Ring Magazine advances Khan to No.1 in the division

[edgarg]

Junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan did more than add the IBF belt to his WBA 140-pound strap when he dominated Zab Judah to a fifth-round KO on Saturday in Las Vegas.

The 24-year-old British star’s perfectly executed game plan displayed his potentially elite-level skill and talent, which advanced his status within the sport.

THE RING, which rated Khan No. 2 and Judah No. 6 among junior welterweights last week, has upgraded the 2004 Olympic silver medalist to the No. 1 spot, bumping Timmothy Bradley from his perch.

Bradley, the undefeated WBC/WBO titleholder from Palm Springs, Calif., was originally scheduled to face Khan (26-1, 18 knockouts) on July 23, but the 27-year-old standout opted out of the fight for a number of legal and business reasons.

Bradley (27-0, 11 KOs) has not fought since unifying the WBO and WBC belts by beating Devon Alexander by technical decision in January.

His inactivity was a factor in being dropped from No. 1 to No. 2, according to Nigel Collins, Editor-in-Chief of THE RING magazine.

“Virtually all of the discussion this week between the editors and the Ratings Advisory Panel focused on whether or not Amir Khan’s kayo victory of Zab Judah was enough to elevate Khan to the No. 1 contender position, which was held by Tim Bradley going into last Saturday’s fight,” Collins said. “Although there was one dissenting vote, every other Panel Member responding argued that Khan deserved the top spot due to Bradley’s inactivity. The Editorial Board agreed with the majority and installed Khan at No. 1. Ironically, as it now stands, it would still take a bout between Khan and Bradley to fill THE RING championship vacancy at 140-pounds.”

Bradley is involved in a lawsuit with his co-promoters Gary Shaw and Ken Thompson, which could keep him in legal red tape through the rest of the year, but Khan intends to stay busy.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions which represents Khan, said the WBA/IBF 140-pound titleholder fight again in December (probably the U.S.), then again in early 2012 before returning to the UK next summer.

Perhaps Bradley will be clear of his legal issues in time for one of Khan’s bouts in the first half of 2012. If not, the plan is for Khan to invade the welterweight division in the fall or winter of next year.

Hopefully, a Khan-Bradley showdown to determine who the real champion is at junior welterweight is still a possibility.

Junior welterweights: Following his knockout of Judah (No. 6 last week), Khan (No. 2 last week) replaces Bradley at No. 1, while Bradley slips to No. 2 and Judah falls to No. 9. Lucas Matthysse (No. 7 last week), Lamont Peterson (No. 8 last week), and Erik Morales (No 9 last week) all climb one ring each due to the realignment.

Ah I see that Oscar has emerged from "rehabilitation" and is back on the job.......

[£-4-£]

Khan's has beaten:

- Kotelnik (prime, top-5 ranked, coming off the back of a win over prime Maidana, and went on to beat a prime Alexander. Also has a victory over prime Witter and prime Rees )

- Malignaggi (top-10 ranked former world champ, coming off the back of 2 wins over Juan Diaz)

- Salita (mandatory undefeated bum. not relevant)

- Maidana (prime, top-5 ranked)

- McCloskey (prime, undefeated, top-10 ranked)

- Judah (unification fight, Judah was no.6 ranked by The Ring)

Khan's 6 fights at 140lbs have all been against top opposition, bar Salita who was a mandatory. 2 were top-5 ranked and 3 were top-10 ranked.

Judah was ranked number 6 by The Ring, however Alexander and Kotelnik who were rated 4 and 5 respectively, have already announced that they will be moving up in weight to Welterweight. This means they should no longer be ranked as Junior-Welterweights. If we take this into consideration then Judah should have been ranked as number 4, rather than 6.

Khan has therefore beaten 3 top-5 opponents, and 2 top-10 ranked opponents.

Khan has cleared out the division, he's fought everybody except Bradley. Alexander became irrelevant IMO after he lost to Kotelnik, who Khan shut out over 12 rounds. Alexander should have been rated as number 5 after that fight behind Bradley, Khan, Kotelnik and Maidana.

Kotelnik, Malignaggi, Maidana, McCloskey, Judah are a better set of wins than Alexander, Witter, Peterson, Holt and Vazquez.

[Check]

Floyd is a terrible example because, he's the lineal champ at 147.

In the last 24 months the work that Khan has put in is better than Bradley. Which makes Khan deserve the #1 spot as of today. If Khan was Amercian, perhaps African American and Bradley was the ****** from England with the resume and accomplishments your ignorant ass would be singing a different tune right now.

Maybe, maybe not but all that is irrelevant. Maybe Khan has done more in 24 months but what kind of cut off is that. That's just some cut off you made to better your argument for Khan being more deserving. What if I said 36 months, that would favor my arguments and that's why these cut offs need to be thrown in the trash. Look all you have to do is look at resumes, who's done more, who's done it more impressive, and who do you feel is the better fighter. That's all you have to do. If you feel it's Khan, fine but don't give me some silly deadline of 24 months.

