Rankings: Bivol takes light heavy crown from Beterbiev, more
Dmitry Bivol has reclaimed the No. 1 spot at light heavyweight, plus much more in a big rankings update!
- Titles: WBC - Oleksandr Usyk, WBA - Oleksandr Usyk, IBF - Daniel Dubois, WBO - Oleksandr Usyk
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Dillian Whyte vs Joe Joyce, 4/5 ... Lawrence Okolie vs Richard Riakporhe, 4/5 ... Richard Torrez Jr vs Guido Vianello, 4/5
Notes: Tyson Fury says he’s retired, so we’ll treat it as fact. Nobody really buys it, of course, but he says he is, so he’s out. If I left him in, he’d still be No. 2. But Oleksandr Usyk is the clear king of this division. Dubois may hold the IBF title and Kabayel and Parker have sort of cemented their spots in the division as it stands now, but Usyk is The Man. There is zero question.
The back half is a lot less clear, sort of a jumble. Wardley has the best momentum by a lot. Don’t really know how much to “punish” Bakole for getting cracked by Parker on a couple days’ notice, so he’s kind of standing pat for the moment. Chisora is back in because when you really look at the recent resumes, yeah, man, he’s done as much as if not more than a ton of guys. It may not look pretty watching him huff and swing his way through 12 rounds, but he does it, and he’s beating decent opponents while his losses this decade have been to Usyk, Parker (twice), and Tyson Fury. Honestly, you could rank him higher.
Efe Ajagba takes over the No. 10 spot. Zhilei Zhang is out along with Fury; Zhang could also still be here, but the margins are thin and he’s part of the jumble now. We’ll have an interesting first Saturday in April, where Dillian Whyte, Richard Torrez Jr, and Lawrence Okolie all try to make cases for themselves.
- Titles: WBC - Badou Jack, WBA - Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, IBF - Jai Opetaia, WBO - Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (3) Chris Billam-Smith vs Brandon Glanton, 4/26 ... Cheavon Clarke vs Viddal Riley, 4/26
Notes: Not the most exciting division, to say the least, but there are good fights to be made. Opetaia obviously deserves the No. 1 spot, and Zurdo has pretty clearly earned the No. 2. The sort of division where one of the four titleholders (Badou Jack) hasn’t fought in two years, and the same sanctioning body has a “champion in recess” (Norair Mikaeljan) who hasn’t fought in 16 months.
Out: Mairis Briedis, who has decided to hang up the gloves (probably the smart move), and Richard Riakporhe, who is moving to heavyweight to fight Lawrence Okolie.
- Titles: WBC - Dmitry Bivol, WBA - Dmitry Bivol, IBF - Dmitry Bivol, WBO - Dmitry Bivol
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Imam Khataev vs Durval Elias Palacio, 3/22 ... (5) Anthony Yarde vs Lyndon Arthur, 4/26
Notes: Bivol’s win over Beterbiev makes him the new undisputed ruler. There’s unfinished business there, and I think it’s easy to count Beterbiev out. He’s old, he got tired in that second fight, he never got very close to having Bivol in real trouble — he had him in some a couple times. So what can he do? But I don’t discount Beterbiev. Not with that power and determination. A break or two and he’s back on top, however improbable. All I really mean to say here is that I’m fine with a third fight. Stinks for David Benavidez in particular, but that’s life, I guess.
Benavidez has firmly established himself as the top waiting contender, though, with a strong and credible win over Morrell, whom I’m not going to penalize for losing a good fight to a good opponent while others sit around.
Callum Smith switches spots with Anthony Yarde thanks to a very good win over Joshua Buatsi, who also doesn’t dip much, just trading with Ali Izmailov.
- Titles: WBC - Canelo Alvarez, WBA - Canelo Alvarez, IBF - William Scull, WBO - Canelo Alvarez
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Craig Richards vs Padraig McCrory, 3/1 ... Jacob Bank vs Damian Biacho, 3/1 ... Erik Bazinyan vs Steven Butler, 3/14 ... Edgar Berlanga vs Jonathan Gonzalez, 3/15 ... Lester Martinez vs Joeshon James, 3/22 ... (1) Canelo Alvarez vs (6) William Scull, 5/3 ... (7) Bruno Sarace vs (9) Jaime Munguia, 5/3
Notes: Canelo and William Scull are set to re-unify the entire division on May 3, where Canelo will, of course, be the massive favorite in his first Riyadh Season fight, as his time holding out from the monetary lure of Turki Alalshikh and the propaganda machine has come to its inevitable end.
