Rankings go up on Mondays at Noon ET.
Ranked fights this week:
- Junior Lightweight: (3) Jamel Herring vs (10) Carl Frampton, Apr. 3
- Junior Featherweight: (1) Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs (4) Ryosuke Iwasa, Apr. 3
Before we get going, a note this week
We are no longer going to list titles in the rankings. If you want a quick reference to the world titles, we have a new page with the champs of the sanctioning bodies listed by division, men and women both.
The WBC’s decision to not enforce Juan Francisco Estrada’s mandatory 118-pound title defense against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, but instead “promote” Estrada to “franchise” champion and order Sor Rungvisai — who had been promised a trilogy fight with the Estrada-Chocolatito 2 winner — to fight Carlos Cuadras for the now-vacant WBC world title was the catalyst here. It’s not that this is a unique or unusually shitty move by the WBC or any sanctioning body, but it is the thing that tipped me to this decision.
We do the weekly rankings to discuss the best fighters regardless of who holds what belt. With the WBC determined to even further muddy the championship waters of boxing with this new, thinly-veiled preferential treatment for favored fighters, we’re just not acknowledging the belts in the rankings. We will still discuss the belts, talk about them in normal posts, because they matter enough as a reason that certain fights get made and others do not. But they do not matter for this, and for this, they are no longer going to be listed.
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Notes: Dillian Whyte jumps back into the top five with his dominant rematch win over Alexander Povetkin, who tumbles down to No. 10. That might seem like a big drop, and it is, but Povetkin looked awful. He was clearly not in good shape even coming into the ring, and if we based it just on that performance, he’s not in the top 10 at all right now, and that spot is there for the taking if someone gets a good win. But then so is No. 9. As for splitting Hunter and Povetkin, who fought to a draw in 2019, I edged that fight to Hunter on my card, so I give him the slight nod over Povetkin for now.
There are names coming up, too, and quickly if they can. Tony Yoka wants to make his move this year, and Filip Hrgovic — if he gets the fight with Michael Hunter — will have his chance soon enough, too. I have a lot of respect for Povetkin, he’s a good fighter and he gave that fight on Saturday what little had in the tank, but he looked cooked from the get-go in there.
Upcoming Fights: (4) Andy Ruiz Jr vs Chris Arreola, May 1 … (8) Joseph Parker vs Derek Chisora, May 1 … (1) Tyson Fury vs (2) Anthony Joshua, TBA … (9) Michael Hunter vs Filip Hrgovic, TBA
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Upcoming Fights: TBA
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Upcoming Fights: (4) Joe Smith Jr vs Maxim Vlasov, Apr. 10 … (2) Dmitry Bivol vs Craig Richards, May 1
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Upcoming Fights: (8) Carlos Gongora vs Christopher Pearson, Apr. 17 … (10) David Lemieux vs Ronny Landaeta, Apr. 17 … (1) Canelo Alvarez vs (4) Billy Joe Saunders, May 8
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Upcoming Fights: (3) Demetrius Andrade vs (9) Liam Williams, Apr. 17 … (7) Chris Eubank Jr vs Marcus Morrison, May 1
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Upcoming Fights: TBA
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Upcoming Fights: (9) Sergey Lipinets vs Jaron Ennis, Apr. 10
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Upcoming Fights: (3) Regis Prograis vs Ivan Redkach, Apr. 17 … (1) Josh Taylor vs (2) Jose Ramirez, May 22
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Upcoming Fights: (1) Teofimo Lopez vs (10) George Kambosos Jr, TBA … (4) Devin Haney vs (7) Jorge Linares, TBA
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Upcoming Fights: (3) Jamel Herring vs (10) Carl Frampton, Apr. 3 … (7) Shakur Stevenson vs TBA, June 12 … (8) Shavkat Rakhimov vs Kenichi Ogawa, TBA
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Upcoming Fights: (3) Emanuel Navarrete vs Christopher Diaz, Apr. 24 … (2) Kid Galahad vs Jazza Dickens, TBA
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Upcoming Fights: (1) Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs (4) Ryosuke Iwasa, Apr. 3
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Upcoming Fights: (1) Naoya Inoue vs Michael Dasmarinas, June 19
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Upcoming Fights: (5) Jerwin Ancajas vs Jonathan Rodriguez, Apr. 10
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Upcoming Fights: (2) Moruti Mthalane vs Sunny Edwards, Apr. 30
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Upcoming Fights: (1) Kenshiro Teraji vs (7) Tetsuya Hisada, Apr. 24
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Upcoming Fights: TBA
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Upcoming Fights: (2) Naoya Inoue vs Michael Dasmarinas, June 19 … (9) Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, TBA …. (5) Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr, TBA
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Notes: Amanda Serrano pretty well out-classed Daniela Bermudez last Thursday. Bermudez was ranked No. 7 prior to last week, and falls out now; she’s still a good fighter, but it is competitive past the top few spots (I’d say the top three have proven to be the top three at this point in time, but you could add a few more, I don’t know), and a loss is a loss. She lost clearly.
In at No. 10 is Seniesa Estrada, who has been inching there, and with her title-winning effort last time out has broken through. I think if you watch her fight, it’s clear she’s among the best, most well-rounded fighters in the women’s game right now. We are still in the midst of a rather major changing of the guard in women’s boxing. Those who had extensive amateur experience are starting to take over, and even those who didn’t but have learned with really good pro training — like Terri Harper, for instance — are making a big mark. Younger — or in some cases, “newer” — pro fighters have been pushing out the old guard for years now. It continues. And it’s slowly but surely raising the level of talent.
Also of note, we are pretty quickly approaching a point where Yesica Bopp has not fought for two full years. I’ve been forgiving of inactivity because of COVID ruining a lot of 2020 plans, and boxing that isn’t big box office has taken the biggest hits of all (Andrew Tabiti at cruiserweight is approaching two years, too, for instance). It takes money to run shows. It usually takes fans in attendance to help make that money back. Bopp appears to still be training and waiting for fight news on her social media, so I’m hoping she gets a fight. She’s truly one of the best women’s fighters in the world, but at some point people do have to fight again to stay ranked. I’m not imposing any exact cutoff dates for anyone because it’s such a weird thing still, but it’s been on my mind.
Upcoming Fights: (2) Katie Taylor vs Natasha Jonas, May 1 … (7) Mikaela Mayer vs TBA, June 19