BoxingScene Ratings Update: Abraham, Crawford, Salido
Mar 5, 2014 • 2:40 AM ET
By Cliff Rold
We have a new titlist at Lightweight, a former titlist returned to honors at Super Middleweight, and a beltholder who lost his strap on the scale but got a big win against an ingénue who bit off more than he was ready to chew.
Put it all together, and boxing fans got a full plate of quality action to fully wipe away the February doldrums.
This is the BoxingScene ratings update.
Super Middleweight: Arthur Abraham closed the show strong with a final round knockdown and saved his career, all while regaining the WBO belt at 168 lbs. He moves up and Stieglitz, who was right there in the fight, slips a bit. James DeGale, with a late stoppage win, moves up a hair to the spot right behind the lone man to defeat him: George Groves. Julio Cesar Chavez legitimately beat Middleweight Brian Vera in their second bout but remains outside the top ten.
Lightweight: Terrence Crawford came of age and showed up to the task of not only winning overseas but also leaving the judges with no room to rob him. He rises to the top three in class.
Featherweight: Orlando Salido used every tactic, and read ‘every’ sans the rulebook, to prove Vasyl Lomachenko not quite ready for primetime. Salido gets a bump and while the hype will be tempered, expect Lomachenko to be a player sooner than later. Late, it was Salido holding on and the Ukrainian will learn from the defeat. Some might note that Salido missed weight but until he officially opts to leave the division he remains rated.
The full results of note and the total impact on the ratings are a click away.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
