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The Ring's Latest Ratings: Garcia climbs to shake up welterweights
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The Ring's Latest Ratings: Garcia climbs to shake up welterweights
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2 hrs ago
2 hrs ago
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The two heavy favorites won big this past weekend, Ryan Garcia and Jai Opetaia, and The Ring ratings panel made a few key adjustments across four divisions Monday.
The biggest mover, of course, is Garcia (26-2, 21 KOs) after making easy work of Conor Benn, who wasn’t ranked at 147, to retain his WBC belt via second-round TKO. He jumps from No. 6 to second at welterweight ahead of WBA titleholder Teofimo Lopez who rises two places into third.
That led to more reshuffling among the rest of the top 10, where former WBO titleholder Brian Norman drops three spots into fifth, while Jack Catterall also falls a place as the Brit angles for an immediate shot at Lopez next.
Despite outpointing former unified 140-pound champion Jose Ramirez on the Garcia-Benn undercard with a spirited showing, Alexis Rocha (27-2-1, 16 KOs) remains in the penultimate spot at No. 9.
There was no movement at cruiserweight after Jai Opetaia's latest title defense. The Australian endured a momentary scare in the seventh round when rocked by Noel Mikaelian, though scored a stoppage two rounds later to retain his Ring crown at 200 pounds.
Opetaia (31-0, 24 KOs) appears closer than ever to securing a David Benavidez fight next year after the pair exchanged pleasantries ringside, while Mikaelian (28-4, 12 KOs) retains fifth spot despite defeat.
Abass Baraou moves up a spot to No. 8 at junior middleweight after outworking Giovani Santillan in their ProBox main event on Friday night, while Brandon Adams departs the 154-pound rankings through inactivity.
It's been a year since the 37-year-old Californian contender upset Serhii Bohachuk, though proposed title elimination fights with Caoimhin Agyarko and Bakhram Murtazaliev haven't materialized in recent months.
WBC mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj, who'll challenge Sebastian Fundora for the full championship on October 17, advances to No. 9 while Charles Conwell re-enters the fray to round out the top 10.
At lightweight, there's a new entrant alert as Andres Cortes (26-0, 13 KOs) slots into the No. 10 spot after a unanimous decision win over former 130-pound champion Mark Magsayo elsewhere on the Garcia-Benn bill.
Regie Suganob (19-1, 8 KOs) moves up a place at junior flyweight to No. 5, following an impressive fifth-round stoppage of former champion Sivenathi Nontshinga in their IBF final eliminator. Erik Badillo (19-1, 8 KOs) is back at No. 10, while the South African departs after an alarming third defeat inside the distance over a three-year span.
Note that Angelo Leo, who has been inactive for more than a year, is being given more time by the panel to get a bout scheduled and his status will be revisited at the month's end. His proposed title defense against Ra'eese Aleem (23-1, 12 KOs) was canceled at the 11th hour when he missed weight for their May 9 matchup.
You know the drill. Scroll down and read the numbered breakdown, as four divisions saw movement this week:
*Bold/italics denotes movement in the division.
Junior middleweight
Baraou back in the win column, Adams suffers as his inactive spell continues past the year mark and Charles Conwell is belatedly back among the top names after his eighth-round stoppage win over Paul Kroll last month.
C (vacant)
  • 1 JARON ENNIS WBA, WBO U.S. 36-0-0 (32 KOs)
  • Tied 1st VERGIL ORTIZ U.S. 24-0-0 (22 KOs)
  • 2 SEBASTIAN FUNDORA WBC U.S. 24-1-1 (16 KOs)
  • 4 ISRAIL MADRIMOV Uzbekistan 11-2-1 (7 KOs)
  • 5 XANDER ZAYAS Puerto Rico 23-1-0 (13 KOs)
  • 6 JOSH KELLY IBF U.K. 18-1-1 (9 KOs)
  • 7 BAKHRAM MURTAZALIEV Russia 23-1-0 (17 KOs)
  • 8 ABASS BARAOU Germany 18-2-0 (9 KOs)
  • 9 ERMAL HADRIBEAJ U.S. 23-0-1 (8 KOs)
  • 10 CHARLES CONWELL U.S. 22-1-0 (17 KOs)
Welterweight
Garcia is the biggest mover after an emphatic first title defense, while former titlist Norman drops furthest after what quickly proved a busy few weeks in the 147-pound class. Still no room for IBF ruler Liam Paro in the top 10.
C (vacant)
  • 1 DEVIN HANEY WBO U.S. 33-0-0 (15 KOs)
  • 2 RYAN GARCIA WBC U.S. 26-2-0 (21 KOs)
  • 3 TEOFIMO LOPEZ WBA U.S. 23-2-0 (13 KOs)
  • 4 JACK CATTERALL U.K. 33-2-0 (14 KOs)
  • 5 BRIAN NORMAN JR. U.S. 29-1-0 (23 KOs)
  • 6 EIMANTAS STANIONIS Lithuania 16-1-0 (9 KOs)
  • 7 ROHAN POLANCO Dom. Rep. 17-0-0 (10 KOs)
  • 8 RAUL CURIEL Mexico 17-0-1 (14 KOs)
  • 9 ALEXIS ROCHA U.S. 26-2-1 (16 KOs)
  • 10 ROLANDO ROMERO U.S. 17-3-0 (13 KOs)
Lightweight
Former 130-pound champion Joe Cordina, whose visa rejection saw the Welshman miss out on a proposed Abdullah Mason title shot in July, drops out of the 135-pound pack to accomodate an in-form Andres Cortes.
  • C (vacant)
  • 1 SHAKUR STEVENSON U.S. 25-0-0 (11 KOs)
  • 2 RAYMOND MURATALLA U.S. 25-0-0 (17 KOs)
  • 3 WILLIAM ZEPEDA WBC Mexico 34-1-0 (27 KOs)
  • 4 ABDULLAH MASON WBO 21-0-0 (18 KOs)
  • 5 ANDY CRUZ Cuba 7-1-0 (4 KOs)
  • 6 SAM NOAKES U.K. 19-1-0 (16 KOs)
  • 7 FLOYD SCHOFIELD U.S. 19-0-0 (13 KOs)
  • 8 LUCAS BAHDI Canada 20-0-0 (15 KOs)
  • 9 JADIER HERRERA Cuba 18-0-0 (16 KOs)
  • 10 ANDRES CORTES U.S. 26-0-0 (13 KOs)
Junior Flyweight
Suganob's stunning finish is only enough to put him on the precipice of the division's elite names, as he swaps places with Kyosuke Takami to round out the top five. Erik Badillo returns, as Nontshinga falls out of the top 10.
  • C (vacant)
  • 1 RENE SANTIAGO WBA, WBO Puerto Rico 16-4-0 (9 KOs)
  • 2 THANONGSAK SIMSRI IBF Thailand 40-1-0 (35 KOs)
  • 3 SHOKICHI IWATA WBC Japan 17-2-0 (14 KOs)
  • 4 DAIYA KIRA Japan 5-0-0 (4 KOs)
  • 5 REGIE SUGANOB Philippines 19-1-0 (8 KOs)
  • 6 KYOSUKE TAKAMI Japan 10-1-0 (8 KOs)
  • 7 CARLOS CANIZALES Venezuela 28-4-1 (20 KOs)
  • 8 MASATAKA TANIGUCHI Japan 21-6-0 (15 KOs)
  • 9 AARON DE LA CRUZ Mexico 14-0-0 (9 KOs)
  • 10 ERIK BADILLO Mexico 19-1-0 (8 KOs)

Update
Junior middleweight
Welterweight
Lightweight
Junior flyweight
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