Ring Ratings Update: Daniel Dubois jumps to No. 2 at heavyweight

[Editor’s note: This update does not include results from the week of September 22-28. The Ring Ratings Update with those rankings changes will be posted later this week.]

Daniel Dubois leapt from No. 6 to No. 2 in The Ring’s heavyweight rankings with a dominant and stunning fifth-round stoppage of Anthony Joshua on September 21 in London. 

Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) scored 4 knockdowns earlier than Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs), a former two-time unified titleholder, was blasted sideways to the canvas and counted out.

Dubois, a 27-year-old London native, has now gained three bouts in a row since struggling a ninth-round stoppage loss to unified Ring Journal champion Oleksandr Usyk final August, scoring stoppages towards Jarrell Miller (TKO 10) in December 2023, Filip Hrgovic (TKO 8) in June, and now Joshua.

Dubois, who needs to be considered because the frontrunner for 2024 Comeback of the Yr, unseated the face of British boxing in entrance of a record-setting crowd of practically 100,000 at Wembley Stadium.

Anthony Joshua is counted out within the fifth spherical of his shootout with Daniel Dubois, who retained the IBF heavyweight title. Photograph by Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing

Anson Wainwright urged Dubois assume the No. 2 spot in The Ring’s heavyweight high 10 (Joshua’s earlier rating), behind champion Usyk and No. 1-rated Tyson Fury. He urged that the 34-year-old famous person drop to No. 7 behind the streaking Martin Bakole.

Your favourite Editor-In-Chief puzzled why we wouldn’t merely have Joshua swap locations with Dubois, who was beforehand rated No. 6, however understood Wainwright’s reasoning.

“I’d be OK with Johsua switching locations with Dubois, however Bakole is on an excellent run.” Ten straight victories to be precise, together with a call over French star Tony Yokam in Paris, a fourth-round stoppage of powerful veteran Carlos Takam, and a seventh-round KO of beforehand unbeaten American contender Jared Anderson in Los Angeles. 

Adam Abramowitz most popular the swap.

“I feel we’re dropping Joshua somewhat too far. I might transfer him to No. 6,” mentioned Abramowitz. “He’s performed a lot greater than Bakole within the division.” 

Tom Grey, Michael Montero and Daisuke Sugiura agreed with Abramowitz. Nonetheless, they had been outvoted by Wainwright, Jake Donovan, Tris Dixon, Wasim Mather, Diego Morilla and Abraham Gonzalez. 

The earlier weekend in Las Vegas, Canelo Alvarez remained the face of boxing in North America following his lopsided unanimous resolution victory over Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas. The 34-year-old Mexican veteran additionally stays the unified Ring Journal tremendous middleweight champion and No. 4 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings. 

Berlanga, a 27-year-old boxer-puncher from Brooklyn, received up from a third-round knockdown (off a fast, compact left hook from Canelo) and boxed to the very best of his means given his degree of expertise, going the gap with the long run corridor of famer. 

Montero questioned whether or not Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) carried out nicely sufficient to nonetheless be inside the highest 5 of The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings.

“It’s arduous to justify Canelo being within the high 5 P4P given his latest opposition, however no person else has actually stepped as much as take his place,” he mentioned. “After the large three (Usyk, Inoue and Crawford), everyone seems to be fairly interchangeable. So, I’m good with him remaining the place he’s for now; he’ll drop subsequent month after the (Artur) Beterbiev vs. (Dmitry) Bivol combat.”

Grey believes Alvarez did sufficient to carry his elite-fighter standing.

“I picked Canelo by resolution and was stunned at how many individuals went for the KO,” he famous.

“Canelo weighed 166 carrying tracksuit bottoms and sneakers, so 164 is extra correct. He in all probability went as much as the late 170s, however Berlanga was rumored to be 190 on combat night time. He was all the time going to be arduous to shift.

“Additionally, Canelo is 34 years outdated now and there appears to be an depth drop-off after the halfway level. The identical factor occurred with Pacquiao at 147 with him posting resolution wins for seven or eight years. Roy Jones posted a ton of UD12s at gentle heavyweight. We’ve seen it earlier than.

“Nonetheless, I believed Canelo seemed nicely and he produced some magic.”

Canelo Alvarez clocks the much-bigger Edgar Berlanga with a proper cross. Photograph by German Villasenor

Did Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) dwell as much as The Ring’s No. 7 rating he introduced into the 168-pound title problem?

Noting that Berlanga was “largely dominated,” Wainwright urged that the New Yorker drop to No. 9.

“Berlanga to drop one place, two with Caleb Plant coming again in. Berlanga did about in addition to he might have,” Wainwright mentioned. “Plant received off the canvas and was given all he might (deal with) by Trevor McCumby earlier than getting a ninth-round stoppage. Plant to re-enter at No. 3.”

