May Ratings

(as of 5/26)

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. Alexander Povetkin
4. Vyacheslav Glazkov
5. Bermane Stiverne
6. Bryant Jennings
7. Artur Szpilka
8. Steve Cunningham
9. Andy Ruiz
10. Luis Ortiz

out: Charr-lost

Crusierweights (200 lbs)

Champion: Marco Huck

1. Grigory Drozd
2. Ilunga Makabu
3. Yoan Hernandez
4. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
5. Denis Lebedev
6. Dmitry Kudryashov
7. Rakhim Chakhkiev
8. Victor Ramirez
9. Krzysztof Glowacki
10. William Bezerra

out: Mchunu-lost, Afolabi-lost, Kalenga-lost
Inactive List: Hernandez, Wlodarczyk

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)

Champion: Sergey Kovalev

1. Adonis Stevenson
2. Andrzej Fonfara
3. Artur Beterbiev
4. Jürgen Brähmer
5. Tommy Karpency
6. Isaac Chilemba
7. Nadjib Mohammedi
8. Eleider Alvarez
9. Thomas Oosthuizen
10. Erik Skoglund

out: out

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)

Champion: Andre Ward

1. Arthur Abraham
2. Robert Stieglitz
3. James DeGale
4. Badou Jack
5. Anthony Dirrell
6. Gilberto Ramirez Sanchez
7. Fedor Chudinov
8. Rogelio Medina
9. Jessie Hart
10. Patrick Nielsen

out: Bika-moved up, Sturm-lost

Middleweights (160 lbs)

Champion: Miguel Cotto

1. Gennady Golovkin
2. Daniel Jacobs
3. Andy Lee
4. Peter Quillin
5. David Lemieux
6. Sam Soliman
7. Hugo Centeno
8. Hassan N’Jikam
9. Daniel Geale
10. Sergio Mora

out: Martinez-inactive, Taylor-inactive, Truax-lost
Inactive List: Centeno

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)

Champion: Saul Alvarez

1. Erislandy Lara
2. Cornelius Bundrage
3. Jermell Charlo
4. Vanes Matirosyan
5. Julian Williams
6. Austin Trout
7. Jermall Charlo
8. Ramon Alvarez
9. Tony Harrison
10. Carson Jones

out: Kirkland—lost, Molina-inactive
Inactive List: Alvarez

Welterweights (147 lbs)

Champion: Floyd Mayweather

1. Manny Pacquiao  
2. Kell Brook
3. Tim Bradley
4. Amir Khan
5. Keith Thurman
6. Shawn Porter
7. Marcos Maidana
8. Sadam Ali
9. Brandon Rios
10. Andre Berto

out: Dan—lost
Inactive List: Maidana

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)

Champion: Danny Garcia  

1. Lucas Matthysee
2. Terrence Crawford
3. Ruslan Provodnikov
4. Jessie Vargas
5. Mauricio Herrera
6. Viktor Postol
7. Humberto Soto
8. Adrien Broner
9. Lamont Peterson
10. Felix Diaz

out: Dulorme-lost, Di Rocco-displaced
Inactive List: Soto

Lightweights (135 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

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

out: Crawford-moved up, Moses-lost
Inactive List: Gamboa

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Miguel Roman
2. Takashi Miura
3. Rances Barthelemy
4. Bryan Vasquez
5. Roman Martinez
6. Romain Jacob
7. Francisco Vargas
8. Takashi Uchiyama
9. Jomthong Chuwatana
10. Eric Hunter

out: Salido-lost, Ao-moved up, Estrella-lost

Featherweights (126 lbs)

Champion: Nicholas Walters

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

out: Gonzalez-lost
Inactive List: Vetyeka

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)

Champion: Guillermo Rigondeaux

1. Carl Frampton
2. Leo Santa Cruz
3. Kiko Martinez
4. Scott Quigg
5. Hisashi Amagasa
6. Cesar Seda
7. Tyson Cave
8. Genesis Servannia
9. Andres Gutierrez
10. Jessie Magdaleno

out: none
Inactive List: Gutierrez

Bantamweights (118 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. James McDonnell
2. Shinsuke Yamanaka
3. Tomoki Kameda
4. Hugo Ruiz
5. Randy Caballero
6. Juan Carlos Payano
7. Liborio Solis
8. Anselmo Moreno
9. Rodrigo Guererro
10. Julio Ceja

out: Ruiz, Caballero, Payano

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)

Champion: Carlos Cuadras

1. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Zolani Tete
4. Kohei Kono
5. McJoe Arroyo
6. Ryo Matsumoto
7. Norberto Jimenez
8. Felipe Orucuta
9. Toshiyuki Igarashi
10. Lwandile Sityatha

out: Lozcano-lost
Inactive List: Inoue, Kono, Arroyo, Sityatha

Flyweights (112 lbs)

Champion: Roman Gonzalez

1. Juan Francisco Estrada
2. Amnat Ruenroeng
3. Kazuto Ioka
4. Milan Melindo
5. Giovanni Segura
6. Juan Carlos Reveco
7. Zou Shiming
8. Nawaphon Por Chokchai
9. McWilliams Arroyo
10. Suguru Muranaka

out: Sosa-lost
Inactive List: Segura

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Pedro Guevara
2. Francisco Rodriguez
3. Donnie Nietes
4. John Riel Casimero
5. Ganigan Lopez
6. Javier Mendoza
7. Ryoichi Taguchi
8. Rey Loreto
9. Ali Raymi
10. Randy Petalcorin

out: Sakkreein-moved down

Strawweights (105 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Hekkie Budler
2. Katsunari Takayama
3. Wanheng Menayothin
4. Knockout CP Freshmart
5. Carlos Buitrago
6. Kosei Tamaka
7. Oswaldo Novoa
8. Xiong Zhan Zhong
9. Julian Yedras
10. Raul Garcia

out: none
Inactive List: Garcia

World Champions:  12 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2015