May Ratings

(as of 5/25)

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.



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: Tyson Fury

1. Wladimir Klitschko
2. Deontay Wilder
3. Alexander Povetkin
4. Anthony Joshua
5. Luis Ortiz
6. Bermane Stiverne
7. Andy Ruiz
8. Joseph Parker
9. Johann Duhaupas
10. Lucas Browne

out: Briedis-moved down, Teper-inactive
Inactive List: Stiverne

Crusierweights (200 lbs)

Champion: Krzysztof Glowacki

1. Denis Lebedev
2. Marco Huck
3. Mairis Briedis
4. Yunier Dorticos
5. Tony Bellew
6. Oleksandr Usyk
7. Ovill McKenzie
8. Youri Kalenga
9. Beibut Shumenov
10. Michel Cieslak

out: Ramirez-lost, Durodola-lost, Thomas-lost
Inactive List: Usyk, McKenzie

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)

Champion: Sergey Kovalev

1. Andre Ward
2. Andrzej Fonfara
3. Adonis Stevenson
4. Eleider Alvarez
5. Artur Beterbiev
6. Jürgen Brähmer
7. Marcus Browne
8. Thomas Williams
9. Erik Skoglund
10. Vyacheslav Shabranskyy

out: Cleverly-inactive, Barrera-lost
Inactive List: Stevenson

Super Middleweights (168 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Badou Jack
2. Gilberto Ramirez
3. James DeGale
4. Anthony Dirrell
5. Arthur Abraham
6. Zac Dunn
7. Callum Smith
8. Dilmurod Satybaldiev
9. Patrick Nielsen
10. Jessie Hart

out: Ward-moved up
Inactive List: Satybaldiev, Nielsen

Middleweights (160 lbs)

Champion: Saul Alvarez

1. Gennady Golovkin
2. Miguel Cotto
3. Daniel Jacobs
4. Billy Joe Saunders
5. Andy Lee
6. Hugo Centeno
7. Chris Eubank
8. David Lemieux
9. Avtandil Khurtsidze
10. Ievgen Khytrov

out: Mora-inactive, Magomedov-lost, Johnson-inactive
Inactive List: Cotto, Saunders, Lee, Centeno

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Erislandy Lara
2. Jermall Charlo
3. Jermell Charlo
4. Julian Williams
5. Vanes Martirosyan
6. Demetrius Andrade
7. Willie Nelson
8. Ramon Alvarez
9. Charles Hatley
10. Brandon Cook

out: Trout-lost
Inactive List: Alvarez, Hatley

Welterweights (147 lbs)

Champion: Manny Pacquiao

1. Danny Garcia
2. Kell Brook
3. Shawn Porter
4. Keith Thurman
5. Errol Spence
6. Jessie Vargas
7. Sammy Vasquez
8. Jeff Horn
9. Frankie Gomez
10. Konstantin Panomarev

out: Bradley-lost, Khan-moved up
Inactive List: Garcia, Vasquez

Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Terrence Crawford
2. Viktor Postol
3. Omar Figueroa
4. Ruslan Provodnikov
5. Antonio Orozco
6. Humberto Soto
7. Adrien Broner
8. Lamont Peterson
9. Felix Diaz
10. Brian Zarza

out: Herrera-lost
Inactive List: Figueroa, Soto, Peterson, Diaz

Lightweights (135 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Ricky Burns
2. Rances Barthelemy
3. Dejan Zlaticanin
4. Jorge Linares
6. Anthony Crolla
5. Malcolm Klassen
7. Terry Flanagan
7. Robert Easter
8. Emiliano Marsili
9. Felix Verdejo
10. Richard Commey

out: Mendez-lost, Barroso-lost
Inactive List: Linares, Marsili

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Francisco Vargas
2. Nicholas Walters
3. Miguel Roman
4. Takashi Miura
5. Roman Martinez
6. Jose Pedraza
7. Orlando Salido
8. Javier Fortuna
9. Jezreal Corrales
10. Joel Diaz

out: Smith-lost, Uchiyama-lost

Featherweights (126 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Vasyl Lomachenko
2. Leo Santa Cruz
3. Abner Mares
4. Lee Selby
5. Oscar Valdez
6. Josh Warrington
7. Jesus Cuellar
8. Luis Rosa
9. Oscar Escandon
10. Satoshi Hosono

out: Gradovich-lost, Rios-displaced
Inactive List: Rosa

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)

Champion: Guillermo Rigondeaux

1. Carl Frampton
2. Nonito Donaire
3. Scott Quigg
4. Tyson Cave
5. Hugo Ruiz
6. Julio Ceja
7. Moises Flores
8. Jonathan Guzman
9. Andres Gutierrez
10. Jessie Magdaleno

out: Amagasa-moved up
Inactive List: Cave

Bantamweights (118 lbs)

Champion: James McDonnell

1. Shinsuke Yamanaka
2. Liborio Solis
3. Tomoki Kameda
4. Juan Carlos Payano
5. Anselmo Moreno
6. Pungluang Sor Singyu
7. Lee Haskins
8. Victor Ruiz
9. Suriyan Sor Rungvisai
10. Stuart Hall

out: Guerfi-displaced
Inactive List: Kameda

Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)

Champion: Carlos Cuadras

1. Kohei Kono
2. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
3. Zolani Tete
4. Luis Concepcion
5. McJoe Arroyo
6. Naoya Inoue
7. Lwandile Sityatha
8. Norberto Jimenez
9. Paul Butler
10. Rex Tso

out: Matsumoto-lost
Inactive List: Concepcion, Arroyo, Sityatha, Jimenez

Flyweights (112 lbs)

Champion: Roman Gonzalez

1. Juan Francisco Estrada
2. Kazuto Ioka
3. John Riel Casimero
4. Moises Fuentes
5. Zou Shiming
6. Vincent Legrand
7. Nawaphon Por Chokchai
8. Noknoi Sitthiprasert
9. Takuya Kogawa
10. Omari Kimweri

out: Ruenroeng-lost
Inactive List: Estrada, Ioka

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Donnie Nietes
2. Ryoichi Taguchi
3. Ganigan Lopez
4. Milan Melindo
5. Yu Kimura
6. Pedro Guevara
7. Akira Yaegashi
8. Saul Juarez
9. Rey Loreto
10. Jonathan Taconing

out: none
Inactive List: Taconing

Strawweights (105 lbs)

Champion: VACANT

1. Knockout CP Freshmart
2. Wanheng Menayothin
3. Kosei Tanaka
4. Jose Argumedo
5. Katsunari Takayama
6. Byron Rojas
7. Hekkie Budler
8. Riku Kano
9. Julian Yedras
10. Fahlan Sakkreerin

out: Zhong-displaced
Inactive List: Yedras

World Champions:  9 (of 17)


these ratings © Phrank da Slugger 2016