Clash Among Titans: Ranking Boxing’s 17 Divisions

by Cliff Rold

What makes a great weight division?

Is it the perceived level of top talent?  Is it depth?  Is it the presence of fighters who have proven their success all over the scale?

Is it the internal competition within the division?

It is this last question initially fueling this look at each of boxing’s seventeen weight classes.  The thinking was simple: if a weight class is good, it’s competitive.  If the top fighters aren’t fighting each other much, how good can it be?

There are often assertions by fans, reporters, and pundits about what the best divisions in boxing are at any given time.  Why not test that out with a set of standards that combine some of the various elements described above and see what shakes out?

Introducing the clash score.

The clash score seeks to measure each division, and it’s individual fighters, based entirely on their results against fighters ranked right now, both in and around their present divisions.   The purpose here is not to be definitive but to provide a reasonable snapshot of boxing as it stands today.

Where are we seeing clash?
     
The most recent rankings of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), released August 12, 2014, were chosen as a baseline.  The TBRB rankings were selected given the wide range of inputs available with members from around the world.

For the purpose of full disclosure: the author is a Chair on the Board.  Fellow BoxingScene scribe Jake Donovan is a member and TBRB record keeper.

There is, and should be, plenty of room for debate about the results.

The items measured were as follows for each ranked fighter in each division:

• Wins against fighters currently ranked in division (1 pt. per win);
• Losses against fighters currently ranked in division (-1 pt. per loss);
• Draws against fighters currently ranked in division (.5 pts.)
• Knockouts against fighters currently ranked in division (1 pt.)
• Wins against fighters ranked in outside divisions (1 pt.)
• Competition bonus for wins against fighters currently ranked in division (Pts. correspond to position of opponent defeated in current rankings i.e. a win over the number one contender is worth 10, number two is worth 9 and so on.  If a fighter has multiple wins over the same fighter, or a win and draw, they only get credit for the highest single pt. available.  In other words, a win and draw against a number one contender is still only worth 10 pts.)
• Competition bonus for wins against fighters currently ranked in other divisions (Pts. correspond as described in the previous bullet)

The total generated for fighters is their individual clash score.  The total for all ten contenders in a given weight class is the baseline clash score for the division.  There was a chance for divisions to add points if they have an established linear champion.

Linear champions were scored the same as top ten contenders with an additional bonus for title defenses (1 pt. per defense).  They are the only champions who get credit for title defenses.  It would be sort of silly, for instance, to reward Super Middleweight beltholders Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham for ‘title defenses’ when neither has avenged losses to the still undefeated champion of the division, Andre Ward. 

A win over any of the current linear champions is worth 11 points in one of the competition bonus categories (with one exception explained below).  The champion’s totals were added to their respective divisions for a grand total clash score.

The champions recognized by TBRB currently, and their individual clash scores, are:

• Andre Ward (Super Middleweight, 2 Defenses) – 35 Points
• Floyd Mayweather (Jr. Middleweight, 0 Defenses) – 35 Points*
• Akira Yaegashi (Flyweight, 3 Defenses) – 24 Points
• Danny Garcia (Jr. Welterweight, 1 Defense) – 24 Points
• Wladimir Klitschko (Heavyweight, 9 Defenses) – 20 Points**
• Adonis Stevenson (Light Heavyweight, 3 Defenses) – 17 Points
• Guillermo Rigondeaux (Jr. Featherweight, 2 Defenses) – 12 Points
• Miguel Cotto (Middleweight, 0 Defenses) – 12 Points

The TBRB rankings can be found at: http://www.tbrb.org/all-rankings/

TBRB linear title successions can be found at: http://www.tbrb.org/successions/

Anyone confused yet?  Apologies if the answer is yes but it’s time to get to the good stuff. 

The question is simple: what are boxing’s best current weight classes based on their clash scores?  We begin with number one.

1) Welterweight – Clash Score: 167 Pts.

