February Ratings

(as of 3/9)

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: Chagaev

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

active: Adamek, Hide, Ross (out: Banks-lost, Braithwaite-inactive)
Inactive List: Wlodarczyk

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

active: Johnson, George, Woods (out: Calzaghe-retired)
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: Mundine, Dirrell

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. Peter Quillin
7. John Duddy
8. Giovanni Lorenzo
9. Mahir Oral
10. Sebastien Demers

active: Pavlik, Lorenzo, Duddy, Sylvester, Demers (out: Rubio-lost, Miranda-lost)

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

active: Angulo, Martinez, Kirkland (out: Julio-lost)
Inactive List: Santos

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

active: Cotto, Rodriguez, Jackiewicz (out: Lujan-displaced)

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

active: Kotelnik, Urango, Campbell, Ortiz, Ngoudjo, Alvarado (out: Arnaoutis-lost)
Inactive List: Torres

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez (WBA)
1. Manny Pacquiao
2. Juan Diaz
3. Yuri Romanov
4. Jesus Chavez
5. Ali Funeka
6. Antonio DeMarco
7. Breidis Prescott
8. Antonio Pitalua
9. Anthony Peterson
10. Amir Khan

active: Marquez, Diaz, Funeka, DeMarco, Prescott (out: Campbell-moved up, Raiymkulov-lost)
Inactive List: Romanov

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

active: Solis, Guerrero (out: Nanthachai-moved up, Juarez-moved down)

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

active: John, Cruz, Juarez, Gamboa (out: Meza-Clay-lost)
Inactive List: Santiago

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

active: Kimura, Kratingdaenggym (out: Miura-lost)

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

active: none
Inactive List: Mares

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

active: Darchinyan, Arce, Nongqayi (out: Muñoz-inactive)

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

active: Narvaez, Concepcion, Kameda (out: Whitfield-lost)
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. Cesar Canchila
6. Carlos Tamara
7. Juan Carlos Reveco
8. Juan Landaeta
9. Juanito Rubillar
10. Omar Nino Romero

active: none
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

World Champions: 10 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2009