This was one of the more eventful weeks concerning the S8C Top 25 in some time. Previously top ranked super middleweight James DeGale was upset, nine top junior lightweights were in action, a top 5 lightweight was upset, and more.
First and foremost, James DeGale’s upset loss to Caleb Truax means we were in for a serious re-evaluation of the top of the super middleweight division. After some deliberation, I decided to go with Gilberto Ramirez as the new #1 over George Groves. We’ve just seen Groves falter before in ways that Zurdo Ramirez never has. DeGale himself fell all the way to #9 while Caleb Truax burst into the top 25 all the way up at #12. Yes, he is ranked below the man he just beat, but an entire body of work has to be examined when evaluating rankings, not just one fight. DeGale’s is still superior.
Also in action at super middleweight was former titleholder and #11 ranked Fedor Chudinov back home in Russia. He held firm in his sport after a tough win over very underrated Canadian former MMA fighter Ryan Ford. Russian welterweight David Avenesyan also picked up a win and remains at #22, though he did it in the UK and at junior middleweight. I don’t think he stays there though.
Also holding their slots after wins that weren’t enough to move the needle are heavyweights Luis Ortiz (#7) and Bryant Jennings (#11), light heavyweight Jean Pascal (#13), featherweight titleholder Lee Selby (#5), and welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn (#7). Unlike the ridiculous WBA, I did not penalize Guillermo Rigondeaux for losing up two weight classes to the current best fighter in the world, even if he did quit. Rigo remains my #1 super bantamweight.
Speaking of Vasyl Lomachenko, he of course holds his #1 junior lightweight ranking following his big win. He was hardly the only junior lightweight in action, however, as Saturday for 130 lbs was one of the busiest days for any division in 2017. Miguel Roman’s HBO main event upset over Orlando Salido moved Roman from nineteenth to #8 and dropped Salido from third to #11. Stephen Smith held at #21 following his loss to Francisco Vargas while Vargas moved up one spot to #3 thanks to his win and Salido’s loss. Most thought Tevin Farmer should have won against Kenichi Ogawa so I left him at #10, but I did also move the new Japanese world titleholder up from twenty first to #14 because he did fight pretty well in there. Finally, emerging Top Rank contender Christopher Diaz made his debut at #23 while rising Mexican power puncher Eduardo Hernandez remains #22 after his win as well.
Nicaraguan contender Rene Alvarado now also has to be ranked at junior lightweight following his big, HBO Latino broadcast upset of top five lightweight Denis Shafikov. I brought him in at #19. I also left Shafikov at lightweight as I figure he will move back up following the loss in which I thought he looked lower energy than normal, but I did have to bring him down all the way to #12 at 135. He didn’t look good and Alvarado has never been a true top contender previously.
We also had some notable time outs this week thanks to fighters not having been in the ring for a calendar year and not currently having a fight scheduled. Cruiserweight lost Rakhim Chakhkiev, light heavyweight lost Isaac Chilemba, middleweight lost Matt Korobov, and featherweight lost Jesus Cuellar. This brought Yves Nagabu, Anthony Yarde, Gabriel Rosado, and Chris Avalos in at #25 in their respective divisions.
Finally, I brought in a pair of new fighters at bantamweight. Former super flyweight titleholder Rodrigo Guerrero was an overdue addition and he is now #19. I also brought in former Russian amateur standout Mikhail Aloyan at #25 despite him only having three fights professionally. His amateur credentials are simply outstanding, he has been fighting ten and twelve rounders all three times out, and Aloyan is reportedly looking for a title fight very soon. He deserves his inclusion in a division like bantamweight which isn’t very deep in the back half of its rankings.
