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Ring Ratings Update: Kambosos takes lightweight crown, Fury cracks P4P, Fulton goes to No. 1 at 122

The new Ring Magazine/unified lightweight champion of the world, George Kambosos Jr. Photo courtesy of George Kambosos Jr.
Fighters Network
03
Dec

A few things were crystal clear to the Ring Ratings Panel after a sensational Saturday of boxing last week: George Kambosos Jr. is the new Ring Magazine lightweight champion (and a badass worthy of the status), the deposed Teofimo Lopez Jr. needs to be replaced in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings, and Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa lived up to their high rankings while making for a hell of a 122-pound scrap.

There was a little debate on whether Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs), who outpointed the relentless Figueroa via majority decision, should advance to No. 1 or No. 2 from the No. 3 spot he held going into the WBO/WBC title unification tilt. Managing Editor Tom Gray and panelists Adam Abramowitz and Diego Morilla vouched for the 27-year-old Philly native, who assumed the top spot in the junior featherweight rankings.

Tyson Fury remains The Ring Magazine and WBC heavyweight champion. Photo by Sean Michael Ham / TGB Promotions

Tyson Fury, the reigning Ring Magazine and WBC heavyweight champion. Photo by Sean Michael Ham / TGB Promotions

There was A LOT of debate on who should replace Lopez in the pound-for-pound top 10, and most of it centered around heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, who was narrowly denied a spot in the mythical rankings following his epic rubber-match KO of Deontay Wilder in October.

Seven panelists shared their thoughts on the matter, and while four of them explained in detail why they were not in favor of Fury’s inclusion in the pound-for-pound rankings, none of them were vehemently against The Gypsy King entering the mythical rankings and none could come up with or agree on a deserving alternate.



So, Fury, the proud holder of the Ring Magazine and WBC heavyweight titles, cracked the pound-for-pound rankings.

Abramowitz nominated the jolly giant to enter at No. 10.

“The Ring has had heavyweights in its pound for pound before and I don’t subscribe to the theory that a heavyweight can’t be in pound-for-pound discussions,” he said.

Gray, who does subscribe to that theory, asked the Panel to come up with other replacements for Lopez.

“One of the Charlos? Fulton? Tank? Shakur? Kambosos? Someone else? Discuss…,” Gray said.

Thus, the familiar P4P Can-‘O-Worms was opened.

“I don’t see why Tyson Fury can’t be our No. 10 here,” said panelist Diego Morilla. “He’s got ample credentials, and an effective style even if it’s not too aesthetically pleasing to watch.”

Despite a disputed split-decision loss to P4P-rated Juan Francisco Estrada, surely the great Roman Gonzalez is worthy of the mythical rankings.

Panelist Michael Montero countered: “I’m not against rating heavyweights pound for pound, but Fury hasn’t done a lot of P4P worthy work in my opinion. He destroyed Wilder twice, but Deontay wasn’t exactly elite in terms of skills and Tyson outweighed him by 50 pounds (kinda the antithesis of P4P).

“I’m not sure who we bring in at No. 10, tho, nobody has really separated themselves from the pack. Chocolatito maybe? Many feel [Roman Gonzalez] beat [Juan Francisco] Estrada, our current No. 8, earlier this year.”

Prompting this from Gray: “I’m against Fury being in the pound-for-pound top 10 simply because he just doesn’t need it.

“Hey Tyson. We know you’re the best heavyweight in the world and you’d beat any man alive, but we’ve also got you pound for pound No. 10 behind Kazuto Ioka!”

“It just doesn’t work for me. Usyk gets a pass because he’s come up from cruiser.

“Anyway, if the size is putting you off, Michael, then realistically Fury can’t make your P4P top 10. He’ll be 30 pounds heavier than Joshua and 50 pounds heavier than Usyk. The same argument applies even if he wipes out the best guys in the division.

“I thought Choc beat Estrada, but something doesn’t sit right about him re-entering. Anyone else?”

Wainwright responded: “There’s no obvious choice to enter at No. 10.

“If we kept Fury out last time, this reasoning is still the same. Personally, I prefer the more tried and tested Artur Beterbiev and Gennadiy Golovkin. I lean toward Beterbiev because the win over Oleksandr Gvodzyk – I know it was a while ago – was exceptional and better than anything any of the other candidates have to offer.

“Jermall Charlo looked so-so against Juan Macias Montiel, Jermell Charlo arguably lost to Brian Castano but got a draw in his home state. Other young guns at 130-135 pounds need to do more to crack the P4P top 10. Gervonta Davis passes the eye test, but he needs a signature win. Shakur Stevenson looks like the goods but does a win over Jemal Herring mean he is P4P?”

Abramowitz responded to Gray: “I just don’t understand the ‘he doesn’t need it’ as it relates to Fury. It’s not up to him. It’s up to us. And I think he is one of the ten-best and most-accomplished fighters in the sport. Far superior in what he offers than Beterbiev, for example.”

Added Daisuke Sugiura: “I’m not against heavyweights in the pound for pound either. I just thought Kazuto Ioka’s resume is better than Fury’s the last time we talked about him entering. And I like Fury over Beterviev as of now. Yes, Beterbiev’s win over Gvodzyk is better than Fury’s latest win, but it’s been more than two years since Beterbiev fought Gvodzyk, and Fury passes the eye test. So…”

Responded Gray: “I appreciate the alternate points of view, but I fully explained the ‘he doesn’t need it’ part.

