It's time for a deep dive into boxing' hottest division, the 135-pound lightweight category. Here are the top lightweights in the world according to Boxingtalk's newly constituted rating committee:

1. George Kambosos (Australia)- The real, one and only, lightweight champion of the world. The man who beat the man (Lopez) who beat the man (Lomachenko), Kambosos is in the enviable position of fielding offers from Matchroom and Top Rank, the promoters for leading contenders Devin Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko respectively. Kambosos will likely have the leverage to ensure that his first defense is bokked for his native Australia.

2. Vasiliy Lomachenko (Ukraine) - Yes, he lost to Teofimo Lopez in 2020, but since then, the former three-division champ has had reparative shoulder surgery and beaten two top ten contenders (Commey and Nakatani). 

3. Teofimo Lopez (USA) - The guess here is that when the former world champion returns to the ring, it will be at junior welterweight.

4. Gervonta Davis (USA)- A strong case could be made that the undefeated Tank belongs at #2 behind only Kambosos. Last week, the former 130-pound champion gutted out a great win over Cruz despite an injured hand.

5. Devin Haney (USA)- The WBC regular champion is coming off his best pro win, a decision over Diaz. 

6. Joseph Diaz (USA)-  The former IBF 130-pound champion performed well in loss to Haney, and he has a win over Fortuna, who was top ten at the time they fought.

7. Isaac Cruz (Mexico) - This Mexican pitbull was legit top ten even before he gave Tank Davis hell for twelve rounds.

8. Ryan Garcia (USA)- Looking forward to seeing this young man back in the ring after a mostly lost 2021.

9. Jorge Linares (Venezuela) - Last fight was a loss to Haney. A former three-division title holder, he's in danger of becoming a gatekeeper.

10. Richard Commey (Ghana) - Lomachenko made him look bad; uncertain where this former IBF champ goes from here.

11. Michel Rivera (Dominican Republic)- Don't sleep on this Dominican youngster, who has quietly gone on an extended run of quality wins on PBC undercards. 

12. Javier Fortuna (Dominican Republic) - Also from the Dominican Republic, the veteran Fortuna saw his winning streak ended by Diaz in July and hasn't fought since.

13. William Zepeda (Mexico)- Undefeated Mexican southpaw had a breakthrough 2021, winning a battle of prospects vs. Hector Tanajara and then defeating John Vincent Moralde.

14. Masayoshi Nakatani (Japan)- Last three fights were a loss to Teofimo Lopez, a gutsy win over ex-Olympian Felix Verdejo and a loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko.

15. Lee Selby (Wales)- *inactivity warning. Hasn't fought since 2020, but his last result, a split-decision loss to Kambosos in an IBF eliminator, doesn't look so bad now.

16. Maxi Hughes (England)- He lost two British title fights at junior lightweight, but turned his career around with five wins on the bounce at lightweight. He is the reigning IBO champion, having taken Jovanni Straffon's title last time out.

17. Francesco Patera (Belgium) - The Belgian Patera eneded 2019 as the European champion but did not fight in 2020. He got two wins in 2021, including a very useful TKO over Devis Boschiero in October.

18.  Yvan Mendy (France)- *inactivity warning. Had six straight wins in 2019-2020, but has not fought in 2021. 

19. Rolly Romero (USA)- He had two good wins in 2021 but things fell apart in the fall as accusations of sexual misconduct cost him a shot at Tank Davis and have his career in limbo.

20. Hironori Mishiro (Japan) - Former OPBF super featherweight champion is just 11-0-1 but has fought a high level of opposition in Japan.

21. Angel Fierro (Mexico) - Fierro was a relatively obscure Mexican lightweight until he shocked former 130-pound titleholder Alberto Machado with a technical knockout in March. 

22. Denys Berinchyk (Ukraine) - Former Ukrainian Olympian has a big fight vs. Isa Chaniev this weekend, with a likely spot in the top 15 for the winner.

23. Francisco Vargas (Mexico) - Former 130-pound champion's last fight was a loss to Isaac Cruz.

24. Emmanuel Tagoe (Ghana)- *inactivity warning. Once a top-ten lightweight, he has not fought in 2021 and is on the verge of falling off the boxing map.

25. Ladarius Miller (USA) - *inactivity warning. He holds a win over former 130-pound title holder Jezzrel Corrales but has not fought since a 2020 loss to Michel Rivera.

OTHERS GETTING VOTES: 26. Miguel Vazquez; 27. Masayuki Ito; 28T. Zaur Abdullaev; 28T. Roman Andreev; 30. Gustavo Lemos; 31T. Jovanni Straffon; 31T. Oscar Duarte.

BUBBLING UNDER: 33. Alex Martin; 34. Jezzrel Corrales; 35. Ricardo Nunez; 36. Isa Chaniev; 37. James Tennyson; 38. Alberto Machado; 39. Hector Tanajara; 40. Gavin Gwynne; 41. Gary Cully; 42. Jamaine Ortiz; 43. Guillaume Frenois; 44. Juan Rene Tellez; 45. Elnur Samedov; 46. Andres Cortez; 47. Jon Fernandez; 48. Marcos Villasana; 49. Nahir Albright; 50. Frank Martin.

THE COMMITTEE: Boxingtalk has put together a three-person rating committee consisting of Scott Shaffer, Michael Borao, Jr. and a boxing executive who wishes to remain anonymous at this time due to having to deal with promoters whose boxers appear in these rankings. 

SUBSEQUENT RESULTS: Denys Berinchyk defeays Isa Chaniev; Ricky Burns defeats Emiliano Dominguez; Jose Valenzuela defeats Austin Dulay; Frank Martin defeats Romero Duno

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