While this may not be the Welterweight division of the 1980s, it’s loaded with three inevitable Hall of Fame entrants (Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, and Juan Manuel Marquez) and another fighter who has put together a notably deep resume (Timothy Bradley).  It’s top ten fighters have been fighting each other with commendable regularity.  Even accepting that promotional divides in the sport keep certain fighters away from each other, only two fighters presently ranked (Keith Thurman and Kell Brook) don’t have at least one win over another member of the top ten.  Accomplishment both in the division and against fighters presently ranked in other divisions was off the charts.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 08/16: #6 Shawn Porter vs. #9 Kell Brook
• 09/13: #1 Floyd Mayweather vs. #5 Marcos Maidana
• 11/22: #2 Manny Pacquiao vs. #3 at 140 Chris Algieri

2) Jr. Middleweight – Clash Score: 107.5 Points

Mayweather may or may not be defending his Jr. Middleweight crown against Marcos Maidana in September.  The WBC says yes but let’s wait to see how that shakes out.  Maidana may not want to fight for that title given glove rules for Jr. Middleweight fights.  This is, like Welterweight, a top ten with plenty of fights against each other.  Hot on the heels of the debated clash between Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara, eight of the 11 available fighters for this class have at least one to two fights against another member of the top ten. Emerging talents like Jermell Charlo and Demetrius Andrade (already a beltholder) will have their chances to get into the mix.   

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

3) Flyweight – Clash Score: 102 Points

For many hardcore fight fans, this is boxing’s best division right now.  It might well be the most consistently thrilling.  For several years, Flyweight has delivered high quality action fights and maintained a deep, experienced top ten.  Roman Gonzalez’s addition to the class, and his success in previous divisions, bolsters the divisional score.  Four of the current top ten have yet to face another presently ranked contender but that will fall to two when Amnat Ruenroeng and McWilliams Arroyo face off in September.  The action just keeps coming as the division has shown an elastic ability to reload in the last year with new faces refreshing the scene and the possibility of more to come including Jr. Flyweight titlist Donnie Nietes.   

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 09/05: World Champion Akira Yaegashi vs. #8 Roman Gonzalez
• 09/06: #1 Juan Francisco Estrada vs. #6 Giovani Segura
• 09/10: #9 Amnat Ruenroeng vs. #10 McWilliams Arroyo

4) Super Middleweight – Clash Score: 94.5 Points

This division has both a dominant champion and regular fights between its top ten contenders.  Andre Ward has wins over four current top ten contenders (Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Sakio Bika, and Edwin Rodriguez).  Only two top ten contenders (Thomas Oosthuizen and J’Leon Love) are without at least one fight against another member of the top ten.  Among notable recent clashes was the most attended fight in the world so far in 2014, a rematch between Froch and George Groves.  With Mikkel Kessler soon to return to the ring, Andre Dirrell back in action, and Julio Cesar Chavez now competing in the division, a sustained era of excellence at Super Middleweight doesn’t look like it’s anywhere near over yet.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 08/16: #4 Sakio Bika vs. #7 Anthony Dirrell

5) Junior Welterweight – Clash Score: 84 Points

While recent affairs like Danny Garcia-Rod Salka and Lamont Peterson-Edgar Santana have been the subject of derision, they are not a reflection of what the division has been for much of the last few years.  With depth to rival any class, only one fighter in the current top ten (Viktor Postol) doesn’t have at least one fight against another ranked Jr. Welterweight.  Like Welterweight, the downside of the division is that promotional/network issues create parallel pools.  The sharks have been swimming in both. In just the last year, we’ve seen Garcia face Lucas Matthysse and Mauricio Herrera and Ruslan Provodnikov face Mike Alvarado and Chris Algieri.  That’s more than enough to maintain the quality of Jr. Welterweight for the time being.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

6) Featherweight – Clash Score: 64 Points

With a possible informal tournament of title holders possible over the next year or so, Featherweight has the chance to get out of the doldrums it’s been in since the end of the incredible 2000’s.  Six members of the top ten have at least one fight with another ranked fighter and the outside competition scores for Nonito Donaire and Abner Mares strongly bolster the quality of the division as does the presence of veterans Orlando Salido and Jhonny Gonzalez.    

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

7) Middleweight – Clash Score: 47 Points

Featuring one of the game’s biggest stars (Cotto) and one of its fastest rising (Gennady Golovkin), Middleweight may be on the brink of the sort of market share that used to be its regular.  As one of the three historical glamour divisions (along with Heavyweight and Welterweight), that is as it should be.  Only one contender (Marco Antonio Rubio) lacks at least one fight with another member of the top ten.  That is made up for by several fighters having had two to three.  With several veteran competitors like Sam Soliman and Felix Sturm in their ranks though, is Middleweight in a position to grow or retract over the next year or two? 

