March Ratings

(as of 3/22)

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 •
Robert Helenius
Eddie Chambers •
Cedric Boswell •

= active
(out: Boytsov-displaced, Solis-lost)

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. Troy Ross
Denis Lebedev •
Yoan Hernandez •
Ola Afolabi
Alexander Frenkel

= active
(out: Hide-inactive, Herelius-lost)
Inactive List: Frenkel

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
Eduard Gutknecht •
9. Dmitri Sukhotsky
10. Vyacheslav Uzelkov

= active
(out: Campillo-inactive)
Inactive List: Henry

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Lucian Bute (IBF) •
Andre Ward (WBA)
Carl Froch (WBC)
4. Glen Johnson
5. Robert Stieglitz (WBO)
Sakio Bika
Dennis Sartison (WBA)
Arthur Abraham •
9. Thomas Oosthuizen (IBO) •
10. Peter Quillen

• = active
(out: Gutknecht-moved up, Kessler-inactive, Andrade-inactive)

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

• = active
(out: Pavlik-inactive)

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
Miguel Cotto (WBA) •
Saul Alvarez (WBC) •
3. Alfredo Angulo
4. Cornelius Bundrage (IBF)
Vanes Matirosyan •
Pawel Wolak •
David Lopez •
8. Zaurbek Baysangurov (IBO)
9. Erislandy Lara •
10. Ryan Rhodes

• = active
(out: Pacquiao-moved down, Cintron-inactive, Dzinziruk-moved up, lost, Foreman-lost)
Inactive List: Angulo, Bundrage

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

• = active
(out: Hatton-moved up, lost)
Inactive List: Senchenko, M’Baye

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)
Champion: Tim Bradley (WBO, WBC) •
1. Amir Khan (WBA)
2. Zab Judah (IBF) •
3. Marcos Maidana
Lucas Matthysee •
Victor Ortiz
6. Devon Alexander •
7. Danny Garcia •
8. Paul McCloskey
Ashley Theophane •
Lamont Peterson

• = active
(out: Mabuza-lost)

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez
1. Robert Guerrero
Humberto Soto (WBC) •
Brandon Rios (WBA) •
Jorge Linares
Urbano Antillon
6. Miguel Vazquez (IBF) •
7. Miguel Acosta •
8. Michael Katsidis
9. Paulus Moses •
10. Gavin Rees

• = active
(out: Zappavigna-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. Alejandro Sanabria •
9. Adrien Broner •
10. Daniel Ponce de Leon •

• = active
(out: Tajbert-displaced, Gutierrez-displaced, Gulyakevich-displaced)
Inactive List: Fana

Featherweights (126 lbs)
Champion: Chris John •
1. Juan Manuel Lopez (WBO)
Yuriorkis Gamboa (IBF)
Rafael Marquez
Orlando Salido
Celestino Caballero
6. Cristobal Cruz
7. Jhonny Gonzalez
8. Eduardo Escobedo
Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC)
Juan Carlos Burgos •


• = active
(out: Ponce de Leon-moved up)
Inactive List: Cruz

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

• = active

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

• = active
(out: Cermeño-moved up)
Inactive List: Moreno

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
Hugo Cazares (WBA) •
Tomas Rojas (WBC) •
Cristian Mijares (IBF)
4. Omar Narvaez (WBO •
Kohei Kono
Alberto Rosas
7. Malcolm Tuñacao •
8. Yota Sato
Drian Francisco
Victor Zaleta •

• = active
(out: Nashiro-lost, Bouziane-inactive)

Flyweights (112 lbs)
Champion: Pongsaklek Wonkongjam (WBC) •
Luis Concepcion (WBA)
2. Moruti Mthalane (IBF)
3. Edgar Sosa
4. Wilbert Uicab •
5. Julio Cesar Miranda •
6. Milan Melindo •
Rocky Fuentes
8. Edren Dapudong •
9. Suriyan Por Chokchai •
10. Jean Perez •

• = active
(out: K Kameda-moved up, D Kameda-moved up, Naito-inactive)

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

= active
(out: Miyazaki-displaced)

Strawweights (105 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Nkosinathi Joyi (IBF) •
Raul Garcia
3. Kazuto Ioka (WBC) •
4. Oleydong Sithsamerchai •
5. Juan Palacios
6. Donnie Nietes (WBO)
Pornsawan Porpramook
Michael Landero
9. Sammy Gutierrez •
10. Manuel Jimenez

= active
(out: Kuroki-lost, Yaegashi-displaced)
Inactive List: Landero, Porpramook

World Champions: 9 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2011