Boxing Rankings (May 10, 2021): Canelo still the man at 168, more

Rankings go up on Mondays at Midday ET.

Ranked fights this week:

• Junior Featherweight: (3) Danny Roman vs Ricardo Espinoza, Could 15
• Junior Featherweight: (4) Brandon Figueroa vs (5) Luis Nery, Could 15
• Junior Flyweight: (5) Elwin Soto vs Katsunari Takayama, Could 8

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Tyson Fury vs (2) Anthony Joshua, TBA … (9) Michael Hunter vs Filip Hrgovic, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (6) Kevin Lerena vs Ryad Merhy, July 17

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Upcoming Fights: (5) Jean Pascal vs (7) Badou Jack, June 6 … (8) Gilberto Ramirez vs Sullivan Barrera, TBA

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Notes: Nothing new or uncommon to say about Canelo Alvarez following his stoppage win over Billy Joe Saunders, and there was nothing fluky about it, both. An eye fixed damage is an eye fixed damage, the combat ended due to it. Alvarez was forward on the playing cards, I assumed he was up, however Saunders actually had his moments within the combat.

Canelo’s the clear No. 1 man at this weight, arguably the No. 1 man within the sport pound-for-pound; the latter you may debate, the previous you simply can’t. No person else has an argument for the time being.

The following combat seems like it’s going to in all probability be Caleb Plant, however I’m not counting my chickens till there are at the very least agency stories if not an official announcement. May very well be extra hoops to leap by means of there than a traditional, rational — “non-boxing” — particular person would possibly count on.

For Saunders, I’m not shifting him. I do know most individuals would drop him a spot or three, however I imply, for what? He misplaced, however he was anticipated to lose. That’s why he was No. 4 and Canelo was No. 1. He did an excellent bit higher, in my estimation, than Callum Smith did in December, and if Saunders had been additionally 6’3” standing straight up he in all probability wouldn’t have gotten his eye cracked with an uppercut. I get the thought behind dropping Saunders down on this scenario. I get all the conventional concepts of boxing rankings. I simply don’t agree with quite a lot of them and don’t really feel beholden to them.

Upcoming Fights: (10) David Lemieux vs David Zegarra, June 4 … (3) David Benavidez vs Jose Uzcategui, Aug. 28

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Jermall Charlo vs Juan Macias Montiel, June 19 … (8) Jaime Munguia vs Maciej Sulecki, June 19

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Notes: Liam Smith was again in final week for a one-week run at No. 10. His loss to Magomed Kurbanov on Friday in Russia was home cooking, in my opinion, however Smith additionally wasn’t so dominant or something. It was a foul determination, however not one of many worst you’ll see this yr.

A brand new No. 10 was a tough decide. I went with Madrimov, the 26-year-old Uzbek fighter who has not all the time regarded tremendous duper unbelievable or something, however is rising as a contender. There have been different choices thought-about; in reality, quite a lot of them.

I considered Sergio Garcia, however the European champ has proven no ambition since dominating Ted Cheeseman in 2019, and I considered Cheeseman on an excellent run of type, however he was, in reality, dominated by Garcia in 2019. Brandon Adams had an excellent win over Serhii Bohachuk, however Bohachuk was additionally fairly unproven. Kurbanov, after all, deserves consideration, even in the event you didn’t like the choice. Jack Culcay is round and nonetheless a stable fighter. Tony Harrison regarded iffy final combat out, however he’s not out of this combine, and due to the draw towards Harrison, Bryant Perrella needed to be considered for at the very least a second, however truthfully pondering of Perrella made me ditch consideration for Harrison. Guys like Charles Conwell and Anthony Fowler clearly have expertise. Former titlist Patrick Teixeira deserves a thought.

All these guys can combat. Madrimov can combat. Liam Smith can combat. It stays a deep division for good fighters, and guys like Madrimov, Conwell, Souleymane Cissokho, Hamzah Sheeraz, and others are beginning to make developments. None of that considers that Errol Spence Jr will inevitably transfer up, Danny Garcia is on his means, and many others. 154 may very well be good for a very long time.

Upcoming Fights: (6) Jarrett Hurd vs Luis Arias, June 6 … (4) Jeison Rosario vs (8) Erickson Lubin, June 26 … (1) Jermell Charlo vs (2) Brian Castano, July 17

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Josh Taylor vs (2) Jose Ramirez, Could 22 … (4) Jose Zepeda vs Hank Lundy, Could 22 … (10) Jose Pedraza vs Julian Rodriguez, June 12 … (7) Mario Barrios vs Gervonta Davis, June 26

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Upcoming Fights: (4) Devin Haney vs (7) Jorge Linares, Could 29 … (1) Teofimo Lopez vs (10) George Kambosos Jr, June 5 … (2) Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Masayoshi Nakatani, June 26 … (5) Gervonta Davis vs Mario Barrios [junior welterweight], June 26

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Upcoming Fights: (6) Shakur Stevenson vs Jeremiah Nakathila, June 12 … (2) Gervonta Davis vs Mario Barrios [junior welterweight], June 26 … (3) Chris Colbert vs Yuriorkis Gamboa, July 3 … (8) Shavkat Rakhimov vs Kenichi Ogawa, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Gary Russell Jr vs Rey Vargas, TBA … (2) Child Galahad vs Jazza Dickens, TBA … (5) Mauricio Lara vs (6) Josh Warrington, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Danny Roman vs Ricardo Espinoza, Could 15 …. (4) Brandon Figueroa vs (5) Luis Nery, Could 15 … (2) Stephen Fulton Jr vs Nery-Figueroa winner, Sept. 11 … (1) Murodjon Akhmadaliev vs (8) Ronny Rios, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Nordine Oubaali vs (3) Nonito Donaire, Could 29 … (1) Naoya Inoue vs Michael Dasmarinas, June 19 … (4) John Riel Casimero vs (5) Guillermo Rigondeaux, Aug. 14

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Juan Francisco Estrada vs (4) Chocolatito Gonzalez, TBA … (3) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs Carlos Cuadras, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Notes: One other Elwin Soto combat, one other win for combat followers. The Mexican warrior brings nice leisure and each outing, and his clash with Japanese veteran Katsunari Takayama was no different. It regarded early like Soto had it within the bag, however Takayama was double robust and stayed in there, making a run at it.

Soto was the stronger, youthful man for positive, however Takayama gained some rounds in there earlier than the controversial ninth spherical stoppage. Nevertheless a lot I don’t agree with Laurence Cole’s determination — it’s “so much” is “nevertheless a lot” — I do assume that extra doubtless than not, Soto was going to win that combat. I simply assume Takayama deserved the possibility to maintain attempting, he wasn’t in any extra hazard than he had been. However once more, I do get that I’m not the man in there, and Laurence Cole was. He was proper on high of it. I don’t know what he noticed or heard from them.

But it surely was a rattling good combat, and Soto retains his spot within the rankings because it was.

Upcoming Fights: (7) Jonathan Gonzalez vs Armando Torres, Could 21

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Upcoming Fights: (9) Ginjiro Shigeoka vs Toshiki Kawamitsu, Could 23 … (1) Knockout CP Freshmart vs Pongsaklek Sithdabnij, Could 29

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Naoya Inoue vs Michael Dasmarinas, June 19 … (7) Vasiliy Lomachenko vs Masayoshi Nakatani, June 26 … (10) Jermell Charlo vs Brian Castano, July 17 … (5) Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr, TBA … (8) Juan Francisco Estrada vs Chocolatito Gonzalez, TBA … (9) Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Mikaela Mayer vs Erica Farias, June 19