October Ratings

(as of 10/29)

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. Alexander Povetkin
3. Vitali Klitschko (WBC)
4. Ruslan Chagaev (WBA)
5. Nicolay Valuev
6. James Toney
7. Alexander Dimitrenko
8. Kali Meehan
9. Juan Carlos Gomez
10. Samuel Peter

active: V Klitschko, Peter (out: Arreola-displaced)

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

active: Fragomeni, Huck, Hide
Inactive List: Braithwaite

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

active: Dawson, Hopkins, Tarver (out: Cloud-displaced)

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

active: Bute, Andrade, Kessler (out: Calzaghe-moved up)
(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. Marco Antonio Rubio
9. John Duddy
10. Mahir Oral

active: Rubio, Pavlik (at 175), Lopez

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

active: Martinez, Angulo (out: Kovacs-lost, Bunema-lost)
(Inactive List: Spinks)

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

active: Alvarez

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. Victor Ortiz
9. Juan Urango
10. Mike Arnaoutis

active: none (out: Hopkins-inactive)

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: none

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

active: Soto

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

active: John, Luevano (out: Enoki-lost)
Inactive List: Guerrero, Mashaba, 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. Jorge Lacierva
10. Olivier Lontchi

active: Lopez, Lacierva (out: Munroe-displaced)
(Inactive List: Marquez)

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. Sasha Bakhtin
9. Joseph Agbeko (IBF)
10. Wladimir Sidorenko

active: Hasegawa, Bakhtin
(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. Zolile Mbityi
10. Raul Martinez

active: Mbityi, Lopez (out: Singsurat-displaced)

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. Koki Kameda
7. Brian Viloria
8. Rayonta Whitfield
9. Luis Concepcion
10. Bernard Inom

active: none (out: Vasquez-moved up)

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. Katsuhiko Iezumi
10. Brahim Asloum (WBA)

active: Sosa
Inactive List: Asloum

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

active: Reyes (out: Den Junlaphan-inactive)

World Champions: 11 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2008