The Ring's latest ratings: Changes at light heavyweight, cruiserweight

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Mosope Ominiyi

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Four new entrants emerge among The Ring's divisional rankings after another packed week with world championship boxing across three continents.

The significant news sees movement at light heavyweight after a controversial contest in Canada on Thursday night.

Albert Ramirez retained his WBA interim title with a split decision over Lerrone Richards, though the Venezuelan drops six places to No. 9 having been fortunate to remain unbeaten on the scorecards. Imam Khataev avoided a stunning upset himself, regrouping after a flash knockdown to stop Mickael Diallo on the undercard.

Richards is one of the week's new entrants, slotting a place above him at No. 8 with The Ring's Dec Taylor reporting the 33-year-old plans to appeal the decision with the WBA and seek an immediate rematch from a bout many believed he won quite comfortably.

In the lower weight divisions, on a stacked card Saturday in Japan, Masamichi Yabuki retained his IBF flyweight title with a wide decision against Rene Calixto.

On the undercard, it was fifth time lucky for Andrew Moloney who outfought Willibaldo Garcia during a tense tussle to wrestle away IBF 115-pound honors, while Michael Angeletti recovered from an early knockdown to outbox Kenneth Llover in a battle of unbeaten bantamweights.

Moloney's new mandatory Sikho Nqothole rises into the top 10, while Filipino youngster Arvin Paciones cracks the flyweight class after a career-best win last month with two notable names shifting weight divisions.

Elsewhere at flyweight, Abraham Perez will headline a DAZN show this weekend against WBA interim beltholder Jonathan Gonzalez knowing bigger bouts beckon.

The same can be said for The Ring's No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer and unified champion Jesse Rodriguez moving up in weight again to face WBA bantamweight beltholder Antonio Vargas.

The lure of a clash with Ring champion Jai Opetaia excites former WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith, who retained his high divisional status after being the first to stop Ryan Rozicki in Zuffa Boxing's first UK offering on Saturday night. Five divisions have changes this time around, so scroll down to read the breakdown.

*Bold/italics denotes movement in the division.

Cruiserweight

Rozicki drops two places to No. 8, with former champion Jack and European titleholder Riley rising a place each.

C JAI OPETAIA RING Australia 30-0-0 (23 KOs)

1 DAVID BENAVIDEZ WBA, WBO U.S. 32-0-0 (26 KOs)
2 GILBERTO RAMIREZ Mexico 48-2-0 (30 KOs)
3 CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH U.K. 22-2-0 (14 KOs)
4 MICHAL CIESLAK Poland 28-2-0 (22 KOs)
5 NOEL MIKAELIAN WBC Armenia 28-3-0 (12 KOs)
6 BADOU JACK Sweden 29-4-3 (17 KOs)
7 VIDDAL RILEY U.K. 14-0-0 (7 KOs)
8 RYAN ROZICKI Canada 21-2-1 (20 KOs)
9 LEONARDO MOSQUEA France 18-0-0 (11 KOs)
10 ROBIN SIRWAN SAFAR Sweden 20-0-0 (13 KOs)

Light heavyweight

Yarde, Khataev, Buatsi, Hutchinson and Lopez all move up a place as Ramirez falls six spots to No. 9 after his contentious win. New entrant Richards keeps the flag flying high for Britain, who boast five of the top 10 contenders, even after David Morrell's recent conqueror Zak Chelli drops out of the list.

C DMITRY BIVOL RING, IBF, WBA, WBO Russia 25-1-0 (12 KOs)

1 DAVID BENAVIDEZ WBC U.S. 32-0-0 (26 KOs)
2 CALLUM SMITH U.K. 31-2-0 (22 KOs)
3 ANTHONY YARDE U.K. 27-4-0 (24 KOs)
4 IMAM KHATAEV Australia 12-1-0 (11 KOs)
5 JOSHUA BUATSI U.K. 20-1-0 (13 KOs)
6 WILLY HUTCHINSON U.K. 20-2-0 (14 KOs)
7 NAJEE LOPEZ U.S. 16-0-0 (13 KOs)
8 LERRONE RICHARDS U.K. 19-2-0 (4 KOs)
9 ALBERT RAMIREZ Venezuela 23-0-0 (19 KOs)
10 UMAR DZAMBEKOV Austria 14-0-0 (10 KOs)

Bantamweight

Angeletti breaks new ground at 118 pounds, replacing Llover as the No. 9-rated player having outboxed him in their IBF eliminator for Jose Salas' title.

C (vacant)

1 SEIYA TSUTSUMI Japan 13-0-3 (8 KOs)
2 TAKUMA INOUE WBC Japan 22-2-0 (5 KOs)
3 CHRISTIAN MEDINA WBO Mexico 27-4-0 (19 KOs)
4 DAIGO HIGA Japan 21-3-3 (19 KOs)
5 ANTONIO VARGAS U.S. 19-1-1 (11 KOs)
6 RIKU MASUDA Japan 10-1-0 (9 KOs)
7 JOSE SALAS IBF Mexico 17-0-0 (11 KOs)
8 TENSHIN NASUKAWA Japan 8-1-0 (3 KOs)
9 MICHAEL ANGELETTI U.S. 15-0-0 (8 KOs)
10 JASON MOLONEY Australia 29-4-0 (20 KOs)

Junior bantamweight

Newly-minted champion Moloney trades places with Tsuboi, Gonzalez moves up two places while Garcia drops one spot after a narrow defeat in his first title defense. Nqothole rounds out the top 10, with previously-ranked No. 8 contender Calixto out of the list having moved down in weight to unsuccessfully challenge Yabuki at 112 pounds.

C JESSE RODRIGUEZ RING, WBA, WBC, WBO U.S. 23-0-0 (16 KOs)

1 FERNANDO MARTINEZ Argentina 18-1-0 (9 KOs)
2 DAVID JIMENEZ Costa Rica 18-1-0 (12 KOs)
3 PHUMELELA CAFU South Africa 11-1-3 (8 KOs)
4 ANDREW MOLONEY IBF Australia 29-4-0 (18 KOs)
5 TOMOYA TSUBOI Japan 3-0-0 (2 KOs)
6 RICARDO MALAJIKA South Africa 17-2-0 (12 KOs)
7 ISRAEL GONZALEZ Mexico 32-5-2 (12 KOs)
8 WILLIBALDO GARCIA Mexico 23-7-2 (13 KOs)
9 THEOPHILOUS ALLOTEY Ghana 14-0-0 (11 KOs)
10 SIKHO NQOTHOLE South Africa 22-3-0 (13 KOs)

Flyweight

Yafai leads six contenders who move up a place with Seigo Yuri Akui, previously No. 4, now campaigning at junior bantamweight after his stoppage win over Lourinz Biasong at Japan's famed Korakuen Hall on Saturday. Ambitious new entrant Paciones is the new No. 10, having outpointed fellow unbeaten hopeful Richard Laspona.

C (vacant)