Ranking Divisionales: Peso Ligero

Check out my rankings within each division by clicking on the links below. If there is a lineal champion in a weight class, he is ranked No. 1.

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 April 10. 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

Pesado - Crucero - Semicompleto - Súper mediano

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 135 POUNDS)

1. Jorge Linares (42-3)

Linares, a former featherweight and junior lightweight titlist, made two lightweight title defenses, including a 2015 fight of the year candidate against Kevin Mitchell, but a fractured right hand forced Linares to pull out of a mandatory defense against Dejan Zlaticanin and he was stripped of his belt. No matter. Instead, Linares went to England in September and outpointed Anthony Crolla in a terrific fight to win another belt and earn recognition as the true champion of the weight class. Crolla had a rematch option, which he enforced, so Linares went back to England for the sequel on March 25 and beat him even easier the second time, dropping him and winning a lopsided decision, 118-109 on all three scorecards. Ideally, the victory will lead to a unification fight this summer against Mikey Garcia (36-0).
Next: TBA

2. Mikey Garcia (36-0)
After a 2½-year layoff because of his contract beef with promoter Top Rank, former featherweight and junior lightweight titleholder Garcia, who settled the case, made his return on July 30. He moved up in weight, scored four knockdowns and looked explosive in a fifth-round knockout of former featherweight titlist Elio Rojas. Then, on Jan. 28, Garcia won his third world title in devastating knockout of the year-caliber fashion, scoring an extremely violent third-round destruction of then-unbeaten titlist Dejan Zlaticanin on the Leo Santa Cruz-Carl Frampton II undercard. The hunt is going on for an opponent for Garcia to face this summer. Hopefully, it will be Jorge Linares (42-3) in a unification bout. Both fighters say they want it.
Next: TBA

3. Terry Flanagan (33-0)
England's "Turbo" Flanagan made defense No. 4 against Puerto Rico's Orlando Cruz, a former featherweight title challenger, on Nov. 26. Flanagan hammered Cruz and dropped him twice in an easy eighth-round knockout win. When mandatory challenger Felix Verdejo was injured, Flanagan was permitted another optional defense, which he made on April 8 against tough Russian contender Peter Petrov, whom he outpointed in a messy fight.
Next: TBA

4. Robert Easter Jr. (19-0)
Easter, nearly 6 feet tall with a long, lanky build and tremendous power, faced Ghana's unbeaten Richard Commey for a vacant belt in September, and, in a fantastic action fight, they traded big bombs throughout. Easter edged him to win a decision and truly announce his arrival. In his first defense, on Feb. 10 in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, Easter dominated Puerto Rico's Luis Cruz, dropping him three times en route to a lopsided decision win. After the fight, Easter called out the other titleholders to unify with him but he first owes a mandatory defense to Denis Shafikov (38-2-1), whom he will face in Toledo.
Next: June 30 vs. Shafikov

5. Anthony Crolla (31-6-3)
In July 2015, England's Crolla fought to a bitterly contested draw against titleholder Darleys Perez. In an immediate rematch, again in Crolla's hometown of Manchester, Crolla left no doubt as he knocked Perez out with a body shot in the fifth round to win the belt. Crolla made his first defense, also in Manchester, on May 7, knocking out dangerous interim titlist Ismael Barroso with a seventh-round body-shot. Then he moved onto yet another formidable opponent in three-division titleholder Jorge Linares in September and lost his belt by hard-fought decision. Linares then outpointed him again in the March 25 rematch.
Next: TBA

6. Dejan Zlaticanin (22-1)
Zlaticanin came out of nowhere in 2014 when he went to former titleholder Ricky Burns' home turf in Scotland and outpointed him. Two fights later, he ran roughshod over rising contender Ivan Redkach with ease, knocking him out in the fourth round in June 2015 in a title eliminator to earn a mandatory shot at titlist Jorge Linares. But that fight was canceled after Linares suffered a fractured hand and was stripped of the belt. Zlaticanin instead faced late substitute Franklin Mamani, a complete unknown from Argentina, for the vacant belt in June 2016 and destroyed him in the third round to become the first world titleholder from Montenegro. His reign didn't last long as Mikey Garcia crushed him in the third round of defense No. 1 on Jan. 29 to take the title in very violent fashion.
Next: TBA

7. Rances Barthelemy (25-0)
Barthelemy, a Cuban defector and former junior lightweight titleholder, squared off with tough Russian southpaw Denis Shafikov for a vacant world title in December 2015 and they put on a crowd-pleasing fight. In the end, it was Barthelemy's better skills and strong finish that led him to a unanimous decision win and a second world title. Barthelemy made his first defense in June and outclassed former titlist Mickey Bey in a decision win before vacating to move up in weight. His first junior welterweight bout could be a title eliminator in the spring against former title challenger Kiryl Relikh (21-1), of Belarus.
Next: TBA

8. Denis Shafikov (38-2-1)

In December 2015, Russia's Shafikov challenged Rances Barthelemy for a vacant lightweight title but dropped a unanimous decision. Shafikov returned in July and handed 2012 U.S. Olympian Jamel Herring his first loss in a 10th-round knockout. And then, in a Dec. 2 title eliminator, Shafikov earned a mandatory shot against Robert Easter (18-0) with a hard-fought split decision win over Richard Commey. The fight with Easter will take in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio.
Next: June 30 vs. Easter

9. Darleys Perez (33-2-2)
After Colombia's Perez retained his title in a debatable draw with Anthony Crolla in Crolla's hometown of Manchester, England, in July 2015, Perez returned there for a rematch in November 2015 and, after a competitive four rounds, Crolla knocked him out with a body shot in the fifth round. Perez returned for a soft-touch win in a second-round knockout in Colombia in May 2016, then faced junior welterweight Maurice Hooker in November and got ripped off in a badly scored draw. Perez will return to lightweight to face England's Luke Campbell (16-1) in a title eliminator on the Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko undercard.
Next: April 29 vs. Campbell

10. Richard Commey (25-2)

Ghana's Commey is as tough as they come. He lost heart-breaking back-to-back split decisions to Robert Easter Jr. for a vacant world title in September and to Denis Shafikov in a title eliminator in December, but bounced back with a unanimous decision win against Hedi Slimani in March. He'll give any 135-pounder in the world a run for his money.
Next: TBA