1. Vasiliy Lomachenko - The top spot at 135 pounds is not up for debate. The Ukrainian superstar has had four fights at lightweight, three against top competition. Next up, he faces young gun Teofimo Lopez for the IBF belt, the only major title missing from Loma's collection.
2. Teofimo Lopez - While Lomachenko is the indisputable sheriff in town, Lopez is the clear-cut #2 at the moment. The 22 year old IBF champion from New York City had a phenomenal 2019: four big wins capped by easily mugging Richard Commey for the IBF title. If you miss Lomachenko-Lopez this spring, don't bother calling yourself a boxing fan.
3. Gervonta Davis - The former 130-pound champion has had only two fights at 135 pounds- a win over Francesco Fonseca in 2017 when he failed to make the super featherweight limit, and more recently, a solid win over the still top 20 Yuriorkis Gamboa. The WBA title Davis holds is a secondary one, as Lomachenko holds top recognition with the WBA, WBO and WBC. A fight against the Lomachenko-Lopez winner might be tough to make due to promotional rivalries, but at least Lomachenko has mentioned Tank's name for later in the year, should he get by Lopez.
4. Devin Haney - Undefeated, with top-shelf talent, Haney has beaten a couple of top twenty types, but no one who can really be called a top contender. Haney will likely miss the first half of 2020 due to shoulder surgery. The WBC belt he holds is purely a paper title, but hopefully he will return by the summer to continue his rise towards the top.
5. Javier Fortuna - Had two solid wins in 2019, but more importantly, Fortuna deserves a top ten ranking based on a 2018 split-decision loss to then-undefeated, then-IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter.
6. Richard Commey - The loss to Lopez will follow this warrior from Ghana because it was his most publicized fight, but the second-round loss does not erase the good work Commey did earlier in 2019 (wins over Isa Chaniev and Rey Beltran). He deserves another big fight.
7. Rances Barthelemy - The Cuban held the IBF title in 2015-2016 and then moved up to junior welterweight. He came back to 135 to face Robert Easter and fought to a draw. That was in April, and Barthelemy hasn't fight since, so his spot in the top twenty is at risk if his inactivity stretches more than a year.
8. Luke Campbell - 2012 Olympic champion exceeded expectations with a reasonably competitive distance loss to Lomachenko in August.
9. Emmanuel Tagoe - He is based in Ghana, where it is nearly impossible to attract top-tier opposition, but after losing his pro debut, Tagoe has beaten everyone put in front of him, so he has clearly earned his opportunity. He is 31-1 with his only pro loss coming in 2004... get this man a big fight, stat!
10. Lee Selby- Former IBF featherweight champion lost his title to Josh Warrington in 2018, and promptly jumped up two divisions. In 2019, Selby beat Omar Douglas and former title holder Ricky Burns. This Welshman can legitimately call himself a lightweight contender.
11. Edis Tatli - Not gonna lie, its very hard to separate the next three boxers, all Europeans. From Finland, Tatli's key results are a loss to Tefimo Lopez, a win over Yvan Mendy and a split of two fights vs. Francesco Patera.
12. Yvan Mendy - The French Mendy split two fights with Luke Campbell, lost to Tatli, defeated Francesco Patera and had two quality wins in 2019.
13. Francesco Patera - From Belgium, Patera is the reigning European champion and is on a run of four quality wins. However, he's lost to Mendy and split with Tatli.
14. Diego Magdaleno -This Mexican warrior is just shy of a year's inactivity following a loss to Teofimo Lopez, but he's got a fight scheduled for next month vs. Austin Dulay. A loss likely drops him from the top 20.
15. Ryan Garcia - Just 21 years of age, and a social media favorite, Garcia is just a little light in the resume in terms of opposition level. His February opponent, Frnacisco Fonseca, is another careful selection.
16. Gustavo Daniel Lemos- He's a 24 year-old with a 24-0 record but has yet to venture outside of his native Argentina.
17. Roberto Ramirez - Mexican defeated former title holder Dejean Zlaticanin in 2018 but has been marking time since then.
18. George Kambosos - Australian up-and-comer cracked the top twenty with a split-decision win over former title holder Mickey Bey in December.
19. James Tennyson - Northern Irishman lost a 2018 title shot in the 130-pound division to Tevin Farmer but moved up with four wins in 2019, including two quality wins to close out the year. He seems to have carried his punching power (26-3 with 22 KOs) up to lightweight, as all four wins came inside the distance.
20. Jon Fernandez - He came to the USA in 2018 from his native Spain, and lost to O'Shaquie Foster at 130 pounds, but he's been unbeaten since making the jump to lightweight.
Others: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Masayoshi Nakatani, Ricky Burns, Pavel Malikov, Xolisani Ndongeni, Roman Andreev, Hector Tanajara, Daud Yordan, Felix Verdejo, Simpiwe Vetyeka (inactive), Zaur Abdullaev, Elnur Samedov
Biggest Disappointment - Gervonta Davis moving up from junior lightweight without seeing Tevin Farmer or featherweight Gary Russell.
