September Ratings

(as of 9/27)

I’ve been doing these monthly ratings since 1983. There are 3 criteria I use to rate fighters:

•Quality of Opposition

•Performance

•Activity

I am not ranking the best from 1 to 10; rather, this is to see who deserves a title shot. I rate all 18 divisions, a time-consuming activity to say the least. Therefore, commentary only appears every 3rd month.

Some mistakingly think the Champion in each division is the guy who I think is the best. This is not the case. There are 2 criteria by which I determine Champions: the 1st is lineage (The Man who beat The Man who beat The Man); and the 2nd is defeating another fighter also ranked in the top 3 in the division.

“Inactive List” is for fighters who have not fought in 6 or more months. It may mean that he is or will be dropping in the ratings due to his inactivity. It is unfair to other fighters for a guy to sit on his rating. If a fighter has a fight scheduled or is injured, I try to take this into consideration.

I do not recognize “Super Champions” or other such nonsense. If the WBA wants to take its world title recognition from a fighter, then it has stripped him as far as I’m concerned.

Heavyweights (over 200 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Wladimir Klitschko (IBF, IBO, WBO)
2. Samuel Peter (WBC)
3. Alexander Povetkin
4. Ruslan Chagaev (WBA)
5. Nicolay Valuev
6. James Toney
7. Alexander Dimitrenko
8. Kali Meehan
9. Juan Carlos Gomez
10. Chris Arreola

active: Gomez, Arreola (out: Virchis-lost)
(Inactive List: Chagaev)

Crusierweights (200 lbs)
Champion: David Haye
1. Steve Cunningham (IBF)
2. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
3. Tomasz Adamek
4. Johnathan Banks
5. Marco Huck
6. Wayne Braithwaite
7. Guillermo Jones (WBA)
8. Firat Arslan
9. Giacobbe Fragomeni
10. Herbie Hide

active: Huck, Jones, Arslan (out: Mormeck-inactive)
Inactive List: Cunningham

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)
Champion: Zsolt Erdei (WBO)
1. Chad Dawson
2. Glen Johnson
3. Antonio Tarver (IBF, IBO)
4. Clinton Woods
5. Adrian Diaconu (WBC)
6. Bernard Hopkins
7. Shaun George
8. Antonio Brancalion
9. Hugo Garay (WBA)
10. Tavoris Cloud

active: none

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)
Champion: Joe Calzaghe
1. Anthony Mundine
2. Lucian Bute (IBF)
3. Mikkel Kessler (WBA)
4. Carl Froch
5. Denis Inkin (WBO)
6. Vitali Tsypko
7. Jürgen Brähmer
8. Sakio Bika
9. Jean Pascal
10. Librado Andrade

active: Inkin
(Inactive List: Pascal)

Middleweights (160 lbs)
Champion: Kelly Pavlik (WBC, WBO)
1. Arthur Abraham (IBF)
2. Jermain Taylor
3. Sebastian Sylvester
4. David Lopez
5. Felix Sturm (WBA)
6. Amin Asikainen
7. Khoren Gevor
8. John Duddy
9. Mahir Oral
10. Marco Antonio Rubio

active: none

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Sergiy Dzinziruk (WBO)
2. Verno Phillips (IBF)
3. Daniel Santos (WBA)
4. Vernon Forrest (WBC)
5. Sergio Martinez
6. James Kirkland
7. Cory Spinks
8. Sergio Mora
9. Attila Kovacs
10. Alex Bunema

active: Kirkland, Forrest, Mora

Welterweights (147 lbs)
Champion: Antonio Margarito (WBA)
1. Shane Mosley
2. Miguel Cotto
3. Joshua Clottey (IBF)
4. Andre Berto (WBC)
5. Paul Williams (WBO)
6. Yuriy Nuzhnenko
7. Kevin McIntyre
8. Saul Alvarez
9. Rafael Jackiewicz
10. Sebastian Lujan

active: Jackiewicz, Berto, Mosley, Williams (at 160) (out: Bonsu-lost, Senchenko-lost)

