights,” Baumgardner said. “This fight showed me that, you know, there are levels to this and I want to continue to climb. We want Katie Taylor, we want those megafights. We want those big fights. I want that challenge. I want to challenge myself. That’s the only way I’m gonna know where I am and how I can be better. And I want that.”
Here’s the current top 10.
Note: Results are through Feb. 8.
1. CLARESSA SHIELDS 
Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 13-0, 2 KOs
DIVISION: Middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Savannah Marshall, Oct. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. KATIE TAYLOR Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 22-0, 6 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Karen Elizabeth Carabajal, Oct. 29
NEXT FIGHT: May 20 vs. Amanda Serrano
3. AMANDA SERRANO Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 44-2-1, 30 KOs
DIVISION: Featherweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Erika Cruz, Feb. 4
NEXT FIGHT: May 20 vs. Katie Taylor
4. ALYCIA BAUMGARDNER Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 14-1, 7 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Elhem Mekhaled, Feb. 4
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. JESSICA MCCASKILL Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 12-3, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: L (TKO3) Chantelle Cameron, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. MIKAELA MAYER 
Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 17-1, 5 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight
LAST FIGHT: L (SD10) Alycia Baumgardner, Oct. 15
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. CHANTELLE CAMERON 
Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 17-0, 8 KOs
DIVISION: Junior welterweight unified champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Jessica McCaskill, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. SENIESA ESTRADA Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 23-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Strawweight champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Jazmin Gala Villarino, Nov. 12
NEXT FIGHT: March 25 vs. Tina Rupprecht
9. FRANCHON CREWS-DEZURN Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 8-1, 2 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight undisputed champion
LAST FIGHT: W (UD10) Elin Cederroos, April 30
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. NATASHA JONAS Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 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 (9), Christina Hammer (4), Kali Reis (3), Hyun Choi (3), Yokasta Valle (1), Terri Harper (1)
How our experts voted
Michael Rothstein: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Estrada, 5. Baumgardner, 6. Cameron, 7. McCaskill, 8. Mayer, 9. Jonas, 10. Valle
Timothy Bradley Jr.: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Estrada, 6. Mayer, 7. Jonas, 8. Persoon, 9. Marshall, 10. Cameron
Nick Parkinson: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Cameron, 6. Marshall, 7. Mayer, 8. McCaskill, 9. Estrada, 10. Harper
Michelle Joy Phelps: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. McCaskill, 5. Baumgardner, 6. Crews-Dezurn, 7. Cameron, 8. Reis, 9. Jonas, 10. Mayer
Salvador Rodriguez: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Crews-Dezurn, 6. McCaskill, 7. Jonas, 8. Estrada, 9. Mayer, 10. Cameron
Bernardo Pilatti: 1. Shields, 2. Serrano, 3. Taylor, 4. Baumgardner, 5. McCaskill, 6. Mayer, 7. Persoon, 8. Estrada, 9. Marshall, 10. Cameron
Charlie Moynihan: 1. Taylor, 2. Shields, 3. Serrano, 4. Baumgardner, 5. Mayer, 6. Persoon, 7. Hammer, 8. Choi, 9. Cameron, 10. McCaskill
Kel Dansby: 1. Shields, 2. Taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Bumgarnder, 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 (5), Shields (2), Serrano (1)
Third place: Serrano (7), Taylor (1)
Fourth place: Baumgardner (6), McCaskill (1), Estrada (1)
Fifth place: Baumgardner (2), Cameron (2), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Estrada (1), Crews-Dezurn (1)
Sixth place: Mayer (2), Crews-Dezurn (2), McCaskill (1), Cameron (1), Marshall (1), Persoon (1)
Seventh place: McCaskill (2), Jonas (2), Mayer (1), Cameron (1), Persoon (1), Hammer (1)
Eighth place: Estrada (3), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Persoon (1), Choi (1), Reis (1)
Ninth place: Mayer (2), Jonas (2), Marshall (2), Cameron (1), Estrada (1)
10th place: Cameron (3), Valle (1), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Jonas (1), Harper (1)
