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What to make of the current light heavyweight division in boxing? You have the ageless wonder, some young champions he has had mixed results with, and then some rising titleholders and other contenders yet to be truly tested at the elite level. Take a look at boxing's top 10 light heavyweight division rankings.

Light heavyweight division rankings last updated May 2012

1. Chad Dawson – It's been a long, slow road back to the top for Chad Dawson. He can now finally move on from this chapter of his life and career. He handed Bernard Hopkins a clear loss - even if the performance itself wasn't too inspiring, the result can't be debated. That places him back atop the division, and puts him in control of his future. Will he look to avenge the Pascal loss next, or pursue a fight with Andre Ward?
2. Bernard Hopkins – Hopkins definitely showed more of his age against Dawson in their rematch, but that doesn't exactly mean he's a shot fighter. He still seemingly has plenty left in the tank to take on much of the division, and considering he just beat Pascal, I'm not going to put Hopkins behind him in the rankings, especially when Pascal has been dormant.
3. Jean Pascal – Pascal has gone on a great run, despite the loss to Bernard. He beat Adrian Diaconu twice, defeated Chad Dawson, and then knocked down Hopkins twice in their first encounter. All of the physical ability is still there, but like we've known all along, it's a raw package, and it comes with stamina problems. Pascal will be back in a big fight soon though.
4. Nathan Cleverly -The undefeated U.K. light heavyweight doesn't have many names you'd recognize on the resume, but he recently toppled fellow undefeated European prospect Karo Murat, and followed that up with a win over trash-talking domestic rival Tony Bellew. He didn't get his title shot against Braehmer, and had to settle for a last minute replacement instead. Still, he's the WBO champ now, and is in good position for a big fight. Cleverly has been vocal in his desire to face Hopkins, so maybe that will get put together now.
5. Gabriel Campillo - Adding to the terrible confusion in the current light heavyweight division rankings is the fact that Gabriel Campillo has twice been robbed, and should arguably be 3-0 against Beibut Shumenov and Tavoris Cloud, (4-0, including a fight against Karo Murat), instead of 1-2-1. He's a rangy southpaw with good offense and solid skills, so who's going to face him now?
6. Tavoris Cloud – Cloud dominated a past-his-due-date Clinton Woods for the IBF portion of the light heavyweight championship, and then gutted out a tough match against Glen Johnson. We knew he was raw and limited, but Campillo showed just how much that was the case. Cloud was avoided before he looked bad against Campillo and got a very lucky verdict, so will somebody else step up to him now, or will he be permanently cast aside?
7. Beibut Shumenov - Say what you will about how he got his title belt and the credibility of that, but Shumenov is still one of the better fighters in the division. With just 12 fights on the record so far, it will be interesting to see how he continues to develop. Was denied a big fight opportunity when (shock) Juergen Braehmer withdrew from their scheduled unification bout.
8. Juergen Braehmer - I very hesitatingly put Braehmer back in the top 10, as he has fought twice so far in 2012 in an effort to get his career back on track after a seemingly endless string of fight delays and cancellations. Let's see how active he remains and if he actually lines up, and follows through, with a worthwhile fight.
9. Eduard Gutknecht - Gutknecht is coming off the biggest win of his career, as unanimous decision over Vyacheslav Uzelkov, whose only previous loss was to Shumenov. He has been staying busy, with six wins in two years since his lone career setback against Robert Stieglitz.
10. Isaac Chilemba -  Chilemba took care of business against Edison Miranda like a good fighter is supposed to, at this stage of Pantera's career. More impressive was his early 2011 victory over then-undefeated Maxim Vlasov.

More Names:

Zsolt Erdei, Adrian Diaconu, Ismayl Sillakh, Maxim Vlasov, Denis Grachev

More Boxing Weight Class Rankings:

• 160-168 pounds – Boxing Super Middleweight Rankings
• 175-200 pounds – Boxing Cruiserweight Division Rankings

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