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Ring Ratings Update: Thurman, Porter climb welterweight rankings

Fighters Network
28
Apr

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No less than 18 RING-rated fighters were in action over the past two weeks, including RING heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and two No. 1-rated contenders – Bernard Hopkins and Lucas Matthysse. Young welterweight standouts Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter advanced in the 147-pound rankings with impressive stoppage victories.

Heavyweight: THE RING champ Klitschko, who also holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, easily stopped Alex Leapai in five rounds to retain all of his belts.

Cruiserweight: No. 3-rated Denis Lebedev (25-2, 19 knockouts) was supposed to face Guillermo Jones in a rematch but the fight was called off when Jones tested positive for the same banned substance he was busted for following their epic first encounter.



Light heavyweight: No. 1-rated Hopkins (55-6-3, 32 KOs) continued to impress with a split decision win over Beibut Shumenov (14-2, 16 KOs) on April 19. Hopkins added the WBA crown to his IBF title. Shumenov will drop from No. 4 to No. 6 with Juergen Braehmer (43-2, 32 KOs) moving up to No. 4 and Chad Dawson (31-3, 17 KOs) moving up to No. 5.

Middleweight: No. 7-rated Martin Murray (27-1-1, 12 KOs) stopped Ishmael Tetteh in six rounds. On April 19, No. 4-rated Peter Quillin retained his WBO title with a wide decision over Lukas Konecny. No changes.

Welterweight: No. 7-rated Thurman (23-0, 21 KOs) scored a TKO victory over Julio Diaz when the veteran failed to come out for the fourth round due to an injured rib. Thurman will move up to No. 6, switching spots with Robert Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KOs), who hasn’t fought since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May. On April 19, Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) scored an impressive fourth-round KO over No. 8-rated Paulie Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) to retain his IBF title. Porter advanced to No. 4 with the impressive victory, displacing Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs), who was dropped to No. 5. Malignaggi will drop to No. 10 with Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KOs) moving up to No. 8 and Adrien Broner (27-1, 22 KOs) moving up to No. 9.

The new 147-pound top 10 is as follows:

Champion: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

1. Manny Pacquiao (45-0, 26 KOs)

2. Tim Bradley (31-1, 12 KOs)

3. Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40 KOs)

4. Shawn Porter

5. Kell Brook

6. Keith Thurman

7. Robert Guerrero

8. Marcos Maidana

9. Adrien Broner

10. Paulie Malignaggi

 

Junior welterweight: No. 1-rated Matthysse (35-3, 33 KOs) was knocked down twice but lived up to his “Machine” moniker by battling John Molina to an 11th-round stoppage, dropping the unrated power puncher three times in the process. No changes.

Lightweight: No. 8-rated Omar Figueroa Jr. (23-0-1, 17 KOs) won a split decision over Jerry Belmontes. No change.

Junior lightweight: No. 9-rated Takiro Ao (26-3-1, 12 KOs) won a wide decision over Marco Lopez. Ao was 137 pounds for the second consecutive fight thus outgrowing the 130-pound limit. Ao will drop out of the junior lightweight ratings; Sergio Thompson (29-3, 26 KOs) will move up to No. 9 with Bryan Vasquez (33-1, 17 KOs) entering the ratings at No. 10.

Junior featherweight: No. 3-rated Kiko Martinez (31-4, 23 KOs) kept up his impressive form, going to Japan to stop former two-division titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa in seven rounds to retain his IBF title. On April 19, No. 6-rated Scott Quigg (28-0-2, 21 KOs) was impressive stopping late sub Tshifhiwa Munyai in two rounds. Quigg advanced from No. 6 to No. 4 with Vic Darchinyan (39-6-1, 28 KOs) dropping to No. 5 and Victor Terrazas (37-3-1, 21 KOs) dropping to No. 6. Some members of THE RING Ratings Panel pushed for Quigg to be rated higher. However, Martinez’s most recent victory, which follows impressive wins over top contenders Jeffrey Matthebula and Jhonatan Romero after he was stopped by No. 1-rated Carl Frampton, justified the Spaniard’s rating at No. 3 in the view of most of the Panel.

Bantamweight: No. 2-rated Shinsuke Yamanaka (21-0-2, 16 KOs) continues his impressive title reign, stopping capable Stephane Jamoye in nine rounds to retain his WBC belt. No change.

Flyweight: No. 2-rated Juan Francisco Estrada (26-2, 19 KOs) retained his WBA/WBO titles when Richie Mapranum failed to come out for the 10th round. No. 9-rated Hernan Marquez (37-4, 26 KOs) bounced back from losing to Giovani Segura by widely outpointing John Mark Apolinario over 10 rounds. No change.

Strawweight: No. 2-rated Wanheng Menayothin (34-0, 11 KOs) stopped Domi Nenokeba in four rounds. No change.

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