December Ratings

(as of 12/15)

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. Tomasz Adamek •
4. David Haye (WBA) •
5. Ruslan Chagaev •
6. Alexander Povetkin •
7. Chris Arreola
8. Robert Helenius
9. Denis Boytsov •
10. Odlanier Solis

• = active

Crusierweights (200 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Marco Huck (WBO)
2. Steve Cunningham (IBF)
3. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (WBC) •
4. Danny Green (IBO) •
5. Zsolt Erdei •
6. Herbie Hide
7. Troy Ross •
8. Denis Lebedev
9. Steve Herelius •
10. Ola Afolabi •

• = active
Inactive List: Hide

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)
Champion: Jean Pascal (WBC, IBO)
1. Chad Dawson
2. Tavoris Cloud (IBF)
3. Bernard Hopkins
4. Jürgen Brähmer (WBO)
5. Chris Henry
Beibut Shumenov (WBA)
Nathan Cleverly • •
8. Gabriel Campillo
9. Dmitri Sukhotsky •
10. Vyacheslav Uzelkov

= active
(out: Johnson-moved down, Murat-lost)
Inactive List: Henry, Campillo

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Lucian Bute (IBF) •
Andre Ward (WBA) •
Carl Froch (WBC) •
4. Mikkel Kessler
5. Glen Johnson •
Robert Stieglitz (WBO) •
Sakio Bika •
Dennis Sartison (WBA)
9. Eduard Gutknecht
10. Librado Andrade

• = active
(out: Dirrell-injured, Abraham-lost)
Inactive List: Kessler, Andrade

Middleweights (160 lbs)
Champion: Sergio Martinez (WBC, WBC 154) •
1. Sebastian Sylvester (IBF) •
2. Kelly Pavlik
3. Felix Sturm (WBA)
4. Daniel Geale •
5. Sebastian Zbik
6. David Lemieux • •
7. Dmitry Pirog (WBO)
8. Giovanni Lorenzo
Roman Karmazin •
Fernando Guerrero •

• = active
(out: Simon-lost, Mundine-lost)
Inactive List: Pavlik

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
Manny Pacquiao (WBC) •
Kermit Cintron
3. Miguel Cotto (WBA)
Alfredo Angulo
Saul Alvarez • •
6. Cornelius Bundrage (IBF)
7. Sergiy Dzinziruk (WBO)
8. Vanes Matirosyan
9. Zaurbek Baysangurov •
10. Yuri Foreman

• = active
(out: Williams-moved up, lost, Lara-displaced)
Inactive List: Cintron, Foreman

Welterweights (147 lbs)
Champion: Floyd Mayweather
1. Andre Berto (WBC)
2. Dejan Zaveck (IBF)
3. Vyacheslav Senchenko (WBA)
4. Selcuk Aydin
5. Rafal Jackiewicz
6. Matthew Hatton
7. Souleiman M'Baye
Randall Bailey •
Kell Brook •
Mike Jones •

• = active
(out: Pacquiao-moved up, Mosley-moved up)
Inactive List: Aydin

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Tim Bradley (WBO)
2. Amir Khan (WBA) •
Devon Alexander (WBC, IBF)
Victor Ortiz • •
5. Marcos Maidana •
Zab Judah •
7. Lucas Matthysee •
8. Kaizer Mabuza
Paul McCloskey •
Danny Garcia •

• = active
(out: Alvarado-displaced, Rees-displaced)

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez (WBA) •
1. Robert Guerrero •
Humberto Soto (WBC) • •
Jorge Linares •
Brandon Rios •
Miguel Acosta (WBA)
Urbano Antillon •
7. Michael Katsidis •
Miguel Vasquez (IBF)
9. Leonardo Zappavigna (IBO)
10. Paulus Moses

• = active
(out: Guzman-moved up, Funeka-inactive, Escobedo-lost)

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
Jason Litzau •
Takashi Uchiyama (WBA) •
3. Mzonke Fana (IBF)
Jorge Solis •
5. Ricky Burns (WBO) •
6. Roman Martinez
7. Takahiro Aoh (WBC) •
8. Vitali Tajbert •
9. Humberto Gutierrez •
10. Sergey Gulyakevich •

• = active
(out: Jandaeng-displaced)

Featherweights (126 lbs)
Champion: Chris John •
1. Juan Manuel Lopez (WBO) •
Yuriokis Gamboa (WBA, IBF)
Rafael Marquez •
Orlando Salido
Daniel Ponce de Leon • •
Celestino Caballero •
7. Cristobal Cruz
8. Jhonny Gonzalez •
Eduardo Escobedo •
Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC) •


• = active
(out: Aoh-moved up, Rojas-inactive, Escalante-lost)

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Toshiaki Nishioka (WBC) •
2. Steve Molitor (IBF)
3. Takalani Ndlovu
4. Rendall Munroe •
5. Ryol Li Lee (WBA) •
6. Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym •
7. Masaaki Serie
8. Jason Booth
9. Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr (WBO) •
10. Akifumi Shimoda

• = active
(out: Gonzalez-moved up)

Bantamweights (118 lbs)
Champion: Fernando Montiel (WBC, WBO)
1. Joseph Agbeko •
Anselmo Moreno
Abner Mares (IBO) •
Nonito Donaire •
Vic Darchinyan •
6. Yonnhy Perez •
Nehomar Cermeño
Vusi Malinga •
Michael Domingo •
Eric Morel

• = active
(out: Hasegawa-moved up, Bakhtin-inactive)

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
Hugo Cazares (WBA) •
Cristian Mijares (IBF) •
Nobuo Nashiro
Tomas Rojas (WBC) •
5. Kohei Kono •
6. Malik Bouziane
Omar Narvaez (WBO)
8. Alberto Rosas •
Victor Zaleta •
Drian Francisco •


• = active
(out: Donaire-moved up, Arce-moved up, Sidorenko-lost, Joyi-lost)
Inactive List: Bouziane

Flyweights (112 lbs)
Champion: Pongsaklek Wonkongjam (WBC) •
Luis Concepcion •
Koki Kameda
3. Daisuke Naito
Moruti Mthalane (IBF)
Daiki Kameda (WBA) •
6. Edgar Sosa •
7. Wilbert Uicab •
8. Julio Cesar Miranda •
Milan Melindo •
Rocky Fuentes

• = active
(out: Kaovichit-lost)
Inactive List: Naito

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)
Champion: Giovanni Segura (WBA, WBO)
Ivan Calderon
Roman Gonzalez • •
3. Rodel Mayol •
4. Luis Lazarte (IBF)
5. Ulises Solis •
6. Ramon Hirales •
Gilberto Keb Baas (WBC) •
Omar Nino Romero •
9. Brian Viloria •
Ryo Miyazaki •

• = active
(out: Tamara-moved up, Reveco-displaced)

Strawweights (105 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Oleydong Sithsamerchai (WBC) •
2. Nkosinathi Joyi (IBF)
3. Raul Garcia •
4. Yasutaka Kuroki
5. Juan Palacios
Donnie Nietes (WBO)
Pornsawan Porpramook •
Sammy Gutierrez •
Manuel Jimenez • •
Akira Yaegashi

= active
(out: Gonzalez-moved up, Carrillo-lost)
Inactive List: Yaegashi

World Champions: 8 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2011