By Cliff Rold
After several weeks of results, an overdue ratings update is in order. There have been serious shakeups at Middleweight, Welterweight, and Featherweight, including the deposing of the longest reigning titlist in the sport in the last of those.
With only a handful of big fights left for the final day of the year, this is the BoxingScene divisional ratings update going back to the second week of November.
Cruiserweight: Yoan Pablo Hernandez successfully defending at Cruiserweight moves Alexander Alekseev out of the top ten. Rakhim Chakhkiev returns.
Light Heavyweight: Sergey Kovalev moves ahead of Bernard Hopkins with yet another devastating showing. Could there be two unification fights on the horizon at 175 in Stevenson-Kovalev and Hopkins-Shumenov? These are interesting times at Light Heavy. Juergen Braehmer enters the top ten with the WBA sub-title in tow.
Super Middleweight: Lucian Bute is removed after well over a year without a fight in the division and a planned return at 175. Anthony Dirrell enters the top ten after a draw with beltholder Sakio Bika.
Middleweight: Felix Sturm makes a jump after his shocking second round stoppage of Darren Barker.
Jr. Middleweight: On the strength of his win over Austin Trout, and an ever-deepening body of work against a range of top ten-type fighters in his class, Erislandy Lara moves ahead of Canelo Alvarez into the top contenders slot.
Welterweight: In a division as tightly contested as Welterweight, winning the most recent often trumps a win in the past. That’s how Paulie Malignaggi and Marcos Maidana end up ahead of Adrien Broner (who exits) and Devon Alexander (who drops) after their most recent losses. Shawn Porter enters the top ten and Keith Thurman moves up.
Lightweight: Adrien Broner remains rated until he decides whether or not to vacate his Lightweight belt and make his division exit final. Antonio DeMarco, who has moved up and not fought in the division for a year, is removed. Denis Shafikov enters the top ten with a title shot looming.
Jr. Lightweight: Former titlist Takahiro Ao hasn’t fought in the division in over a year and exits. Diego Magdaleno returns to the top ten.
Featherweight: Chris John’s loss to Simpiwe Veteyka left him beltless, retired, and exiting the top ten. Veteyka assumes the top spot. Evgeny Gradovich moves up a spot after his second win over Billy Dib. Dib exits and Hozumi Hasegawa, winner of four straight and a former titlist in class, returns to the top ten.
Jr. Featherweight: Kiko Martinez’s knockout of the higher rated Jeffrey Mathebula elevates both he and former conqueror Carl Frampton.
Jr. Bantamweight: Despite winning what was supposed to be a unification bout, Liborio Solis’ failure to make weight leaves him beltless after a clash with Daiki Kameda. He remains rated for now. Zolani Tete enters the top ten with an upset of Juan Carlos Sanchez. Sanchez exits on the loss and a previous outing where he lost a belt on the scales.
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