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

8) Light Heavyweight – Clash Score: 44 Points

Stevenson already has wins over two currently ranked contenders.  His top two challengers, the ageless Bernard Hopkins and the dangerous Sergey Kovalev, are set to square off in the fall.  Will Stevenson meet the winner in 2015?  If he does, the ceiling for Light Heavyweight can only rise.  Eight of the eleven fighters scored at Light Heavyweight have at least one fight with one of their brethren and, as noted, there is more to come before the year is out.  If Hopkins, 50 years old by the time he’d likely be able to get it done, can get through Kovalev and Stevenson, it will be a hard accomplishment to top in the annals of sport.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 11/08: #1 Bernard Hopkins vs. #2 Sergey Kovalev

9) Jr. Lightweight – Clash Score: 40.5 Points

While not one of boxing’s most celebrated current classes, nine of the ten ranked fighters have at least one fight with another contender.  Division leaders Takashi Uchiyama and Mikey Garcia are among the best fighters in the world in any class, but the former is getting older and the latter is currently in a contract dispute.  How much room for growth is there in this 130 lb. field?  Have we already seen the best it can deliver or will fresh matches between some of its top fighters be  a pleasant surprise?

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

10) Lightweight – Clash Score: 37.5 Points

With only two fighters (Miguel Vazquez and Omar Figueroa) without a fight against another ranked Lightweight, 135 lbs. is showing competitiveness amongst its best.  The emergence of Terrence Crawford has been a boon, already posting wins over ranked Ricky Burns and Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014.  The latter is a candidate for 2014 Fight of the Year and Crawford is already scheduled for his third top ten clash of the year.  Vasquez’s recent signing with Al Haymon may unfortunately leave the division without an immediate chance for its top two fighters to square off but the division has room to grow in other areas.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 11/29: #1 Terrence Crawford vs. #3 Raymundo Beltran

11) Jr. Flyweight – Clash Score: 36.5 Points

Lagging behind Lightweight by just a point, Jr. Flyweight has been overshadowed in the lower regions by Flyweight in recent years.  It’s been delivering plenty of thrills of its own.  Seven of its top ten have faced each other at least once with two fighters emerging as top forces.  Donnie Nietes, who Ring Magazine recognizes as the division champion, has put together solid runs at 105 and now 108, most recently stopping rival Moises Fuentes in their rematch.  Japan’s Naoya Inoue, only 6-0, already has a title belt and scored a knockout win of two-time titlist Adrian Hernandez to get it. 

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

12) Heavyweight – Clash Score: 34 Points

Experiencing a bit of a facelift as fresh contenders like Kubrat Pulev, Bermane Stiverne, and Deontay Wilder come into their own, Heavyweight lacks much clash between its current top ten.  Klitschko’s longtime dominance of the division is so total he makes up over half the score for the division, and that is with only one win over a currently ranked contender (Alexander Povetkin).  Povetkin gets a boost for an official (if controversial) win over leading Cruiserweight Marco Huck.  There is real potential at Heavyweight.  There just aren’t enough fights yet to back it up. Along with Klitschko, two other top ten contenders have wins over other ranked fighters.  Like the champion, they stand at one win apiece (Tyson Fury over Derreck Chisora and Vyacheslav Glazkov over Tomasz Adamek).  Expect Heavyweight to get better in the near future as these numbers inevitably improve. 

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 09/06: World Champion Wladimir Klitschko vs. #1 Kubrat Pulev
• 11/22: #3 Tyson Fury vs. #8 Derreck Chisora

13) Jr. Featherweight – Clash Score: 33 Points

With as rich a history of action fights and memorable warriors as any division has carved since its modern inception in the 1970s, 122 lbs. is currently ruled by arguably the game’s most cerebral champion in Rigondeaux.  He’s not being chased too hard with zero wins against fighters currently ranked in his top ten.  Leo Santa Cruz is at least saying he’d take the match via social media.  His 2013 victory over the now-featherweight titlist Donaire bolsters his position where his own division does not.  Only three of his top ten have single wins over other ranked contenders but there is room for optimism.  Santa Cruz, Carl Frampton, and Scott Quigg are as exciting a trio of young talents as any division has and they’re really still just getting started.  Check back in as year or two and Jr. Featherweight may just have evolved into one of the bright spots on the scale.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 09/06: #2 Carl Frampton vs. #3 Kiko Martinez

