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Women’s Ratings Update: Cameron and Persoon in action, Bormann enters strawweight Top 5   

Chantelle Cameron lifts the Ring, WBC and IBF women's junior welterweight titles. 30 October 2021 - Photo by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing
Fighters Network
26
May

Another great week of action in women’s boxing resulted in a few great fights but very little movement in The Ring’s trailblazing women’s ratings.

Two of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters were active this past weekend. In the junior welterweight division, England’s Chantelle Cameron had an easy night out against a willing but overmatched Victoria Bustos. The former champ from Argentina never stood a chance against “Il Capo,” and Cameron defended her Ring belt with ease.

Rated at No. 7 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound list, Cameron has some great competition ahead of her in that mythical ranking, and thus very few panelists found her worthy of an improvement in her position.

“Chantelle Cameron is the best all-around fighter in women’s boxing,” said columnist Mark Jones. “She can do it all, and defeats everyone from 135-147,” added the writer, before suggesting a one-spot bump for Cameron, dropping Jessica McCaskill to No. 7 to accommodate the reshuffle.



His vote was disputed by other panelists.

“As excited as I am about Chantelle Cameron, I’d like to see how things play out over the next couple of months before shuffling the pound-for-pound list,” said historian Malissa Smith. “I appreciate Mark’s comments, but will vote to hold for now.”

Smith’s suggestion ended up getting the most votes, and the same happened with the next pound-for-pound entrant who saw action during the week.

“Cameron continues to demonstrate quality and greatness over the ring, but (Delfine) Persoon surpasses her in experience,” said Argentine writer Yesica Palmetta, referring to the Belgian powerhouse who saw action in the Middle East over the weekend, defeating the previously unbeaten Elhem Mekhaled.So I agree that it should continue to be Persoon at No. 6 and Cameron at No. 7”.

In the junior featherweight division, a rising star raised a few eyebrows with yet another great performance when Ellie Scotney had no problem defeating Argentine former world titlist Maria Cecilia Roman.

“Scotney’s victory over Roman, who was a long-time champion one fight ago, was more impressive than (current Ring No. 5 Maureen) Shea’s latest victory. I propose we move Scotney to No. 5 and drop Shea (out),” said Jones.

This time, his proposal fell short be a smaller margin, with many people believing that Shea’s greater experience gives her the edge at this stage, but Scotney did indeed put Shea and everyone on notice with that great performance, her second win against a former champion in as many fights (she was coming off a win over former bantamweight beltholder Jorgelina Guanini).

Finally, we had to wait to reach almost the bottom of the weight class list in order to find a performance worthy of making a change in our ratings.

“She sustained a nasty cut and still earned a victory over an experienced opponent,” said Jones in reference to Germany’s Sarah Bormann’s win over Mexico’s Ana Arrazola in a dramatic strawweight bout.

“Ana Arrazola is a highly experienced rival, and being defeated by Sarah Bormann is no small thing. I like Bormann in this division and as a prospect with a future,” said Palmetta, with the entire panel agreeing with both writers in elevating Bormann to No. 5 in the division.

Vietnam’s first-ever women’s champion Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen was dropped out of the ratings to make room for the new entrant.

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