We’ll also see Bruno Surace and Jaime Munguia rematch on that card, which is an interesting proposition. Surace beat Munguia fair and square, and it’s not like Munguia has ever made dramatic changes, because he can’t, really. So it’ll be up to Munguia to just, you know, overwhelm Surace, which he did not the first time around, resulting in 2024’s biggest upset.
Elsewhere, the division is basically in a holding pattern. If Canelo beats Scull as expected, he faces Terence Crawford in September. Everyone else will sit around, more or less. We almost got a decent Mbilli vs Sadjo fight, but we won’t see it.
- Titles: WBC - Carlos Adames, WBA - Erislandy Lara, IBF - Janibek Alimkhanuly, WBO - Janibek Alimkhanuly
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (6) Austin Williams vs (9) Patrice Volny, 3/15 ... Elijah Garcia vs Terrell Gausha, 3/22 ... (1) Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue, 4/5 ... (5) Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn, 4/26 ... (8) Aaron McKenna vs Liam Smith, 4/26
Notes: So much for Hamzah Sheeraz as a savior of this dreadfully dull division. He got the draw with Carlos Adames and may well get a rematch, where sure, he might make the changes enough to get the win, but it’s clear he’s not some game-changer, same as Austin Williams and Elijah Garcia weren’t/aren’t, but all three are at least quality fighters, and you can’t discount that sort of thing in a field like this.
That Williams vs Patrice Volny fight coming in a couple weeks is quietly pretty solid and meaningful.
- Titles: WBC - Sebastian Fundora, WBA - Terence “Bud” Crawford, IBF - Bakhram Murtazaliev, WBO - Sebastian Fundora
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (9) Yoenis Tellez vs Julian Williams, 3/1 ... Callum Walsh vs Dean Sutherland, 3/16 ... (4) Sebastian Fundora vs Chordale Booker, 3/22 ... (8) Jesus Ramos Jr vs Kevin Salgado, 3/22 ... Bakary Samake vs Roarke Knapp, 4/18 ... Sadriddin Akhmedov vs Elias Espadas, 4/19
Notes: Speaking of holding patterns, this division is sort of there at the moment. Bud Crawford is the obvious biggest star, but he’s not going to fight at this weight again, more likely than not; I guess he could come back down after whatever happens in the Canelo fight, but he’s going to be packing on enough weight to fight at 168.
But Vergil Ortiz got a strong win over the tricky Israil Madrimov, and Fundora’s at least going to get active again against Chordale Booker, which is not a fight I’d make a gimme for “The Towering Inferno”; Booker has some skills, and Fundora has a lot of flaws. Could be a real “styles make fights” matchup. Or Fundora will crush him.
You know what would be a good fight to see? Tszyu vs Bohachuk.
Titles: WBC - Mario Barrios, WBA - Eimantas Stanionis, IBF - Jaron “Boots” Ennis, WBO - Brian Norman Jr
Upcoming Notable Fights: (7) Lewis Crocker vs (10) Paddy Donovan, 3/1 ... (3) Brian Norman Jr vs Derrieck Cuevas, 3/29 ... (1) Jaron “Boots” Ennis vs (2) Eimantas Stanionis, 4/12 ... Ryan Garcia vs Rolando Romero, 5/2 ... Devin Haney vs Jose Ramirez, 5/2
Notes: We’ll get something out of Crocker-Donovan and Norman-Cuevas this month, anyway, before the Boots-Stanionis showdown on Apr. 12. If Ennis wins next month, he may very reasonably head up to 154.
- Titles: WBC - Alberto Puello, WBA - Jose Valenzuela, IBF - Richardson Hitchins, WBO - Teofimo Lopez
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (3) Alberto Puello vs Sandor Martin, 3/1 ... (7) Subriel Matias vs Gabriel Valenzuela, 3/1 ... Jose Valenzuela vs Gary Antuanne Russell, 3/1 ... Nestor Bravo vs Xolisani Ndongeni, 3/1 ... Jamaine Ortiz vs Yomar Alamo, 3/15 ... George Kambosos Jr vs Daud Yordan, 3/22 ... (1) Arnold Barboza Jr vs (2) Teofimo Lopez, 5/2
Notes: Who deserves it any more than Barboza? Teofimo? For what? Being more famous because of something from years ago and several goofy interviews?
