Ring Ratings Update: Froch, Beltran, Taylor exit rankings
Carl Froch, Raymundo Beltran and Jermain Taylor have been removed from the rankings of their respective divisions for different reasons. To find out why and who will replace them read this week’s Ring Ratings Update.
Pound For Pound: No. 7-rated Carl Froch (33-2, 24 knockouts), who has been inactive for a year and has yet to decide if he will continue with his career, will exit the Pound For Pound rankings. A discussion on who should replace the accomplished super middleweight was had by the panel and it was decided that unbeaten junior lightweight titleholder Takashi Uchiyama (23-0-1, 19 KOs) will enter at No. 10. All those who were rated behind Froch (Sergey Kovalev, Terence Crawford and Shinsuke Yamanaka) will move up one spot.
Light heavyweight: No. 10-rated Tommy Oosthuizen (25-0-2, 19 KOs) outpointed unrated Robert Berridge. No change.
Super middleweight: No. 1-rated Froch, the three-time titleholder who had been in the 168-pound rankings for 469 weeks, has to exit due to lack of activity. At press time, Froch was still mulling retirement and big fights with Gennady Golovkin and James DeGale. Calum Smith (18-0, 12 KOs) will enter at No. 10 with all others moving up one spot each to replace Froch.
Middleweight: Champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) looked very fresh and sharp in his impressive stoppage of No. 4-rated Daniel Geale (31-4, 16 KOs). Geale will tumble to No. 8 with everyone else in between moving up one spot. No. 7-rated Jermain Taylor, who is currently in court-ordered substance-abuse rehab after a string of disturbing gun-related incidents and aggravated assault, has been removed from the ratings as it has become abundantly clear that he is no longer mentally fit to box professionally. Montreal power-puncher David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs) will enter the 160-pound rankings at No. 10.
Welterweight: No. 8-rated Robert Guerrero (33-3-1, 18 KOs) eked out a split decision over unrated Aaron Martinez. Guerrero, who is
coming off a loss to Keith Thurman and clearly no longer in his prime, touched canvas against a California club fighter who isn’t known as a puncher. Guerrero will exit the rankings. Nos. 9 and 10 will move up one spot each and Brad Solomon (25-0, 9 KOs) will enter at No. 10. Last weekend, No. 3-rated Amir Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) had a tougher than expected time with unrated Chris Algieri, outpointing the former 140-pound beltholder by unanimous decision. Algieri gained more here than he may have done in any of his previous fights. No. 1-rated Kell Brook (35-0, 24 KOs) easily took care of business stopping unrated Frankie Gavin in six rounds.
Lightweight: No. 1-rated Raymundo Beltran (30-7-1, 18 KOs) is being removed from the rankings after testing positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid and banned substance, after his second-round stoppage of Takahiro Ao on May 1 in Las Vegas. Everyone rated below Beltran will move up one spot, making room for unbeaten Ghanaian puncher Richard Commey (22-0, 20 KOs) to debut at No. 10. Last weekend, WBC beltholder Jorge Linares (39-3, 26 KOs) recovered from a knockdown to put it on No. 7-rated Kevin Mitchell (39-3, 29 KOs) forcing the stoppage in the 10th. Big credit to both fighters. Linares moves from No. 5 to No. 2.
Junior lightweight: Bryan Vasquez (35-1, 18 KOs) and Javier Fortuna (28-0-1, 20 KOs) fought an exciting fight. Fortuna had the better of the action late to win the decision. Revised ratings are: No. 1- Takashi Uchiyama; No. 2- Takashi Miura; No. 3- Roman Martinez; No. 4- Francisco Vargas; No. 5- Javier Fortuna; No. 6- Bryan Vasquez. Numbers 7 thru 10 remain the same.
Featherweight: No. 9-rated Jesus Cuellar (27-1, 21 KOs) stopped shopworn former champion Vic Darchinyan in eight rounds. Up until the stoppage, Darchinyan was doing well. No. 10-rated Janson Velez (23-0-1, 16 KOs) won a 10-round unanimous decision over unrated Daniel Ramirez. Last weekend, Lee Selby (21-1-1, 8 KOs) won an eight-round technical decision over Evgeny Gradovich (19-1-1, 9 KOs) to earn the IBF title. Selby was winning at the time before the accidental head clash. Selby and Gradovich to swap places with Selby to No. 5 and Gradovich down to No. 8.
Junior bantamweight: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (34-4-1, 31 KOs) won a WBC title eliminator stopping unrated Jose Salgado in four rounds. No movement.
Junior flyweight: Javier Mendoza (24-2-1, 19 KOs) won a six-round technical decision over Milan Melindo (32-2, 12 KOs). Adrian Hernandez took a fight at 115 pounds and got stopped by Saul Juarez. Hernandez is removed from the ratings. Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (17-2-1, 11 KOs) will enter at No. 10.
Strawweight: Kosei Tanaka (5-0, 2 KOs) won the WBO title with a unanimous decision over unrated Julian Yedras. Wanheng Menayothin (38-0, 13 KOs) retained his WBC title stopping unrated Jerry Tomogdan in nine rounds. Ryuji Hara (20-1, 12 KOs) stayed active with a second-round knockout over unrated Patchnamchai Sor Sakulwong. No movement