14) Strawweight – Clash Score: 17 Points

Boxing’s smallest division received a last minute boost with a unification bout last weekend between Francisco Rodriguez and Katsunari Takayama.  Perhaps the best fight seen in all of 2014, it was just the sort of match the clash score is all about.  Will the division further enhance itself in the months ahead?  Unification can be contagious and let’s hope it’s a positive trend.  With more top ten matches on the schedule, one official and another (#4 Wanheng Menayothin vs. #7 Oswaldo Novoa) likely soon, the trajectory at 105 lbs. is up.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 10/25: #2 Hekkie Budler vs. #9 Xiong Zhao Zhong

15) Cruiserweight – Clash Score: 15 Points

For a class ranked this low, Cruiserweight has one thing in its favor. It has action.  A regular source of exciting fights, the one thing it lacks is clarity.  Only two members of its top ten have faced a currently ranked fighter.  Marco Huck is its most steady titlist and should have had a belt at Heavyweight against Alexander Povetkin.  Yoan Pablo Hernandez is a talented Cuban plagued by inactivity.  A fight between the two would be an excellent ignition point to get Cruiserweight back to the peaks it experienced in the first decade of the 2000s.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• 09/27: #3 Krzysztof Wlodarczyk vs. #7 Grigory Drozd

16) Jr. Bantamweight – Clash Score: 13 Points

Throughout much of the first decade of the 2000’s, this class was on the sort of run Flyweight is now.  Times have changed.  Aging veteran Omar Narvaez is considered the default best fighter in class but only occasionally takes challenges at this point.  Six of the top ten haven’t a single fight against another ranked peer.  There is hope for the future.  Two undefeated talents have emerged that, in a perfect world, would be on a collision course to spark the division.  Mexico’s Carlos Cuadras recently defeated Srisaket Sor Rungvisai for a belt.  Undefeated former Olympian McJoe Arroyo of Puerto Rico bested veteran former Flyweight titlist “Tyson” Marquez to earn a shot at beltholder Zolani Tete.  Mexico vs. Puerto Rico is always a sound building block.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

17) Bantamweight – Clash Scores: 8 Points

Just a few years ago, this division might well have been in the top five.  A Showtime tournament of four top talents at 118, Nonito Donaire’s visit to the division, unification between Fernando Montiel and Hozumi Hasegawa…it was a bustle of activity.  Now, it is a division finding itself again.  The talent is clearly better than last place.  Titlists Anselmo Moreno and Shinsuke Yamanaka are high quality professionals.  Tomoki Kameda is a promising young beltholder showing willingness to unify (a fight with Jamie McDonnell is being discussed).  For now, the present state of the top ten exhibits only two men with wins over their peers and not enough on the schedule to suggest Bantamweight is living up to the talent it has.  The potential is there but potential, and actual fights, are two different things.  It doesn’t help that no one at Bantamweight receives any credit for top competitors in other divisions either.  For its lack of clash, Bantamweight scores the worst of any division in the game.

Upcoming Clashes Between Ranked Fighters

• No fights between ranked fighters are scheduled at this time.

As a bonus, here are the overall ten highest scoring individual fighters:

• Timothy Bradley – Clash Score: 47 Points
• Floyd Mayweather – Clash Score: 35 (154)/41 (147) Points
• Roman Gonzalez – Clash Score: 37 Points
• Nonito Donaire – Clash Score: 36 Points
• Andre Ward – Clash Score: 35 Points
• Manny Pacquiao – Clash Score: 28.5 Points
• Carl Froch – Clash Score: 28 Points
• Saul Alvarez – Clash Score: 27 Points
• Akira Yaegashi – Clash Score: 24 Points
• Danny Garcia – Clash Score: 24 Points

Further Analysis

To explore all these scores a bit further, let’s begin with the linear champions. 

