Jamel Herring and Dillian Whyte advanced to No. 3 in their respective divisions in The Ring rankings by scoring impressive stoppages of battled-tested veterans on consecutive weekends.

Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) avenged the chilling, one-hitter-quitter KO he suffered at the expert hands of Alexander Povetkin last August by outworking and overwhelming the Russian veteran en route to a fourth-round stoppage on March 27.

Herring never let Frampton into the fight. Photo from D4G Promotions

On April 3, Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) dominated Carl Frampton to a sixth-round stoppage, dropping the two-division titleholder twice in the process. Herring, who retained his WBO 130-pound belt for the third time with the career-best performance, name dropped Yours Truly while declaring his goal to fight for the vacant Ring Magazine junior lightweight championship during his post-fight interview.

The Ring Ratings Panel took note of the call out and agreed that the 35-year-old former Marine deserves to be in the mix of the top 130 pounders.

“Excellent performance by Herring, he was too big and used his size well, and proved a bridge too far for Frampton,” said panelist Anson Wainwright. “The Irishman can hold his head high; he had a good career. Herring should move up one place (from No. 5 to No. 4) and Frampton, who wasn’t ranked, is retiring. Nice shout out from Herring to Doug!”

Managing Editor Tom Gray suggested that Herring move to the No. 3 spot, displacing former IBF beltholder Joseph Diaz Jr., who lost his title on the scales prior to battling to a majority-draw with Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in his most recent fight (February 13).

“Frampton, despite being past his best, had never been stopped and Jamel turned in an excellent performance there,” said Gray. “I rate Jo Jo Diaz, but Herring just trumped him in terms of ‘What have you done for me lately?’”

Many panel members, including Adam Abramowitz and Diego Morilla, agreed with Gray.

“I’m for Herring at No. 3,” said panelist Tris Dixon. “That was a career-best win and really he goes up one just for name-checking Doug. (You could make a case for him going up two based on that! But three for me.)”

Added panelist Daisuke Sugiura:

“Agree with Herring moving to No. 3 too. I was having a hard time accepting Jo Jo staying in the top three after missing weight and a so-so performance, and feel more comfortable with Herring having the spot now after a great win.”

Just to be clear with the panel, Wainwright let them know he was cool with Herring advancing two spots.

“I am not against Herring moving to No. 3,” he said. “Jojo Diaz was not impressive last time out. I would favor him over Herring but that’s for them to decide in the ring and as Tom rightly says this win for Herring trumps anything Diaz has done lately.”

Whyte drops Povetkin to the canvas (and in The Ring rankings). Photo from Matchroom Boxing

There was debate over whether Whyte should remain at No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings, where he was following his loss to Povetkin, or advance to No. 3 (where the Russian was ranked) after his rematch stoppage. Nobody could come up with a deserving contender to fill the No. 3 spot if Whyte remained at No. 4, so No. 3 is where the 32-year-old Brixton man landed. Povetkin (36-3-1, 25 KOs), who some suggested should exit the rankings, dropped to No. 8.

RING RATINGS UPDATE:

Heavyweight – Whyte advances to No. 3. Povetkin drops to No. 8.

“Whyte gained a measure of revenge against Povetkin,” said Wainwright. “But Povetkin didn’t look right from the opening bell, had balance issues, made me wonder what the effects of COVID-19 were on him. Taking nothing away from Whyte. He still had to go in there and do his thing. Whyte to No. 3 and Povetkin to drop to No. 8.

“I could also see (Povetkin) dropping out entirely, he didn’t look good at all. I think if we go that way, Joe Joyce is the logical next in. (He’s) not as talented as Tony Yoka or Filip Hrgovic but think his resume is better and more deserving.”

Cruiserweight – Thabiso Mchunu advances to No. 4 after outpointing former amateur star Evgeny Tischenko over 12 rounds. Alexei Papin remains at No. 9 following a first-round stoppage of journeyman Vaclav Pejsar.

Junior middleweight – Tim Tszyu advances to No. 8 after stopping former title challenger Dennis Hogan in five rounds.

“I liked what I saw from Tim Tszyu,” said Wainwright. “He dominated Hogan, who had previously gone 12 with Jaime Munguia and was stopped by Jermall Charlo at middleweight in seven. Those fights took something from him but that shouldn’t detract from what was an excellent result.

“Israil Madrimov widely dominated Emmany Kalombo over 10-rounds. He’s on the fringes of the top 10.”

Junior lightweight – Herring advances to No. 3.

Junior featherweight – WBA/IBF titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev remains at No. 1 after scoring a fifth-round stoppage of Ryosuke Iwasa, who drops to No. 10.

“Iwasa to No. 10 works, particularly because the stoppage was nonsense,” said Gray, noting the premature nature of the TKO.

The panel debated re-entering Donnie Nietes into the junior bantamweight rankings following his 10-round decision over Pablo Carrillo. Wainwright suggested the four-division titleholder and former pound-for-pound player to land at No. 5.

“I’m on the fence what to do with Nietes. He holds a win over (No. 3-rated Kazuto) Ioka, albeit very close. However, he’s been off so long. Not sure this win is enough to re-enter. Ultimately, I think it is. I felt (No. 10-rated Carlos) Cuadras excellent last stand against (Ring champ Juan Francisco Estrada) should keep him in. (No. 9-rated Jeyvier) Cintron gave Ioka a good fight. To me (No. 7-rated) Francisco Rodriguez Jr. hasn’t done enough, he had moved up on attrition and struggled in his most recent outing against Martin Tecuapetla (SD 10).”

Gray wasn’t looking to defend Rodriguez but didn’t agree with Nietes returning to the rankings, especially as high as Wainwright suggested.

“If we’re looking to be consistent, which we certainly should, then Nietes can’t enter right now,” said Gray. “And a Top 5 position is unthinkable in my eyes. Despite the Ioka win and his accomplishments at the lower weights, Nietes has been off been off the planet for two-and-a-half years and the kid he beat is a journeyman.”

Added Abramowitz:

“As much as I like Nietes, I agree that he should not be brought in at this time.”

Added Morilla:

“I always liked Nietes, but the level of his opponent and the quality of the rest of the Top 10 makes it hard for us to make room for him… and I am already in the minority with my vote, so I guess I’ll wait until he beats someone more valuable before going to the trenches for him.”

Email Fischer at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and IG at @dougiefischer, and join him, Tom Loeffler, Coach Schwartz and friends via Tom’s IG or Doug’s YouTube channel every Sunday.