There’s no clear-cut No. 1 guy in this division. I know Barboza has never blown anyone’s socks off and he had some iffy struggles with Sean McComb less than a year ago, but since then he’s scored deserved and clean wins over Jose Ramirez and Jack Catterall, which I think trumps Teofimo’s wins over Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett.
There’s a super easy and completely doable way to settle this debate, too, and they’re going to do it on May 2.
Jose Ramirez is out because he’s moving to 147 on May 2 against Devin Haney.
- Titles: WBC - Shakur Stevenson, WBA - Gervonta “Tank” Davis, IBF - Vasiliy Lomachenko, WBO - Keyshawn Davis
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (1) Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs Lamont Roach, 3/1 ... Lucas Bahdi vs Ryan James Racaza, 3/7 ... Jadier Herrera vs Jose Macias, 3/15 ... Maliek Montgomery vs Jeremy Hill, 3/22 ... (6) William Zepeda vs Tevin Farmer, 3/29 ... Shuichiro Yoshino vs Siro Choi, 4/19
Notes: We had a little community debate about whether Stevenson might truly be the guy to beat at 135, and it’s an interesting one. I like Tank Davis’ chances against him, personally, because I think Tank’s timing and power could eventually clobber Shakur, but Stevenson has no qualms about being deadly boring and using his speed and defense to just win over 12 rounds. I think it could be a dreadful fight to watch, but I do want to see it play out. Probably won’t.
Davis kicks off the month tonight, in fact, and then maybe we’ll see him in about a year.
Keyshawn Davis has made his statement, grabbing the WBO title by crushing Denys Berinchyk, and Andy Cruz is looming. Both guys have the skill sets to be a threat to Davis or Shakur, too, and Lomachenko is still out there, though all of those guys might be all wrong for today’s version of Loma, even as skilled as he still is.
- Titles: WBC - O’Shaquie Foster, WBA - Lamont Roach, IBF - Vacant, WBO - Emanuel Navarrete
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Liam Wilson vs Youssef Dib, 3/1 ... (8) Albert Batyrgaziev vs Neri Ariel Cruz, 3/7 ... (5) Anthony Cacace vs Leigh Wood, 5/10
Notes: A lot of good fighters, none great. But that’s not the worst thing by any means. Think it’s time to pull the trigger on a Navarrete vs Foster unification.
- Titles: WBC - Stephen Fulton, WBA - Nick Ball, IBF - Angelo Leo, WBO - Rafael Espinoza
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Joet Gonzalez vs Arnold Khegai, 3/8 ... (4) Nick Ball vs TJ Doheny, 3/15 ... Keisuke Matsumoto vs Yuya Oku, 3/25 ... Reiya Abe vs Satoshi Shimizu, 3/25 ... (7) Luis Alberto Lopez vs TBA, 3/29 ... (9) Bruce Carrington vs Enrique Vivas, 3/29 ... Lee McGregor vs Nathaniel Collins, 5/17
Notes: Stephen Fulton has claimed the WBC title, once again beating Brandon Figueroa, and made his mark in a second division, becoming a two-division champ. The rising star in this crop is, if anyone, Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, who returns late in the month in a decent step up against Enrique Vivas.
- Titles: WBC - Naoya Inoue, WBA - Naoya Inoue, IBF - Naoya Inoue, WBO - Naoya Inoue
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Brad Strand vs Ionut Baluta, 3/15 ... Katsuya Fukui vs Toshiya Ishii, 4/22 ... (1) Naoya Inoue vs TBA, 5/4
Notes: Inoue won’t fight Alan Picasso in June, instead “The Monster” returns to America on May 4 against Ramon Cardenas, perhaps, or Murodjon Akhmadaliev. If all goes well health-wise and all that, there seems to be a chance we could get four Inoue fights in 2025 — the one he had in Japan, the one in Vegas, one in Riyadh, and maybe one more back in Japan at the tail end of the year.
Eddie Hearn keeps barking for a sanctioning body to strip Inoue in favor of Akhmadaliev if MJ isn’t next. You know, for the good of the sport. Shoe on the other foot he’d, of course, be asking what Akhmadaliev has done that’s so special we must force him into a fight with Inoue. Look, I agree MJ is the best contender Inoue hasn’t already beaten, and I’d like to see the fight, but I’m guessing that’s what we get in Riyadh, with Eddie’s boss Turki giving his Saudi card the best Inoue fight possible at 122.
