RECENT FIGHT RESULTS AND CHANGES IN THE RING’S DIVISIONAL RANKINGS

(THROUGH FIGHTS OF JAN. 16, 2021) 

POUND FOR POUND: Scorecards were just a formality after Canelo Alvarez (No. 1) finished bullying Callum Smith around for 12 rounds in Texas on December 19. Shorter by seven inches, Alvarez did at times resemble a lumberjack plying his trade – a lumberjack who fell out of a tree as a child and now lives only for the grim pleasure of vengeance by pulping entire forests with a blunt axe – but Smith did manage to stay upright until the final bell. After watching the way Canelo worked the Liverpudlian over with vicious efficiency, every hook and uppercut a dose of malice wrapped in skill, many observers who had doubted the Mexican superstar’s position atop the P4P list could only say, “OK, now I get it.”

The night before, in Florida, Gennadiy Golovkin gave a vintage display of his own surgical truculence, grinding Kamil Szeremeta down to the point that the last of four knockdowns was the result of a jab. GGG was in great form, but it seems increasingly likely that he can only look that way against people not named Canelo, who only seems to get bigger and better. And in fact, Golovkin’s long tenure on the P4P list came to an end when four-division titlist Kazuto Ioka replaced him at No. 10 following an eighth-round stoppage of Kosei Tanaka.

HEAVYWEIGHT: A year after his draw with Alexander Povetkin in Saudi Arabia, Michael Hunter resumed his career with a fourth-round knockout of Shawn Laughery (unrated) and held his position at No. 8.

CRUISERWEIGHT: Ilunga Makabu (No. 2) concluded the first defense of his WBC title with a left hook that stunned Olanrewaju Durodola (unrated) and led to a TKO in Round 7. That same night in South Africa, Kevin Lerena (No. 4) also shook off some rust with a fifth-round stoppage of Patrick Ferguson (unrated).

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT: With the victory over Smith, who started the night as Ring champion, Canelo (No. 4 last month) took the crown – along with the WBA and WBC belts – and knocked the loser down to No. 3. 

In Florida, Smith’s countryman John Ryder (No. 7) fared better on the scorecards but was unremarkable in his 10-round decision over Mike Guy (a fight in which both fighters will be remembered as “that guy”). 

MIDDLEWEIGHT: Golovkin’s victory was a solid one, but he’s already touching the ceiling at No. 1. However, the path was cleared for somebody to move higher after Canelo (division champ last month) vacated his 160-pound titles. Szeremeta (No. 6 last month) dropped off the list, which made room for 2016 Olympian and GGG countryman Zhanibek Alimkhanuly to return at No. 10. 

Tszyu vs. Morgan

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT: Tim Tszyu swatted Kiwi opponent Bowyn Morgan to the canvas with a right hand in Round 1 – not a win meaningful enough to raise him from No. 10, but it’s nice to see excitement once again swirling around the Tszyu family name.

LIGHTWEIGHT: Ryan Garcia (No. 5 last month) probably gave his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, a mild heart attack when he hit the canvas on a left cross from Luke Campbell in Round 2, but it ended up being the kind of breakthrough performance that Garcia, Golden Boy and possibly the sport of boxing needed. The kid got up and proceeded to take control, ultimately avenging the knockdown with a highlight-reel liver shot in the seventh round. Campbell dropped from No. 4 to No. 6 and Garcia rose to No. 2. The win earned Garcia a shot at WBC titleholder Devin Haney, but the social media savant sees more potential (aka cash) in a grudge match with Gervonta Davis. 

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT: Masayuki Ito (No. 9 last month) was removed after losing a majority decision to Hironori Mishiro (unrated). The question of who to bring in as a replacement was answered by Venezuela’s Roger Gutierrez, who entered at No. 8 after winning a unanimous decision over No. 6-rated Rene Alvarado, with a trio of knockdowns securing a one-point advantage on all three cards. Alvarado dropped to No. 9. 

BANTAMWEIGHT: By unanimous opinion of the Ring Ratings panelists, No. 4-rated Emmanuel Rodriguez had done enough to beat Reymart Gaballo (unrated) on December 19 in Connecticut, but two ringside judges favored the Filipino and handed him a win. The suggestion was made to split the difference between the “official” and the obvious result by dropping Rodriguez a notch and bringing in Gaballo at No. 10, but some panelists were uncomfortable with any amount of compromise. There have been cases in the past when The Ring has thrown out egregious decisions when it comes to their effect on the ratings, and this was determined to be one of those times. The official result was ignored and the list didn’t change.

Takuma Inoue held on to his No. 6 position, beating Keita Kurihara (unrated) via ninth-round technical decision after a clash-induced cut opened above Kurihara’s eye.

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT: Ioka (No. 3) held his position after the left-hook stoppage of Tanaka, who was coming in as The Ring’s No. 1-rated flyweight.

FLYWEIGHT: With Tanaka moving up to face Ioka, everyone on the list gained a notch and McWilliams Arroyo took the vacancy at No. 10.

JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT: Felix Alvarado rose from No. 4 to No. 2 after defending his title with a 10th-round stoppage of DeeJay Kriel (unrated), handing the tough South African his first loss since his pro debut.

STRAWWEIGHT: Like many fighters waylaid by lockdowns in 2020, No. 10-rated Melvin Jerusalem took his first fight in over a year against a soft opponent, knocking out Jayson Francisco (unrated) in the second round to hold his position on the list. 

UPDATES

JAN. 23 — 135: Robert Easter (No. 5) hasn’t been fighting at lightweight, so he was dropped, which made room at No. 10 for Mexico’s Isaac Cruz. 122: Rey Vargas (No. 1) has moved up in weight and Tomoki Kameda (No. 8) hasn’t had a win at junior featherweight since November 2018, so both were removed. Filling the gaps were Carlos Castro at No. 10 and Raeese Aleem, who scored a nice 11th-round stoppage of Vic Pasillas (unrated), at No. 8. Stephen Fulton rose from No. 3 to No. 10 after his title-winning unanimous decision over Angelo Leo, who remained at No. 6.

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