Ye ole EIC challenged Wainwright’s solutions for each Berlanga and Plant given the extent of their opposition.

Donovan agreed that the re-entry of Plant, who hadn’t fought since dropping a call to David Benavidez final March, is a bit excessive at No. 3 and there’s no disgrace in Berlanga being outpointed by an elite boxer.

“I agree with Doug on conserving Berlanga at No. 7 (No. 8 as soon as Plant re-enters),” Donovan mentioned. “I’d put Plant at No. 5; (Osleys) Iglesias and (Diego) Pacheco have earned their solution to high 4.”

Added Montero: “I don’t assume Plant ought to be ranked third right now; he has one win over a ranked opponent (Dirrell) since 2021 and McCumby has by no means defeated a ranked opponent in his profession. I’m good with Plant at 5 and Berlanga drops to eight.”

Mather, Abramowitz, Gonzalez, Sugiura and Morilla agreed with Plant at No. 5 and Berlanga at No. 8. 

Even Wainwright got here round.

“I’m OK with Berlanga solely dropping one place as a consequence of Plant re-entering,” he mentioned. “Plant at No. 5 can be advantageous. There was a particular pattern with guys coming off inactivity: Plant, Danny Garcia, (Roiman) Villa and (Stephen) Fulton struggling after so lengthy out. To cite Steve Kim, ‘exercise issues.’”

In different information, former cruiserweight champ Mairis Briedis introduced his retirement by way of social media in August.

The Latvian veteran had been a serious cruiserweight participant for nearly 10 years, together with an eight-and-half 12 months stint in The Ring rankings, occupying the highest 5 for a lot of that tenure. 

The 39-year-old brawler first turned heads by brutally knocking out Mahmoud Charr in a heavyweight bout 10 years in the past. Charr weighed greater than 30 kilos greater than Briedis, who dropped all the way down to the 200-pound division and continued to rack up knockouts till going the 12-round distance towards former long-reigning WBO titleholder Marco Huck (for the vacant WBC strap). 

Briedis scored subsequent victories over top-10 contender Mike Perez, present WBC beltholder Norair Mikaeljan, Krzysztof Glowacki (for the WBO belt in about as wild a shootout you’ll ever see), and then-IBF beltholder Yuniel Dorticos (for the vacant Ring Journal title).

Briedis celebrates successful the World Boxing Tremendous Sequence’ second cruiserweight match, which earned him Ring Journal and IBF championships.

He gave Oleksandr Usyk the hardest combat of the pound-for-pound king’s cruiserweight reign, shedding a majority resolution in his native Latvia. And Briedis gave present Ring champ Jai Opetaia hell in two aggressive resolution losses to shut out his embellished profession.

RING RATINGS UPDATE (as of September 21):

POUND FOR POUND – Naoya Inoue stays at No. 2 after halting TJ Doheny in seven rounds. Canelo stays at No. 4.

HEAVYWEIGHT – Dubois advances to No. 2. Joshua drops to No. 7. 

CRUISERWEIGHT – Briedis exits. Alexei Papin stays at No. 4. Cheavon Clarke (10-0, 7 KOs) enters at No. 10. 

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Joshua Buatsi stays at No. 4 after scoring a rousing 12-round majority resolution over gutsy Willy Hutchinson, who drops one place to No. 10. Albert Ramirez advances to No. 6 with a seventh-round stoppage of Adam Deines. 

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT – Canelo stays champion. Diego Pacheco stays at No. 4 following a six-round KO of Polish veteran Maciej Sulecki. Plant re-enters at No. 5. Berlanga drops to No. 8. Jaime Munguia advances to No. 1 after scoring a 10-round stoppage of sport Erik Bazinyan, who drops to No. 8 (bumping Berlanga again to No. 7).

Wainwright had urged Munguia maintain his No. 2 spot, however Grey thought the younger Mexican veteran deserved to advance. 

“I used to be much more impressed with Munguia stopping a top-10-rated Bazinyan than I used to be with Mbilli battling a one-armed Derevyanchenko, who I consider was unrated,” Grey mentioned. “I’d personally transfer Munguia to the No. 1 spot.”

Added Donovan: “Coin-toss for me however Tom raises a great level. Put me down for Munguia to No. 1.”

Gonzalez, Abramowitz, Mather, Morilla and Montero agreed.

MIDDLEWEIGHT – Hamzah Sheeraz advances to No. 2 after scoring a second-round stoppage of Tyler Denny, who exits the rankings together with Liam Smith, who’s been inactive for greater than a 12 months. Erislandy Lara stays at No. 4 with a ninth-round stoppage of inactive two-division champ Danny Garcia. Troy Isley (13-0, 5 KOs) and Shane Mosley Jr. (22-4, 12 KOs) enter at Nos. 9 and 10. 

