Ranking the Best Opponents for Terry Flanagan After His Win over Derry Mathews

It wasn't always pretty, but Terry Flanagan found a way to retain his WBO lightweight title in Liverpool, England, on Saturday.

Having made the short trip from Manchester, Turbo came on strong in the second half of the contest to comfortably beat Derry Mathews on points at the Echo Arena, per Sky Sports.

All three judges scored the bout for Flanagan—two officials had it 117-110 for the reigning champion, while the other's card read 115-112.

The final margins would have been wider had the 26-year-old southpaw not been deducted a point for using his forearm during Round 8. He was also warned on more than one occasion for low blows.

But when he stuck to boxing rather than brawling, the champion was a cut above Mathews (38-10-2, 20 KOs).

So, what next for the unbeaten Flanagan (30-0, 12 KOs)? Here, Bleacher Report has ranked the potential opponents for his next fight.

If Flanagan wants to collect belts at lightweight, Rances Barthelemy (24-0, 13 KOs) has to be in his sights.

The Cuban-born, Las Vegas-based fighter claimed the vacant IBF crown by defeating Russian Denis Shafikov by unanimous decision in Dec. 2015.

In winning, Kid Blast became a two-weight world champion. He previously held the IBF super featherweight title before relinquishing the strap to move up.

However, there are a couple of major road blocks to a potential Flanagan-Barthelemy bout.

First, the 29-year-old is tied to Premier Boxing Champions in the United States. His connection to advisor Al Haymon means there is no need to head overseas to maximise his earning potential.

Second, Bleacher Report's Jonathan Snowden revealed, in an excellent feature published in Dec. 2015: "Rances' goal is to win world championships in four or five weight classes. That's heady stuff, the kind of line items only found on the resume of a first-ballot Hall of Famer."

If that is the case, Barthelemy may not hang around at lightweight for too long.

Liam Walsh is ready and willing to step up—both in terms of weight and class—to face Flanagan.

The 29-year-old southpaw (19-0, 13 KOs) has campaigned at both super feather and lightweight, winning titles in both divisions.

He was last seen picking up the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title with a sixth-round KO of Isaias Santos Sampaio on July 11, 2015.

Now the fighter from Rochdale, England, is hoping to get the chance to take on a world champion.

He told BoxNation prior to Flanagan's win over Mathews: "It’s a fight I want because Flanagan is one of the best and I want to fight the best. It doesn’t look like there’s much floating around in the super featherweight division at the moment. The opportunities look limited at the minute and I can hold my own at Super-Featherweight or Lightweight so it’s a fight that makes sense."

The deal would at least be easy to make—both Flanagan and Walsh are promoted by Frank Warren.

Flanagan and Jose Zepeda (24-1, 21 KOs) have met before, albeit not for long.

The duo faced each other in Manchester in July 2015 for the vacant WBO title. They barely had time to work up a sweat before Zepeda suffered a serious shoulder problem in Round 2.

The American was forced to retire, handing (not literally) his opponent the belt. The defeat due to injury remains the only blemish on Chon's record.

He didn't have a lot of luck in his comeback fight either—a cut suffered after a clash of heads saw his fight with Jose Alfaro declared a no contest in Round 1.

Zepeda has campaigned at super lightweight for the majority of his career yet could be tempted to drop down to the 135-pound limit for a rematch with Flanagan.

The 26-year-old is also the No. 1 contender with the WBO, according to FightNews.com's rankings.

With Anthony Crolla preoccupied with one Venezuelan in Ismael Barroso, the stars may be aligning for Flanagan to face another from the South American country.

Jorge Linares (40-3, 27 KOs)—a former WBC champion now based in Tokyo, Japan—could be back from injury just in time for a summer bout in England.

The 30-year-old—who ruined Kevin Mitchell's planned coronation in London in May 2015 by climbing off the canvas to stop the home favourite in Round 10—had been set to defend his belt against Dejan Zlaticanin.

However, the bout had to be shelved when Linares fractured his right hand in training, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

Golden Boy was then stripped of the title by the WBC, although he will be allowed to fight for the strap when he returns to the ring, according to Rafael.

Instead, Linares could choose to turn over a new leaf in his career and target a different belt.

Promoter Frank Warren confirmed Linares was high up on Flanagan's list of targets during the post-fight press conference in Liverpool, per the official Twitter feed of BoxNation.

Flanagan's No. 1 target is WBA champion Anthony Crolla (30-4-3, 12 KOs).

The two Mancunians would divide the city if they were to meet in a unification clash. While Flanagan is a fan of Manchester City, Crolla's allegiances lie with Manchester United.

They also have an excellent back story, as Flanagan explained to Nick Parkinson of ESPN.co.uk: "I knew him [Crolla] at school, he was a few years ahead of me, and he's a nice kid. But we will put our friendship aside for the fight, boxing is a business after all, and after the fight we can be mates again."

So, it makes perfect sense for the pair to meet in their home city, right?

Maybe, but Crolla is signed up to defend his title against Ismael Barroso—the man who stopped Kevin Mitchell in what turned out to be The Hammer's final pro fight—on May 7.

Frank Warren is willing to stump up the money to make it happen, according to James Robson of the Manchester Evening News: "What we are saying is if the WBA say you’ve got to defend against Barroso—we’re saying vacate that title. Just fight for the WBO title and we’ll pay you the same money as coming in without any belt."

It would be great for British boxing fans if the fight were to happen, but don't get your hopes up too soon.

Who would you like to see Flanagan fight next? Bleacher Report welcomes your opinion, so have your say in the comments section.