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Ring Ratings Update: Alvarado, Bellew advance in ratings

Fighters Network
03
Apr

 

Boxing fans were treated to a few upsets this weekend but let’s start with the light heavyweight division.

Tony Bellew battled fellow RING-rated 175 pounder Isaac Chilemba to a split draw in Liverpool, England. Bellew had the edge in the early rounds and Chilemba closed the gap toward the end of the fight.

Meanwhile, in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Denis Grachev outpointed previously undefeated (33-0) former WBO titleholder Zsolt Erdei to a 10-round split decision win.



Chilemba will remain at No. 7 in THE RING’s light heavyweight rankings; Bellew will move up to No. 8. Gabriel Campillo will be dropped from the ratings and replaced at No. 10 by Grachev, who upset then-rated Ismayl Sillakh and then dropped a competitive decision to former super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute in a light heavyweight bout last year, and is set to fight undefeated 68-pound contender Edwin Rodriguez in June at a catchweight.

At super middleweight, Rodriguez, THE RING’s No. 10-rated contender, won an ugly 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Ezequiel Maderna. No change in the rankings since Rodriguez looked mediocre at best.

At middleweight, the magazine’s No. 2-rated contender Gennady Golovkin looked very good scoring a one-punch third-round knocking over Nobuhiro Ishida in Monte Carlo to retain his WBA title. No change in the rankings.

As we went to press, we were still awaiting the results of the “B” urine sample for No. 10-rated Sam Soliman to determine his status in our rankings.

At junior middleweight, Sergei Rabchenko scored a second-round KO over Adriano Ricci to retain the European title but it was not enough yet for Belarus native to enter the top 10 rankings yet.

At junior welterweight Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado waged an awesome battle with their 12-round rematch, which featured non-stop action. Alvarado, a big underdog going into the fight at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, edged out a close unanimous decision definitely setting up Alvarado-Rios III. This battle resulted in the following changes in the 140-pound rankings:

Alvarado moved up two spots to No. 6; Rios dropped one spot to No. 7 and Khabib Allakhverdiev dropping to No. 8.

There was another 140-pound upset at Mandalay Bay with late replacement Terrence Crawford winning a decision over Breidis Prescott. No changes in the rankings since Crawford just does not have enough of a track record against better opposition.

At junior bantamweight, Oleydong Sithsamechai, the No. 10-rated contender, retained scored a TKO over Richard Garciain the 7th round. No Changes. 

At junior flyweight, nice win for Pedro Guevara by way of his split decision win over former 105-pound titleholder Raul Garcia. Guevara will enter the rankings at No. 10; Alberto Rossel will be dropped and Felix Alvarado will move up to No. 9. 

At strawweight, Mario Rodriguez lost his IBF title to Katsunari Takayama by unanimous decision. Changes in the 105-pound rankings are: Nkosinathi Joyi moves to No. 3; Katsunari Takayama in at No. 4; Mario Rodriguez drops to No. 5; Merlito Sabillo drops from the rankings.

 

 

Photo / Alex Livesey-Getty Images

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