Rankings (July 12, 2021): JoJo Diaz, Zurdo, Estrada, more

Rankings go up on Mondays at 10 am ET.

Ranked fights this week:

• Junior Middleweight: (1) Jermell Charlo vs (2) Brian Castano, July 17
• Minimumweight: (9) Ginjiro Shigeoka vs Toshiki Kawamitsu, July 14

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Joe Joyce vs Carlos Takam, July 24 … (9) Michael Hunter vs Mike Wilson, Aug. 3 … (2) Anthony Joshua vs (6) Oleksandr Usyk, Sept. 25 … (1) Tyson Fury vs (3) Deontay Wilder, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Notes: Zurdo Ramirez made a successful Golden Boy debut on Friday, crushing Sullivan Barrera inside of four rounds. Barrera is definitely old, not at his best, and was never a top top light heavyweight, but Barrera didn’t look helpless out there to me, either. He was competitive for two rounds and then Ramirez smashed him to the body. It’s a solid win, and if he can get Dmitry Bivol next like he says he wants, that’s a good fight.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (3) David Benavidez vs Jose Uzcategui, Aug. 28 … (1) Canelo Alvarez vs TBA, Sept. 18

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Notes: I don’t think Tim Tszyu proved much of anything by battering a guy who really belongs at 140, but he stayed busy and won. Not sure he could have really proven much by beating Michael Zerafa, either, and that could still happen as Tszyu may be forced to “stay busy at home” a bit longer. He called out Liam Smith, Magomed Kurbanov, and Danny Garcia. The first two are solid fights for him — Tszyu’s record is really “kid gloves” so far, but he doesn’t take the heat for that some fighters do, and those guys would be good steps in his career. Garcia is going to be really small at 154 but the name value of that would be obvious, so I get why Tszyu would want that, too; frankly, he probably doesn’t see Danny as a threat.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Jermell Charlo vs (2) Brian Castano, July 17 … (7) Sebastian Fundora vs (10) Sergio Garcia, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Errol Spence Jr vs (3) Manny Pacquiao, Aug. 21 … (6) Yordenis Ugas vs TBA, Aug. 21 … (2) Terence Crawford vs Jose Zepeda, Oct. 23 … (10) Mikey Garcia vs Regis Prograis [junior welterweight], TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (5) Jose Zepeda vs Terence Crawford [welterweight], Oct. 23 … (1) Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall, TBA … (2) Regis Prograis vs Mikey Garcia, TBA

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Notes: Joseph Diaz Jr made his lightweight debut with a really strong win over Javier Fortuna on Friday, a bold move up against a legit opponent, and a nice victory for “JoJo,” who mostly looked dialed in and was just the better fighter, even though Fortuna had his successes and won some rounds.

Fortuna is not a great lightweight, but he’s a good one, and I think he stays in the top 10 for now. Masayoshi Nakatani is bumped out, but it was a close call. That’s a fight I wouldn’t mind seeing. Fortuna is no Lopez or Lomachenko, he’s not going to just be way too good for Nakatani’s relentlessness to not be a factor.

Anyway, Diaz should have a shot at Devin Haney’s WBC belt if he wants it, if the WBC do in fact make that order as has been expected. He could also eschew the belt and go for Ryan Garcia, who may be bigger money and is fully in-house at Golden Boy. I think Diaz is going to have limits at 135 — he’s got short arms and he’s not a big puncher, but when he’s on his game he will be a tough out at the least. He’s a sound, tough fighter with a nastiness that benefits him.

Meanwhile, the Lopez-Kambosos fight nobody ever really asked for other than the IBF and Team Kambosos continues to be a mess.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Teofimo Lopez vs (9) George Kambosos Jr, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Shavkat Rakhimov vs Kenichi Ogawa, Aug. 20 … (1) Oscar Valdez vs Robson Conceicao, Sept. 10

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Kid Galahad vs Jazza Dickens, Aug. 7 … (4) Xu Can vs Leigh Wood, July 31 … (5) Mauricio Lara vs (6) Josh Warrington, Sept. 4 … (1) Gary Russell Jr vs Rey Vargas, TBA

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Notes: Azat Hovhannisyan got another fight in on Friday, beating club fighter Jose Santos Gonzalez by decision over 10 rounds. Not really a win of any note, but worth a note, if that makes sense.

Upcoming Fights: (2) Stephen Fulton Jr vs (3) Brandon Figueroa, Sept. 11 … (4) Danny Roman vs (10) Ra’eese Aleem, Sept. 11 … (1) Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs (8) Ronny Rios, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (10) Lee McGregor vs Vincent Legrand, Aug. 6 … (3) John Riel Casimero vs (4) Guillermo Rigondeaux, Aug. 14 … (7) Jason Moloney vs Joshua Greer Jr, Aug. 14

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Joshua Franco vs (9) Andrew Moloney, Aug. 14 … (2) Kazuto Ioka vs Francisco Rodriguez Jr, Sept. 1 … (1) Juan Francisco Estrada vs (4) Chocolatito Gonzalez, TBA … (3) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Carlos Cuadras, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Junto Nakatani vs (6) Angel Acosta, Sept. 10

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Kenshiro Teraji vs Masamichi Yabuki, Sept. 10 … (2) Hiroto Kyoguchi vs (10) Esteban Bermudez, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (9) Ginjiro Shigeoka vs Toshiki Kawamitsu, July 14

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Errol Spence Jr vs Manny Pacquiao, Aug. 21 … (4) Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr, Sept. 11 … (8) Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua, Sept. 25 … (6) Terence Crawford vs TBA, Oct. 23 … (9) Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder, TBA … (10) Juan Francisco Estrada vs Chocolatito Gonzalez, TBA

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Notes: Seniesa Estrada picked up another belt, winning a 108 lb title against Tenkai Tsunami. A good performance, another belt, she inches up another spot. You could probably have her higher, and she may be headed up the list fast if she keeps the ambition she’s been showing.

Upcoming Fights: (6) Mikaela Mayer vs (10) Maiva Hamadouche, TBA