“How often do you hear a heavyweight reference ‘pound for pound’? If we take the last four dominant main players (Fury, Wilder, Joshua, Klitschko), it’s just not a goal that they set for themselves. Why? Because the very concept of pound for pound was designed to recognize smaller men. [Disclosure: I THINK I’ve heard Fury mention the term once in an interview]

“The term ‘pound for pound’ is also used in weightlifting? Why! Because you’re giving credit to what smaller individuals can lift proportionately to their natural size.

“I’m not DEAD against Fury coming in. I just don’t personally go for it.”

Replied Abramowitz: “To me, it’s a document to the best fighters in the sport.”

Gray responded: “I respect that. Totally cool.”

Senior Editor Brian Harty, who is usually above such folly as pound-for-pound debates, checked in for this special argument.

“Hi everyone. Long time, no see. Just wanted to offer my two cents in the P4P debate.

“I think Fury was born to be a heavyweight champion and I’m glad he made it, but to my eyes – I can’t help it; when it comes to pound-for-pound, I lean less toward results and more toward eye tests and gut impulses informed by those results – he doesn’t have the transcendent qualities that the other guys on that list have. With all due respect to the scale of the trilogy, I just can’t see Wilder as anything more than a howitzer mounted on a baby carriage, so beating him doesn’t reach the standard of proof for me. So, I agree with the conclusion that Fury shouldn’t enter, I just don’t think you need to get there by saying that heavyweights shouldn’t be allowed, and I don’t think Usyk needs any caveats to justify his being there. Hopefully there are more Usyks to come.

Kambosos pulled off the upset of the year. Why can’t he replace Lopez in the P4P? Photo by Ed Mulholland/Matchroom

“Kambosos deserves consideration when Lopez came in so high after beating Loma, even if Lopez was more proven and Loma was No. 1. From a more result-oriented approach, if beating Loma carried that much weight, then beating the man who beat the man should also mean a lot, even if it’s sort of a ‘token’ No. 10. Not really moved by Beterbiev either way. I like Davis or even Stevenson. Sorry, that sounds so nationalistic… If we can include the next three years, Jaron Ennis, haha.”

Added panelist Tris Dixon: “It’s a tough one. Beterbiev, Fury, Ioka, GGG… you could make a good case for all of them.

“As per Brian, you could also make that case for Kambosos at 10. Three decent names on the bounce and he’s taken Lopez off the list.

“I haven’t nailed down a definitive No. 10 but my thought process with Fury is that if we didn’t put him in for battering Wilder in fight two, it’s hard to put him in for going life and death with him in fight three. And I agree on the Tank front. He’s likely a top 10 P4P guy but until he gets a decent win, he doesn’t make the list for me.”

 

RING RATING UPDATE (as of November 27):

Pound-for-pound – Teofimo Lopez exits the rankings. Tyson Fury enters at No. 10

Light heavyweight – Badou Jack exits the rankings after making his cruiserweight debut with a second-round KO of unrated and inexperienced Samuel Crossed. British standout Joshua Buatsi (15-0, 13 KOs) enters at No. 10.

Lightweight – George Kambosos Jr. is the new champion. Lopez drops to No. 1.

Gray thought he could have dropped further.

“This is a tough one. Did Lopez look like he should be in the No. 1 spot at lightweight? He’s a terrific fighter, there’s no doubt about it, but a further drop may be warranted, at least until he regains his mojo.”

Responded Morilla: “After such a tough and close fight, I don’t see why Lopez can’t be our No. 1 until someone else proves he doesn’t belong there anymore. I still think he has it in him to climb back up either at 135 or 140, so for now I like him at No. 1.”

Junior lightweight – Kenichi Ogawa re-enters the rankings at No. 7 after outpointing No. 9-rated Azinga Fuzile, who exits the rankings.

“I would bring in Ogawa at No. 6, ahead of Roger Gutierrez,” opined Abramowitz.

Junior featherweight – Stephen Fulton advances to No. 1. Brandon Figueroa remains at No. 4. Ra’eese Aleem advances to No. 6 after scoring a majority decision over unrated Eduardo Baez.

Fulton used accurate punching to beat Figueroa and unify junior featherweight titles. Photo by Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

Said Wainwright: “I had Fulton at No. 2 because I felt Murodjon edged Daniel Roman and in similar fashion that Fulton eked past Figueroa, no real separation between those four and Murodjon was already at No. 1. No big push to keep MJ at No. 1 though.”

Responded Gray: “I think Fulton should move to No. 1. There’s not a lot in it between he and Akhmadaliev, but that was a terrific win over a young champion in his prime and – in my eyes – it trumps MJ’s best wins. Figueroa should hold his No. 4 position.”

Wainwright also suggested that Aleem remain at No. 7, but Abramowitz thought his performance merited an advancement.

“Aleem should move up to No. 5. The 98-92 score was the one on point. He looked very solid against a tricky opponent. Does anyone else think Aleem should move up after last night’s win? I thought he looked good.”

Montero suggested Aleem advance one spot.

Bantamweight – Gary Antonio Russell remains at No. 9 after edging unrated Alexandro Santiago via majority decision.

 

 

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 or Doug’s IG Live every Sunday.

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