March Ratings

(as of 3/30)

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.

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. Vitali Klitschko (WBC)
2. Wladimir Klitschko (IBF, IBO, WBO)
3. Alexander Povetkin (WBA)
4. Robert Helenius
5. Tomasz Adamek
6. Ruslan Chagaev
7. Chris Arreola
8. Mariusz Wach
9. Kubrat Pulev
10. Travis Walker

(out: Haye-retired, Chambers-inactive, Chisora-lost)

Crusierweights (200 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Marco Huck (WBO)
2. Yoan Hernandez (IBF)
3. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (WBC)
4. Denis Lebedev
5. Steve Cunningham
6. Antonio Tarver (IBO)
7. Danny Green
8. Lateef Kayode
9. Ola Afolabi
10. BJ Flores

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)
Champion: Bernard Hopkins (WBC)
1. Tavoris Cloud (IBF)
2. Chad Dawson
3. Gabriel Campillo
4. Nathan Cleverly (WBO)
5. Zsolt Erdei
6. Beibut Shumenov (WBA)
7. Karo Murat
8. Eduard Gutknecht
9. Isaac Chilemba
10. Dmitri Sukhotsky

(out: Pascal-inactive)
Inactive List: Erdei, Shumenov

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)
Champion: Andre Ward (WBA, WBC)
1. Lucian Bute (IBF)
2. Carl Froch
3. Mikkel Kessler
4. Robert Stieglitz (WBO)
5. Peter Quillin
6. Thomas Oosthuizen (IBO)
7. Glen Johnson
8. Karoly Balzsay
9. Sakio Bika
10. Andre Dirrell

Middleweights (160 lbs)
Champion: Sergio Martinez
1. Daniel Geale (IBF)
2. Felix Sturm
3. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr (WBC)
4. Dmitry Pirog (WBO)
5. Sebastian Zbik
6. Gennady Golovkin (WBA)
7. Paul Williams
8. Marco Antonio Rubio
9. Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam
10. Andy Lee

(out: Proska-lost, Macklin-lost)

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Miguel Cotto
2. Saul Alvarez (WBC)
3. James Kirkland
4. Carlos Molina
5. Erislandy Lara
6. Delvin Rodriguez
7. Vanes Matirosyan
8. Austin Trout (WBA)
9. Demetrius Andrade
10. Alfredo Angulo

(out: Bundrage-inactive)

Welterweights (147 lbs)
Champion: Floyd Mayweather (WBC)
1. Manny Pacquiao (WBO)
2. Andre Berto
3. Dejan Zavec
4. Kell Brook
5. Victor Ortiz
6. Selcuk Aydin
7. Mike Jones
8. Devon Alexander
9. Vyacheslav Senchenko (WBA)
10. Randall Bailey

(out: C Jones-displaced)

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)
Champion: Tim Bradley (WBO)
1. Lamont Peterson (WBA, IBF)
2. Amir Khan
3. Danny Garcia (WBC)
4. Lucas Matthysee
5. Humberto Soto
6. Mike Alvarado
7. Marcos Maidana
8. Kendall Holt
9. Erik Morales
10. Zab Judah

(out: Alexander-moved up, Theophane-displaced)

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Juan Manuel Marquez
1. Brandon Rios
2. Ricky Burns (WBO)
3. Antonio DeMarco (WBC)
4. Jorge Linares
5. Miguel Vazquez (IBF)
6. Gavin Rees
7. Richard Abril
8. Alejandro Sanabria
9. Hank Lundy
10. Paulus Moses

(out: Guerrero-inactive, Antillon-inactive)

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Adrien Broner (WBO)
2. Yuriorkis Gamboa
3. Takashi Uchiyama (WBA)
4. Juan Carlos Burgos
5. Takahiro Aoh (WBC)
6. Daniel Ponce de Leon
7. Vicente Escobedo
8. Devis Boschiero
9. Juan Carlos Salgado (IBF)
10. Argenis Mendez

(out: Sanabria-moved up)
Inactive List: Gamboa

Featherweights (126 lbs)
Champion: Chris John
1. Orlando Salido (WBO)
2. Juan Manuel Lopez
3. Jhonny Gonzalez (WBC)
4. Billy Dib (IBF)
5. Celestino Caballero (WBA)
6. Miguel Angel Garcia
7. Jonathan Barros
8. Jorge Lacierva
9. Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo
10. Gary Russell

(out: Escobedo-lost)

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Toshiaki Nishioka (WBC)
2. Nonito Donaire (WBO)
3. Rafael Marquez
4. Jeffrey Mathebula (IBF)
5. Takalani Ndlovu
6. Masaaki Serie
7. Steve Molitor
8. Rendall Munroe
9. Akifumi Shimoda
10. Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym

(out: Rigondeaux-displaced, Vazquez-lost)

Bantamweights (118 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Abner Mares (IBF)
2. Anselmo Moreno
3. Joseph Agbeko
4. Cristian Mijares
5. Jorge Arce (WBO)
6. Hugo Cazares
7. Vic Darchinyan
8. Eric Morel
9. Hugo Ruiz
10. Koki Kameda (WBA)

(out: Donaire-moved up)

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)
Champion: Yota Sato (WBC)
1. Suriyan Sor Rungvisai
2. Tomonobu Shimizu (WBA)
3. Alberto Rosas
4. Omar Narvaez (WBO)
5. Tomas Rojas
6. Tepparith Kokietgym (WBA)
7. Sylvester Lopez
8. Rolly Matsushita
9. Glenn Donaire
10. Victor Zaleta

Flyweights (112 lbs)
Champion: Sonny Boy Jaro (WBC)
1. Pongsaklek Wonkongjam
2. Hernan Marquez (WBA)
3. Brian Viloria (WBO)
4. Moruti Mthalane (IBF)
5. Milan Melindo
6. Edgar Sosa
7. Giovanni Segura
8. Julio Cesar Miranda
9. Rocky Fuentes
10. Toshiyuki Igarashi

(out: Reveco-inactive)

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Roman Gonzalez (WBA)
2. Ulises Solis (IBF)
3. Donnie Nietes (WBO)
4. Ramon Garcia Hirales
5. Kompayak Porpramook (WBC)
6. Adrian Hernandez
7. Johnriel Casimero
8. Ryo Miyazaki
9. Noknoi Sitthiprasert
10. Luis Ceja

(out: Lazarte-lost)
Inactive List: Solis

Strawweights (105 lbs)
Champion: VACANT
1. Kazuto Ioka (WBC)
2. Akira Yaegashi (WBA)
3. Juan Palacios
4. Denver Cuello
5. Wanheng Menayothin
6. Pornsawan Porpramook
7. Moises Fuentes (WBO)
8. Raul Garcia
9. Hekkie Budler (IBO)
10. Sammy Gutierrez

Inactive List: Palacios

World Champions: 9 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2012