Another intense week in the world of women’s boxing generated an equally intense debate among The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel.

First stop, bantamweight, where Australia’s Ebanie Bridges became the new No. 5 in our Top 5 after convincingly defeating Argentina’s Maria Cecilia Roman over 10 rounds and grabbing Roman’s IBF title belt in the process.

Bridges’ wasn’t as pretty as she was effective, but she took the fight to Roman in the early going and then neutralized any initiative by the visitor while counterpunching effectively to cement a solid points win.

“Ebanie Bridges reminds me of Arturo Gatti in that she’s learned to maximize her strengths while minimizing her weaknesses and, although somewhat limited, is extremely popular,” said columinist Mark Jones. “At bantamweight, she doesn’t beat (No. 1 Dina) Thorslund or (No. 2 Yulihan) Luna, but is competitive with anyone else.”

Others agreed, in their own way.

“You are right in the fact that there may be better fighters, but Ebanie dethroned the longest-reigning bantam champ,” said Beautiful Brawlers’ Lupi Gutierrez-Beagle about what she called “an absolute legit win for the Aussie.”

Meanwhile, Rincon Rojo magazine editor Irene Deserti added that “(Bridges’) offense is still pretty sloppy. I think that in the desperation to connect, she tends to fade a bit. Perhaps now with the championship in her hands, she can polish her boxing skills and if she adds it to her aggressiveness, she will be a difficult rival to beat in her category.”

And finally, boxing historian Malissa Smith observed that “Bridges fought with intensity, aggression, and perseverance, with a work output that clearly tired the champion. The addition of Mark Tibbs to her team has really made a difference to Bridges’ skills and I would think that if she keeps up her momentum she will only improve.”

Also, a proposal was made to bring in Jamie Mitchell into the Top 5, replacing Mariana Juarez who has been inactive at the weight. The decision will have to wait until Juarez, a living legend, announces the weight class in which she will fight her next fight, in order to make moves accordingly.

In the lower weights, Evelyn Bermudez’s destruction of Debora Rengifo was found insufficient to move the Argentine power puncher past Seniesa Estrada, but her performance was found to be a warning for “Super Bad” should they meet in a Ring title bout someday.

“Bermudez had a great presentation,” said Yesica Palmetta, who has followed “The Princess” since her earliest days and watched her demolish the Venezuelan challenger from ringside in Argentina. “She managed to skillfully defeat a veteran like Rengifo.”

A few votes were also cast to move Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle past No. 2 Tina Rupprecht at strawweight on account of her more active resume as of late, but the proposal didn’t find enough takers.

“At 105 pounds, Yokasta continues doing great, yes. But I think that the most powerful rivals she had were Pastrana and Rupprecht. Yokasta is just accumulating fights, but what would happen against Estrada?” asked Palmetta, while Gutierrez-Beagle said “Yokasta may have been beaten Sana (Hazuki during the weekend), but I wasn’t impressed with the holding or the power. I don’t think she beats Tina, Seniesa will knock her out and I cannot wait for this match.”

Finally, the atomweight division (boxing’s lowest at 102 pounds, and one of the divisions with the least amount of participants) suffered a heavy reshuffle after a series of recent results that were reported late. The new Top 5 looks as follows:

102 pounds (atomweight)

The Ring Champion: VACANT

1 – Monserrat Alarcón

2 – Fabiana Bytyqi

3 – Ayaka Miyao

4 –  Eri Matsuda

5 – Nanae Susuki

Maria Cecilia Roman covers up to avoid a jab by Ebanie Bridges, IBF World Female Bantamweight Title.
26 March 2022 – Photo by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing