Terence Crawford at 154, heavyweights, more: Boxing rankings

Next update will come on Monday, August 19.

Ranked fights this period:

Super Middleweight: (3) Christian Mbilli vs (4) Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Aug. 17

Super Middleweight: (10) Oselys Iglesias vs TBA, Aug. 17

Super Welterweight: (7) Serhii Bohachuk vs (8) Vergil Ortiz Jr, Aug. 10

Flyweight: (4) Angel Ayala vs (8) Dave Apolinario, Aug. 9

Notes: At this moment in time, there are simply not 10 heavyweights who are both good and proven. With Jared Anderson falling out after getting smashed by Martin Bakole, and the returning Andy Ruiz Jr failing to impress in his draw with Jarrell Miller, we’ve got an open spot.

In reality, Anderson might still deserve it as much as anyone else. He doesn’t have marquee wins, but his wins are as good as those of anyone else in the conversation, at least in terms of things that have happened within the last, say, three to five years, so what’s actually relevant right now. But that feels goofy.

So I’m going with Jalolov, who appears set to win his second straight Olympic gold medal. I hope to inspire him with this decision, and to end the six-year masturbation session that has been his professional career to this point, with his obvious and clear focus far more on representing his country against the over-matched in amateur tournaments. This is a pretty tentative slot, if someone does something worthwhile he’ll be out.

If you think this is just a rotten way to decide who gets a fake rankings position, hey, I wish there was some obviously better choice, too, but there isn’t. What do you want here? Michael Hunter, who hasn’t really looked good in a fight since 2018 or 2019? If that floats your boat then go with the Lord, but I’m doing this.

Upcoming Fights: (3) Anthony Joshua vs (6) Daniel Dubois, Sept. 21 … (1) Oleksandr Usyk vs (2) Tyson Fury, Dec. 21

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Notes: I sometimes feel as though everyone understands “styles make fights” right up until they see styles make a fighter look a little worse than they expected on a single night. David Morrell made his 175 lb debut and no, he didn’t blow anyone’s doors off with his win over Radivoje Kalajdzic, but he earned the win. Kalajdzic remains a tough out for anyone short of Artur Beterbiev, it appears, and don’t discount the heat those guys felt fighting outdoors in the afternoon in August in Los Angeles — “Hot Rod” foguht in the same heat, yes, so it’s not meant as an “excuse,” just that I think I’ll at least consider it going into Morrell’s next, likely air conditioned bout.

Kalajdzic looked good enough that he’s hanging on to his spot, and my fresh look at the division drops Lyndon Arthur, who was iffy in a split decision win over Liam Cameron on June 21. Morrell has much higher upside than the No. 7 slot — I would pick him to beat the trio of Brits ahead of him, and style-wise I think Yarde would be the biggest threat out of that bunch — but he has to show it next time and going forward.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Joshua Buatsi vs Willy Hutchinson, Sept. 21

Upcoming Fights: (3) Christian Mbilli vs (4) Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Aug. 17 … (10) Oselys Iglesias vs TBA, Aug. 17 … (5) Diego Pacheco vs Maciej Sulecki, Aug. 31 … (1) Canelo Alvarez vs (9) Edgar Berlanga, Sept. 14 … (2) Jaime Munguia vs Erik Bazinyan, Sept. 20

Upcoming Fights: (4) Hamzah Sheeraz vs Tyler Denny, Sept. 21 … (7) Liam Smith vs Josh Kelly, Sept. 21

Notes: Bud Crawford didn’t dominate Israil Madrimov, but he beat a really good fighter without any real question unless you’re trying to lean on made-up “rules” that don’t pass a basic logic sniff on any level.

Madrimov’s not really getting docked, he fought a genuinely great fighter and was very competitive. But Bud is not a super strong No. 1 just yet, either; he gets the spot because there wasn’t a clear No. 1 before, and his career achievements and a quality win debuting at 154 have earned the respect to call him No. 1 when you look at this field.

Saturday’s Bohachuk vs Ortiz winner might take a big leap, too. That’s a terrific matchup and a chance for those guys to really prove something. If the winner looks really good, they’ll be top five at minimum, could jump into top three.

Upcoming Fights: (7) Serhii Bohachuk vs (8) Vergil Ortiz Jr, Aug. 10

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Notes: Weird division right now, man. Not boring, not lacking talent, just weird.

Jose Valenzuela jumps in with a win over Pitbull Cruz. It’s a 135 lber beating a 135 lber for a 140 lb belt, and that was won from Rolly Romero, who never really deserved it. Good fight, competitive, wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch right off unless Valenzuela can line up something better, and that’s questionable — although Tank Davis needs an opponent, and he might rather fight Valenzuela, who would probably be willing to return to 135 for that, than he has wanted to rematch Cruz, a guy they kept in their back pocket for an emergency.

I thought that fight was close so I’m not docking Cruz a lot for Valenzuela proving himself when the heat was on. If more people took good fights routinely, we wouldn’t have this situation so often, but I have a real respect for guys at least fighting decent opposition.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Jack Catterall vs Regis Prograis, October

Notes: Andy Cruz didn’t blow away Antonio Moran, at least until he did. Moran is a solid veteran gatekeeper and Cruz handled the business, just not in TKO-2 type fashion. I think everyone here has some problems with him right now, let alone in two years when he’s even more acclimated to the pro game. He’s a guy who’s just going to get better for a little while, and he’s taking the sort of opponents that he should beat, yes, but they’re guys meant to continue preparing him for bigger pro bouts.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Upcoming Fights: (6) Anthony Cacace vs Josh Warrington, Sept. 21 … (1) Emanuel Navarrete vs (2) Oscar Valdez, TBA

Upcoming Fights: (1) Luis Alberto Lopez vs (10) Angelo Leo, Aug. 10 … (9) Bruce Carrington vs Sulaiman Segawa, Sept. 27

Notes: Stephen Fulton is out because he’s officially moving up to featherweight to face Carlos Castro, which is a really good matchup, in September. Elijah Pierce is in. That guy’s done a really good job fighting consistently and trying to work his way into contention. Yeah, he had a couple early losses. So did O’Shaquie Foster, so did Jose Valenzuela. And Pierce has moved his way down to 122 from 126/130. He’s not flawless, he’s not unbeatable, but he’s fighting and winning against the best opponents he can find in the promotional situation he’s got.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Naoya Inoue vs TJ Doheny, Sept. 3

Upcoming Fights: (3) Yoshiki Takei vs (10) Daigo Higa, Sept. 3

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Upcoming Fights: (4) Angel Ayala vs (8) Dave Apolinario, Aug. 9

Notes: Kenshiro Teraji will be moving up to flyweight, but we’ll let that fight happen because there’s always the chance he might move back down if he loses. I get the feeling he wouldn’t, sort of like Kosei Tanaka going up to 115, losing, and staying to make his mark, but we’ll see.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Notes: Another shakeup in the wild west that is the 105 lb division, with Ginjiro Shigeoka getting stopped by Pedro Taduran.

Upcoming Fights: (4) Yudai Shigeoka vs Samuel Salva, Aug. 24

Notes: Claressa Shields won a marketing gimmick fight against someone who had absolutely no hope and no real business being in the ring with her. We once again wonder who is even left for her to face in boxing. The answer is nobody, really, and that marketing gimmick might have been the last card to play. It’s not her fault, she’s just better than everybody reasonably near her weight and has beaten all of them.

Upcoming Fights: (6) Alycia Baumgardner vs Delfine Persoon, Sept. 27 … (2) Katie Taylor vs (5) Amanda Serrano, Nov. 15