Hamzah Sheeraz made simple work of Tyler Denny (Photograph by Mark Robinson Matchroom Boxing).

Wainwright urged that Sheeraz stay at No. 3, however the EIC puzzled if the 25-year-old contender ought to take one other step up the 160-pound ladder.

“I’d haven’t any downside with Sheeraz advancing to No. 2. I do know [previous No. 2-rated] (Carlos) Adames has a belt and he’s extra skilled on the world degree, however he’s been inactive, and he didn’t look good in his most up-to-date outing.” 

“I agree with Doug on Sheeraz,” mentioned Grey. “No. 2 after blasting out the European champ is smart.”

Added Donovan: “Agreed with Doug on Hamzah to No. 2. Fairly presumably the very best middleweight on this planet proper now (and positively the division’s solely star hopeful).”

WELTERWEIGHT – Jin Sasaki stays at No. 9 after knocking out Qamil Balla in seven rounds.

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT – Andy Hiraoka enters at No. 9 after stopping harmful veteran Ismael Barroso in 9 rounds.

LIGHTWEIGHT – Mark Chamberlain exits after being upset by Josh Padley by way of 10-round resolution. Sam Noakes (15-0, 14 KOs) enters at No. 10.

Wainwright had urged Edwin De Los Santos changing Chamberlain within the rankings, however his fellow panelists had different concepts.

“I’m not excessive on bringing De Los Santos in off an uninspiring defeat,” mentioned Grey. “He’s 3-2 in his final 5, so hopefully we are able to do higher. I really like Noakes over him, being that he’s British, Commonwealth and European champion and has some momentum.”

Added Donovan: “I like Zaur Abdullaev over any identify talked about, adopted by Noakes. A tough NO on De Los Santos, who hasn’t gained in over a 12 months and can be coming off a loss and 10-month (and counting) layoff.”

Abramowitz seconded Noakes and the EIC agreed.

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT – Anthony Cacace advances to No. 4 following his 12-round unanimous resolution over former featherweight titleholder Josh Warrington. Eduardo Nunez advances to No. 9 off his ninth-round KO of veteran Miguel Marriaga.

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT – Inoue stays champion after defending his undisputed crown towards Doheny, who drops to No. 8 (however is elevated again to No. 7 with Stephen Fulton’s exit). Marlon Tapales stays at No. 2 after scoring a 10-round resolution over Saurabh Kumar. Alan Picasso advances to No. 8 after a hard-fought 12-round resolution over rugged veteran Azat Hovhannisyan. Elijah Pierce stays at No. 9 after scoring a 10-round resolution over Jose Sanmartin. Fulton exits now that he’s debuted at featherweight. Dennis McCann (16-0-1, 8 KOs) enters at No. 10.

“Stephen Fulton needed to get off the canvas and hard it out towards Carlos Castro to win a 10-round majority resolution,” famous Wainwright. “Fulton snaps 14 months off and removed some ring rust. Attention-grabbing to see what and when he’s again subsequent. Not high 10 [at featherweight] and should present extra to crack our high 10.”

BANTAMWEIGHT – Yoshiki Takei stays at No. 4 after scoring a hard-fought 12-round unanimous resolution over former flyweight titleholder Daigo Higa, who stays at No. 10.

Yoshiki Takei (proper) and Daigo Higa went to battle. Photograph by Naoki Fukuda

“Takei edged previous Higa to retain his WBO title by cut up resolution,” famous Wainwright. “I believed Takei did sufficient to stay champion and Higa put up a extremely good problem. Takei to stay the place he’s. Higa has talked about retirement. I feel we give it somewhat extra time to see how issues play out.”

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT – Srisaket Sor Rungvisai stays at No. 8 after a stay-busy six-round resolution over Wuttichai Yurachai. Kenbun Torres enters at No. 10 with an upset 10-round cut up resolution over beforehand unbeaten KJ Cataraja. 

STRAWWEIGHT – Knockout CP Freshmart advances to No. 2 off a powerful 12-round majority resolution over Alex Winwood. Melvin Jerusalem advances to No. 3 after scoring a unanimous resolution over beforehand unbeaten Luis Castillo, who exits the rankings. Yudai Shigeoka stays at No. 5 after scoring a 10-round resolution over Samuel Salva. DianXing Zhu (14-1, 12 KOs) enters at No. 10.

“Knockout CP Freshmart edged previous a gutsy problem of Winwood to retain his WBA title,” famous Wainwright. “The knockdowns look like the distinction maker for boxing’s longest reigning champion. Looks as if a transfer up one place is so as. Obtained to like a street win.”

E mail Fischer at [email protected]. Observe him on Twitter and IG at @dougiefischer, and be a part of him, Tom Loeffler, Coach Schwartz and mates by way of Tom’s or Doug’s IG Dwell most Sundays.

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