May Ratings

(as of 5/26)

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. Vitali Klitschko (WBC)
3. Alexander Povetkin
4. James Toney
5. Alexander Dimitrenko
6. Ruslan Chagaev (WBA)
7. Nicolay Valuev
8. David Haye
9. Eddie Chambers
10. Chris Arreola

active: V Klitschko, Povetkin, Chambers, Arreola (out: Meehan-displaced, Holyfield-displaced)
Inactive List: Toney

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

active: Afolabi, Wlodarczyk, Fragomeni, Huck
Inactive List: Jones, Arslan

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: Dawson, Tarver, Diaconu
Inactive List: Hopkins, Cloud

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

active: Bute, Andrade, Tsypko, Balszay, Froch, Taylor, Dirrell (twice)
Inactive List: Kessler, Bika

Middleweights (160 lbs)
Champion: Kelly Pavlik (WBC, WBO)
1. Arthur Abraham (IBF)
2. Felix Sturm (WBA)
3. Khoren Gevor
4. Sebastian Sylvester
5. Peter Quillin
6. Roman Karmazin
7. Miguel Espino
8. Giovanni Lorenzo
9. Mahir Oral
10. Sebastien Demers

active: Abraham, Espino, Karmazin (twice), Sturm (out: Lopez-moved down, Duddy-lost)
Inactive List: Quillin

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

active: Williams, Lopez (out: Bundrage-displaced)
Inactive List: Dzinziruk, Santos

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

active: Alvarez, Senchenko, Nuzhnenko

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

active: Pacquiao, Bradley, Holt, Torres, Alvarado (out: Hatton-lost)
Inactive List: Witter

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez (WBA)
1. Juan Diaz
2. Yuri Romanov
3. Edwin Valero (WBC)
4. Ali Funeka
5. Breidis Prescott
6. Amir Khan
7. Antonio DeMarco
8. Michael Katsidis
9. Vicente Escobedo
10. Anthony Peterson

active: Khan, Valero, Escobedo (twice), Katsidis (out: Pacquiao-moved up, Chavez-lost, Pitalua-lost)
Inactive List: Peterson

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Humberto Soto (WBC)
2. Malcolm Klassen (IBF)
3. Urbano Antillon
4. Takashi Uchiyama
5. Mzonke Fana
6. Roman Martinez (WBO)
7. Robert Guerrero
8. Cassius Baloyi
9. Jorge Linares (WBA)
10. Alex Arthur

active: Martinez, Soto (twice), Klassen, Baloyi, Antillon, Uchiyama (out: Valero-moved up, Cook-lost, Solis-moved down)

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

active: Aoh, Gamboa (out: Larios-lost)
Inactive List: Salido

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

active: Lopez, Caballero, Nishioka, Lontchi, Munroe, Kratingdaenggym (out: Gonzalez-lost, Martinez-lost)
Inactive List: Lacierva

Bantamweights (118 lbs)
Champion: Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC)
1. Silence Mabuza (IBO)
2. Fernando Montiel (WBO)
3. Anselmo Moreno (WBA)
4. Simone Maludrottu
5. Abner Mares
6. Sasha Bakhtin
7. Joseph Agbeko (IBF)
8. Eric Morel
9. Nehomar Cermeño
10. Michael Domingo

active: Hasegawa, Montiel, Moreno, Mares, Morel, Cermeño (out: Peñalosa-lost, retired, Malinga-lost)
Inactive List: Maludrottu

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

active: Gorres, Nashiro, Lopez, Posuwan (out: Montiel-moved up, Mijares-moved up, lost)
Inactive List: Mbamba, Mbityi

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. Luis Concepcion
8. Julio Cesar Miranda
9. Panomroonglek Kratingdaenggym
10. Alejandro Hernandez

active: none (out: Inom-inactive, Viloria-moved down)
Inactive List: Miranda

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

active: none (out: Tamara-inactive, Canchila-lost)

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

active: Gonzalez (out: Joyi-displaced)

World Champions: 11 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2009