There has been a shuffling of the three top spots in the WBO’s junior bantamweight rankings.
Last month, the WBO rated Andrew Moloney at No. 1, Joselito Velazquez at No. 2 and Ryusei Kawaura at No. 3.
This month the order changed, even though none of the three fought between the WBO’s August and September ratings updates. Velazquez is now first, followed by Kawaura in the second spot and Moloney in third.
Those positions were reflected in the WBO’s most recent ratings update, which was released September 25 and reflects results through September 15.
Velazquez, 21-1-1 (13 KOs), is a 31-year-old born in Mexico and living in San Diego, California. His most recent outing was in March, when he outpointed the 12-4-2 Adolfo Castillo Gonzalez. Velazquez is scheduled to fight shortly after this article comes out, taking on the 15-1 Aniel Viamontes this Saturday in Cancun, Mexico. Velazquez is also rated fifth by the WBC and sixth by the IBF.
Kawaura, 14-2 (9 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Japan. He boxed on August 12, winning a unanimous decision against the 12-1-1 Joe Shiraishi.
Moloney, 27-4 (17 KOs), is a 34-year-old from Australia who briefly held a secondary title belt at 115lbs from 2019 until 2020. He was supposed to face Argi Cortes in an IBF elimination bout this summer but pulled out after the show was postponed a couple of times and then relocated to another city.
The WBO’s junior bantamweight titleholder is Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who also owns the WBC belt and the Ring Magazine championship. Rodriguez is scheduled to face WBA titleholder Fernando Martinez in a unification bout as part of a big event on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The rest of the WBO’s lineup at 115lbs has recently ousted former titleholder Phumelele Cafu at No. 4, followed by Israel Gonzalez, Ross Mylet, Jack Turner, Christian Bacasegua, Suzumi Takayama, Kazuto Ioka, Kenshiro Teraji, Vince Paras, Jayr Raquinel, John Ramirez and Kenta Nakagawa.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
