January Ratings

(as of 1/27)

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. Alexander Povetkin
3. Vitali Klitschko (WBC)
4. James Toney
5. Alexander Dimitrenko
6. Ruslan Chagaev (WBA)
7. Nicolay Valuev
8. David Haye
9. Kali Meehan
10. Evander Holyfield

active: W Klitschko, Toney, Valuev, Holyfield (out: Gomez-displaced)

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

active: Adamek, Cunningham, Huck
Inactive List: Wlodarczyk, 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. Hugo Garay (WBA)
9. Antonio Tarver
10. Antonio Brancalion

active: Erdei, Brancalion
Inactive List: Diaconu

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Mikkel Kessler (WBA)
2. Anthony Mundine
3. Lucian Bute (IBF)
4. Carl Froch (WBC)
5. Sakio Bika
6. Jermain Taylor
7. Vitali Tsypko
8. Librado Andrade
9. Andre Dirrell
10. Karoly Balszay (WBO)

active: Froch, Balszay (out: Inkin-lost)

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

active: none

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

active: none (out: Baysangurov-lost)

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

active: Bonsu, Mosley, Margarito, Berto, Alvarez, Nuzhnenko (out: McIntyre-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. Ricardo Torres
6. Herman Ngoudjo
7. Mike Alvarado
8. Victor Ortiz
9. Juan Urango
10. Mike Arnaoutis

active: Holt, Ortiz, Alvarado

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: Pacquiao (at 147)
Inactive List: Romanov

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

active: Soto, Antillon, Guerrero (out: Arthur-displaced)

Featherweights (126 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Chris John (WBA)
2. Cristobal Cruz
3. Steven Luevano (WBO)
4. Orlando Salido
5. Monty Meza-Clay
6. Elio Rojas
7. Mario Santiago
8. Yuriokis Gamboa
9. Oscar Larios (WBC)
10. Takahiro Aoh

active: Gamboa (out: Guerrero-moved up, Mashaba-inactive, Miranda-lost)

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

active: Lopez, Nishioka (out: Marquez-inactive)

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. Eric Morel

active: Agbeko, Morel (out: Sidorenko-displaced)
Inactive List: Mares

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

active: Mbamba (out: Martinez-displaced)
Inactive List: Muñoz

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

active: Naito, Singwancha, Sakata, Viloria
Inactive List: Inom

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

active: Kayo (out: Iezumi-lost)
Inactive List: Tamara, Landaeta

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. Jun Kaneda
8. Katsunari Takayama
9. Nkosinathi Joyi (IBO)
10. Florante Condes

active: Gonzalez, Garcia, Condes (out: Reyes-lost)

World Champions: 11 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2009