- Titles: WBC - Junto Nakatani, WBA - Seiya Tsutsumi, IBF - Ryosuke Nishida, WBO - Yoshiki Takei
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Riku Masada vs Kaisei Matsumoto, 3/1 ... Charlie Edwards vs Andrew Cain, 3/15 ... Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Kaito Yamasaki, 4/13
Notes: Junto Nakatani remains the clear top dog at the weight, and it looks like unification with Ryosuke Nishida will be next. Nishida’s a good boxer, but beating Nakatani is going to take either elite level technical boxing or serious power, and Nishida has neither. It’s not a bad fight, really, but I don’t think there’s any question who wins it.
Seiya Tsutsumi stays put despite his draw with Daigo Higa, because I think the judges just got that one wrong. Tenshin Nasukawa — who looks likely to fight Yoshiki Takei next — makes a big leap into the rankings with a clean, strong win over Jason Moloney, who hangs on at the back end with Higa. Both of them are still pretty good fighters, and furthermore there’s nobody I could put in instead who has much of a real argument over them. I did consider Jeyvier Cintron and Charlie Edwards, among others. They can make their cases with quality wins.
No other division has a top six all from the same country. In fact, no other division even has a top three all from the same country. Bantamweight belongs to Japan right now.
- Titles: WBC - Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, WBA - Fernando Martinez, IBF - Vacant, WBO - Phumelela Cafu
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (10) Ricardo Malajika vs Jackson Chauke, 3/1 ... Jack Turner vs Ryan Farrag, 3/15 ... Aoi Yokoyama vs Giemiel Magramo, 3/29 ... (9) Suzumi Takayama vs Jinya Yamaguchi, 4/22
Notes: It does seem like we’ll get Bam Rodriguez vs Fernando Martinez soon enough, and that’s the fight to make. Martinez is a pain, he’s in his prime, and he’s the best Bam challenger out there.
- Titles: WBC - Kenshiro Teraji, WBA - Seigo Yuri Akui, IBF - Angel Ayala, WBO - Anthony Olascuaga
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Taku Kuwahara vs Hamson Lamandau, 3/11 ... (1) Kenshiro Teraji vs (2) Seigo Yuri Akui, 3/13 ... (6) Anthony Olascuaga vs (8) Hiroto Kyoguchi, 3/13 ... (4) Angel Ayala vs Masamichi Yabuki, 3/29 ... (10) Dave Apolinario vs Longyi Hu, 4/22
Notes: We’ll see the top two, Teraji and Akui, square off in a two-belt unification on Mar. 13, a show that will also feature Olascuaga defending against Teraji. Possible the winners of those fights will then go after a three-belt unification, leaving only the IBF belt — which Angel Ayala will defend against 108 lb titlist Masamichi Yabuki on Mar. 29 — to be grabbed for undisputed. Right now, it’s lining up well enough for someone to emerge in about a year’s time.
- Titles: WBC - Panya Pradabsri, WBA - Erick Rosa, IBF - Masamichi Yabuki, WBO - Shokichi Iwata
- Upcoming Notable Fights: (2) Shokichi Iwata vs Rene Santiago, 3/13 ... (10) Toshiki Kawamitsu vs Kyosuke Takami, 4/8
Notes: Panya Pradabsri nabbed the vacant WBC belt with a win over Carlos Canizales on Dec. 26 in Bangkok, making the aka Petchmanee CP Freshmart a two-weight world champ after his three-year reign at 105 from 2020-23.
Canizales doesn’t lose much ground; it was a close, majority decision loss to a fellow good fighter, on hostile road ground.
Yabuki, as mentioned above, is going up in weight for a world title challenge, which the IBF allows reigning titlists to do if they want. He’s not totally out of the division yet, but might be next month depending on how that turns out.
- Titles: WBC - Melvin Jerusalem, WBA - Oscar Collazo, IBF - Pedro Taduran, WBO - Oscar Collazo
- Upcoming Notable Fights: Takeshi Ishii vs Shunsuke Isa, 3/11 ... (2) Melvin Jerusalem vs (4) Yudai Shigeoka, 3/30 ... Takero Kitano vs Jake Amparo, 3/31
Notes: Melvin Jerusalem and Yudai Shigeoka will rematch at the end of the month, otherwise the division is quiet at the moment.