January Ratings

(as of 1/23)

I’ve been doing these monthly/bi-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 Maan 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.



** 2014 Note:

Listing the various world body titles was never an endorsement. Rather, I felt it was a useful guide to see which of the titles held any legitimacy if one could see where the fighters who held them were ranked.

But it has become so absolutely ridiculous, what with garbage like "interim champion" and "world champion in recess." It's beyond absurd the lengths these parasitic organizations will go to to collect more and more sanctioning fees. Gotta pay for those conventions in exotic locales.

There is only one real World Champion per division and always has been. It's only the determining criteria that causes differences of opinion here.

So I'm done tracking all of that nonsense. Who gives a crap who these cancerous groups rank or allow into a title fight? Their relationship with which promoter is usually the answer anyway.

Besides anyone who wants to can go to the websites if these parasitic organizations and see their laughable ratings. But, really, who the hell would want to?



Heavyweights (over 200 lbs)

Champion: Wladimir Klitschko

1. Deontay Wilder
2. Tyson Fury
3. Vyacheslav Glazkov
4. Alexander Povetkin
5. Steve Cunningham
6. Bermane Stiverne
7. Bryant Jennings
8. Ruslan Chagaev
9. Artur Szpilka
10. Manuel Charr

out: none
Inactive List: Chagaev

Crusierweights (200 lbs)

Champion: Marco Huck

1. Grigory Drozd
2. Yoan Hernandez
3. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
4. Ilunga Makabu
5. Thadiso Mchunu
6. Denis Lebedev
7. Ola Afolabi
8. Youri Kalenga
9. Rakhim Chakhkiev
10. Krzysztof Glowacki

out: none
Inactive List: Afolabi

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)

Champion: Sergey Kovalev

1. Adonis Stevenson
2. Andrzej Fonfara
3. Jürgen Brähmer
4. Jean Pascal
5. Tommy Karpency
6. Isaac Chilemba
7. Artur Beterbiev
8. Nadjib Mohammedi
9. Eleider Alvarez
10. Maxim Vlasov

out: Sukhotsky-lost

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)

Champion: Andre Ward

1. Carl Froch
2. Arthur Abraham
3. Anthony Dirrell
4. Sakio Bika
5. Robert Stieglitz
6. James DeGale
7. Paul Smith
8. Felix Sturm
9. Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez
10. Rogelio Medina

out: none
Inactive List: Froch

Middleweights (160 lbs)

Champion: Miguel Cotto

1. Gennady Golovkin
2. Martin Murray
3. Sergio Martinez
4. Daniel Jacobs
5. David Lemieux
6. Andy Lee
7. Jermain Taylor
8. Sam Soliman
9. Hugo Centeno
10. Hassan N’Jikam

out: Quillin-inactive, Truax-displaced, de la Rosa-lost

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)

Champion: Saul Alvarez

1. Erislandy Lara
2. Demetrius Andrade
3. Cornelius Bundrage
4. Vanes Matirosyan
5. James Kirkland
6. Julian Williams
7. Carlos Molina
8. Jermell Charlo
9. Joshua Clottey
10. Austin Trout

out: Lee—moved up
Inactive List: Andrade, Clottey

Welterweights (147 lbs)

Champion: Manny Pacquiao

1. Floyd Mayweather
2. Tim Bradley
3. Kell Brook
4. Juan Manuel Marquez
5. Amir Khan
6. Keith Thurman
7. Marcos Maidana
8. Shawn Porter
9. Robert Guererro
10. Sadam Ali

out: Alexander-lost
Inactive List: Marquez

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)

Champion: Danny Garcia  

1. Lucas Matthysee
2. Ruslan Provodnikov
3. Jessie Vargas
4. Mauricio Herrera
5. Viktor Postol
6. Humberto Soto
7. Thomas Dulorme
8. Lamont Peterson
9. John Molina
10. Michele Di Rocco

out: Algieri-lost, Allakhverdiev-inactive, Lundy-lost
Inactive List: Postol

Lightweights (135 lbs)

Champion: Terrence Crawford

1. Paulus Moses
2. Omar Figueroa
3. Mickey Bey
4. Miguel Vazquez
5. Yuriorkis Gamboa
6. Ray Beltran
7. Jorge Linares
8. Dejan Zlaticanin
9. Ricky Burns
10. Darley Perez

out: DeMarco-lost

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Miguel Roman
2. Orlando Salido
3. Rances Barthelemy
4. Takashi Miura
5. Takahiro Ao
6. Bryan Vasquez
7. Romain Jacob
8. Francisco Vargas
9. Takashi Uchiyama
10. Adrian Estrella

out: Garcia-inactive, Thompson-lost

Featherweights (126 lbs)

Champion: Nicholas Walters

1. Vasyl Lomachenko
2. Evgeny Gradovich
3. Jhonny Gonzalez
4. Simpiwe Vetyeka
5. Abner Mares
6. Marvin Sonsona
7. Jesus Cuellar
8. Gary Russell
9. Robinson Castellanos
10. Javier Fortuna

out: Piriyapinyo-lost
Inactive List: Sonsona

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)

Champion: Guillermo Rigondeaux

1. Carl Frampton
2. Leo Santa Cruz
3. Kiko Martinez
4. Chris Avalos
5. Scott Quigg
6. Cesar Seda
7. Hisashi Amagasa
8. Tyson Cave
9. Luis Rosa
10. Genesis Servannia

out: Gutierrez-displaced
Inactive List: Seda

Bantamweights (118 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Shinsuke Yamanaka
2. James McDonnell
3. Tomoki Kameda
4. Hugo Ruiz
6. Paul Butler
7. Randy Caballero
8. Juan Carlos Payano
9. Anselmo Moreno
10. Rodrigo Guererro

out: none

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)

Champion: Carlos Cuadras

1. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Liborio Solis
4. Kohei Kono
5. Zolani Tete
6. McJoe Arroyo
7. Ryo Matsumoto
8. Norberto Jimenez
9. Felipe Orucuta
10. Daniel Lozcano

out: Narvaez-lost, Morales-displaced

Flyweights (112 lbs)

Champion: Roman Gonzalez

1. Juan Francisco Estrada
2. Edgar Sosa
3. Amnat Ruenroeng
4. Kazuto Ioka
5. Giovanni Segura
6. Juan Carlos Reveco
7. Milan Melindo
8. Rey Megrino
9. Zou Shiming
10. Toshiyuki Igarashi

out: Yaegashi-lost, Saengthep-lost
Inactive List: Megrino

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Pedro Guevara
2. Donnie Nietes
3. John Riel Casimero
4. Ganigan Lopez
5. Javier Mendoza
6. Ryoichi Tagushi
7. Fahlan Sakkreein
8. Rey Loreto
9. Mario Rodriguez
10. Benezer Alolod

out: Inoue-moved up, Rossel-lost

Strawweights (105 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Hekkie Budler
2. Wanheng Menayothin
3. Francisco Rodriguez
4. Katsunari Takayama
5. Knockout CP Freshmart
6. Kosei Tamaka
7. Carlos Ortega
8. Ali Raymi
9. Oswaldo Novoa
10. Carlos Buitrago

out: none
Inactive List: Takayama

World Champions:  13 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2015