[reetcunt]

Maybe, maybe not but all that is irrelevant. Maybe Khan has done more in 24 months but what kind of cut off is that. That's just some cut off you made to better your argument for Khan being more deserving. What if I said 36 months, that would favor my arguments and that's why these cut offs need to be thrown in the trash. Look all you have to do is look at resumes, who's done more, who's done it more impressive, and who do you feel is the better fighter. That's all you have to do. If you feel it's Khan, fine but don't give me some silly deadline of 24 months.

He's probably saying 24 months because that's when khan entered the 140lb division against kotelnik .

[Devils Advocate]

So because Bradley hasn't fought in 6 months he dropped a spot. WTF is wrong with this sport. Khans win over Zab still doesn't trump Bradleys resume and this is the Ring Magazine acting out of emotion like most fans. There is no reason that Khan should be higher than Bradley.

Considering Bradley's body of work at Junior Welterweight I'm shocked they bumped him down so fast. Was Judah ranked that high junior welterweight or are they looking at Khan's victory as a win over the number 3 ranked guy in the division? The IBF title was previously held by Alexander who was stripped for facing Bradley so in reality the IBF is Bradley's. Politics clearly is the motivation here considering who owns Ring Magazine.

[shade darkar]

This is a good argument to the post I wrote I don't know what that other guy was thinking..I think his name is frog face what kinda name is that..Most likely a alt..

Anyway I already hashed out my feelings on this subject..In my book(I really don't care about inactivity because Bradley just unified in Jan)Bradley is num1 and Khan is hot on his azz..But the B.S. inactivity excuse does not fly with me..Then on top of everything he beats Judah to take the top spot lol oh jeez...

look at the top 5 rated light welterweights. khan has beat 2 of todays top 5. bradley has beat 1. that was probably a factor. holt isnt even rated in the top 10 and thats one of bradleys best wins. and note that maidana is rated above alexander.

[Check]

He's probably saying 24 months because that's when khan entered the 140lb division against kotelnik .

Probably but it's still wrong. You can't just disregard what Bradley did before Khan his the scene at 140.

Considering Bradley's body of work at Junior Welterweight I'm shocked they bumped him down so fast. Was Judah ranked that high junior welterweight or are they looking at Khan's victory as a win over the number 3 ranked guy in the division? The IBF title was previously held by Alexander who was stripped for facing Bradley so in reality the IBF is Bradley's. Politics clearly is the motivation here considering who owns Ring Magazine.

That's my problem and according to one of the posts Judah was ranked number 6. It's odd and the Ring tried to give some bs excuse about inactivity. They guy just beat at the time the number 3 guy just 6 months ago, so that doesn't work in my book. I honestly think the Ring is just playing sides and since Tim isn't fighting Amir they are giving him the big FU and bumping him down. Problem is it isn't the Rings job to be saying who fights who and if it doesn't happen you are getting dropped down.

[jrosales13]

Maybe, maybe not but all that is irrelevant. Maybe Khan has done more in 24 months but what kind of cut off is that. That's just some cut off you made to better your argument for Khan being more deserving. What if I said 36 months, that would favor my arguments and that's why these cut offs need to be thrown in the trash. Look all you have to do is look at resumes, who's done more, who's done it more impressive, and who do you feel is the better fighter. That's all you have to do. If you feel it's Khan, fine but don't give me some silly deadline of 24 months.

Fine lets use your deadline. In the last 36 months Bradley has fought 5 times at 140, 2 of them against a top 5 in the division and one against a top 10. In that same time frame(not really just 25 months that Khan has been in the division) Khan has fought 6 times at 140, 3 of them against top 5 and another one in the top 10. And, I'm keeping McCloskey out, who was ranked #10 by the ring.

[reetcunt]

Probably but it's still wrong. You can't just disregard what Bradley did before Khan his the scene at 140.



That's my problem and according to one of the posts Judah was ranked number 6. It's odd and the Ring tried to give some bs excuse about inactivity. They guy just beat at the time the number 3 guy just 6 months ago, so that doesn't work in my book. I honestly think the Ring is just playing sides and since Tim isn't fighting Amir they are giving him the big FU and bumping him down. Problem is it isn't the Rings job to be saying who fights who and if it doesn't happen you are getting dropped down.

it really doesn't matter because the article said that they would still need to fight each other to determine who the best is . No belts have been handed out so relax .To many they were interchangeable anyway and there is no guarauntee Bradley will fight for the rest of the year. If anything hopefully this lights a fire under Bradley's ass to get the fight done

[Rome-By-Ko]

look at the top 5 rated light welterweights. khan has beat 2 of todays top 5. bradley has beat 1. that was probably a factor. holt isnt even rated in the top 10 and thats one of bradleys best wins. and note that maidana is rated above alexander.

I don't care where any of these guy's are ranked now,I care where they were ranked when they fought Bradley..Put that graph up..