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)
Champion: Ricky Hatton (IBO)
1. Kendall Holt (WBO)
2. Tim Bradley (WBC)
3. Andreas Kotelnik (WBA)
4. Junior Witter
5. Paul Malignaggi
6. Ricardo Torres
7. Herman Ngoudjo
8. Demetrius Hopkins
9. Victor Ortiz
10. Juan Urango

active: Bradley, Kotelnik, Ortiz
Inactive List: Hopkins

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Nate Campbell (WBO, IBF)
1. Manny Pacquiao (WBC)
2. Juan Manuel Marquez
3. Juan Diaz
4. Yuri Romanov
5. Jesus Chavez
6. Ali Funeka
7. Almazbek Raiymkulov
8. Antonio Pitalua
9. Breidis Prescott
10. Anthony Peterson

active: Marquez, Diaz, Prescott, Pitalua, Raiymkulov, Chavez (out: Casamayor-lost, Cherry-moved up and lost, Khan-lost, Santa Cruz-lost)

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Edwin Valero
2. Yodsanan Nanthachai
3. Rocky Juarez
4. Cassius Baloyi (IBF)
5. Humberto Soto
6. Urbano Antillon
7. Mzonke Fana
8. Takashi Uchiyama
9. Nicky Cook (WBO)
10. Alex Arthur

active: Juarez, Baloyi, Antillon, Cook, Arthur (out: Marquez-moved up, Guzman-inactive)

Featherweights (126 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Chris John (WBA)
2. Robert Guerrero
3. Cristobal Cruz
4. Jorge Linares (WBC)
5. Thomas Mashaba
6. Hiroyuki Enoki
7. Steven Luevano (WBO)
8. Orlando Salido
9. Monty Meza-Clay
10. Leonilo Miranda

active: none (out: Velazquez-lost)
Inactive List: Linares

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)
Champion: Israel Vazquez (WBC)
1. Rafael Marquez
2. Celestino Caballero (WBA)
3. Steve Molitor (IBF)
4. Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym
5. Toshiaki Nishioka
6. Jhonny Gonzalez
7. Juan Manuel Lopez (WBO)
8. Daniel Ponce de Leon
9. Olivier Lontchi
10. Rendall Munroe

active: Nishioka, Caballero, Munroe (out: Lacierva-moved up)

Bantamweights (118 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC)
2. Gerry Peñalosa (WBO)
3. Silence Mabuza (IBO)
4. Simone Maludrottu
5. Vusi Malinga
6. Abner Mares
7. Anselmo Moreno (WBA)
8. Joseph Agbeko (IBF)
9. Sasha Bakhtin
10. Wladimir Sidorenko

active: Moreno
(Inactive List: Agbeko)

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)
Champion: Cristian Mijares (WBC)
1. Fernando Montiel (WBO)
2. Jorge Arce
3. Vic Darchinyan (IBF)
4. Z Gorres
5. Nobuo Nashiro
6. Pramuansak Posuwan
7. Jose Lopez
8. Alexander Muñoz
9. Raul Martinez
10. Medgoen Singsurat

active: Nashiro, Arce (out: Concepcion-lost)

Flyweights (112 lbs)
Champion: Daisuke Naito (WBC)
1. Pongsaklek Wonkongjam
2. Takefumi Sakata (WBA)
3. Nonito Donaire (IBF, IBO)
4. Omar Narvaez (WBO)
5. Denkaosan Singwancha (Kaovichit)
6. Roberto Vasquez
7. Koki Kameda
8. Brian Viloria
9. Rayonta Whitfield
10. Luis Concepcion

active: Concepcion, Narvaez (out: Singwancha-lost)

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)
Champion: Ivan Calderon (WBO)
1. Hugo Cazares
2. Ulises Solis (IBF)
3. Juanito Rubillar
4. Edgar Sosa (WBC)
5. Munetsugu Kayo
6. Carlos Tamara
7. Cesar Canchila
8. Juan Landaeta
9. Brahim Asloum (WBA)
10. Katsuhiko Iezumi

active: none (out: Gonzalez-moved down)
Inactive List: Asloum

Strawweights (105 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Oleydong Sithsamerchai (WBC)
2. Muhammad Rachman
3. Roman Gonzalez (WBA)
4. Raul Garcia (IBF)
5. Eagle Den Junlaphan (Kyowa)
6. Yasutaka Kuroki
7. Juan Palacios
8. Jun Kaneda
9. Katsunari Takayama
10. Florante Condes

active: Gonzalez, Garcia, Takayama (out: Niida-lost)
Inactive List: Den Junlaphan

World Champions: 11 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2008