One might ask how Mayweather, with no defenses since establishing himself as linear champion at 154 lbs., scored so high.  The answer is that his competition scores outside the division are particularly strong along with a win over current number one Jr. Middleweight contender Saul Alvarez.  Mayweather is one of two fighters, along with Miguel Cotto, found in two divisions.  Cotto is ranked as a contender at Jr. Middleweight, for the time being, along with his Middleweight crown. 

* Because Cotto is ranked at Jr. Middleweight, Mayweather got points credit for him there as a Jr. Middleweight contender.  At Welterweight, Mayweather received the 11 points available for a win over a current linear champion. 

Mayweather is also the number one TBRB contender at Welterweight. Mayweather has a strong claim to the lineage at Welterweight as well and is recognized as champion by this site’s individual rankings as well as Ring Magazine.  For the sake of consistency, and recognizing there can be dispute there, the TBRB vacancy at Welterweight was accepted here.

Conversely, one might ask how the sport’s longest reigning and arguably most dominant divisional ruler, Wladimir Klitschko, could score lower than less established champions.  This reflects his current top ten.  Wins against fighters no longer ranked were not factored in for anyone, in any divisions.  Turnover at Heavyweight has created a situation where Klitschko has only one win against a presently ranked top ten contender (Alexander Povetkin). 

** Klitschko is also the one place where there is a moderate deviation from the use of the TBRB’s recognized lineage successions. 

TBRB only recognizes Klitschko’s reign forward from the win over Povetkin.  Other outlets recognize his linear claim as stemming from his win over Ruslan Chagaev.  The TBRB position is not unfair as it recognizes the filling of championship vacancies only in matches between the top two contenders.  At the time he fought Chagaev, Klitschko’s number one contender was his brother Vitali.  Chagaev was generally recognized, at the time, as the next man down.  From Chagaev forward, he would receive credit for nine defenses.  The higher number was allowed as it was felt that was a more accurate reflection of his reign.

Another question sure to be asked is why there was a bonus for wins against fighters ranked in other divisions?  The answer is, given the fluidity of movement between many divisions, wins against fighters in other divisions (or wins from previous divisions carried over when both fighters move up in weight) enhance the stature and perceived strength of any top ten.  When an accomplished fighter moves up the scale, he generally makes the new division better.

More plainly, if a division features competitors beating each other and the better fighters of other divisions, it says even more about the quality of the division.

This is how Timothy Bradley received so high a score as an individual fighter. 

Along with his won-loss record against current Welterweight contenders, Bradley received competition bonus credit wins over Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Devon Alexander.  The controversy in the first Pacquiao fight was not a factor in his points total.  He also received credit for wins over fighters ranked at 140 (Lamont Peterson and Ruslan Provodnikov) and 135 (Miguel Vazquez).  At six fighters, across three weight classes, Bradley has faced more currently ranked TBRB top ten fighters than anyone in boxing.

Mayweather was next best at five fighters ranked across four divisions.

While this might unfairly prejudice against Heavyweights as they don’t have the same movement possibilities, Heavyweight could make up for it with robust top ten activity.  For instance, Light Heavyweight scored well without receiving any points, for any fighter, for wins against fighters currently ranked outside the division.  As was found, the problem at Heavyweight was internal.  The current top ten just hasn’t battled enough with each other, or their champion, yet.

For the sake of argument, it’s worth adding what happens if all outside-the-division scoring components are removed.  If they had been, these would have been the divisional clash scores:

Divisions

1) Super Middleweight – 77.5 Points
2) Welterweight – 73 Points
3) Jr. Welterweight – 71 Points
4) Flyweight – 51 Points
5) Jr. Middleweight – 48.5 Points
6) Middleweight – 47 Points
7) Light Heavyweight – 44 Points
8) Jr. Flyweight – 36.5 Points
9) Jr. Lightweight – 35.5 Points
10) Lightweight – 27.5 Points
11) Tie – Heavyweight/Jr. Featherweight – 23 Points
13) Tie – Featherweight/Strawweight – 17 Points
15) Cruiserweight – 15 Points
16) Jr. Bantamweight – 11 Points
17) Bantamweight – 8 Points

The top five divisions remain the same, if in a different order.  The bottom three remain exactly as they were the first time around.   

So there it is.  Feel free to love it or loathe it.  The results are certainly interesting.  In the case of the top divisions, they tend to validate the common thought. 

From first place to last, let the debate clash on.          

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