The WBO has shuffled its deck at junior flyweight – and dealt Shokichi Iwata the best hand.
As of last month, the WBO’s rankings had Erik Badillo at No. 1, Daniel Valladares at No. 2, Iwata at No. 3 and Regie Suganob at No. 4.
But in the organization’s latest ratings update – released December 22 and recognizing results through December 15 – that order has changed. Iwata is now No. 1, followed by Badillo at No. 2, Suganob at No. 3 and Valladares at No. 4.
That’s a good turn of events for Iwata, 15-2 (12 KOs), a 29-year-old from Japan who briefly reigned as the WBO’s titleholder at 108lbs until March – when he lost a unanimous decision to Rene Santiago.
Looking at recent results, it’s difficult to discern why the rankings changed the way they have.
Iwata returned in early October with a seventh-round knockout of former 105lb title challenger Edwin Cano.
Badillo, 19-0 (8 KOs), won a wide decision on November 29 over former titleholder Elwin Soto.
Suganob, 17-1 (6 KOs), took a one-sided victory on the scorecards on November 22 against the 22-6-1 Mchanja Yohana.
Valladares, 32-4-1 (19 KOs), outpointed the 11-3-4 Moises Caro in late October.
They are followed by Cristian Araneta at fifth, then Jesse Espinas, Gustavo Perez Alvarez, Angel Acosta, Masataka Taniguchi, Jairo Noriega, Arvin Magramo, Sivenathi Nontshinga, ArAr Andales, Kyosuke Takami and Daiya Kira.
Santiago, 15-4 (9 KOs), remains the WBO titleholder. He recently picked up the WBA belt as well, winning a split decision over Takami on December 17.
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.
