By David Finger
The WBO world rankings were released today (November 26, 2018) and for a lot of fighters and promoters, the dust is still settling from the shakeups in the rankings. Almost every division saw some major shake-up starting with the heavyweight division where Alexander Povetkin dropped out of the world rankings entirely after slipping from #1 to #15 in October. Povetkin was replaced by Izuagbe Ugonoh (18-1, 15 KOs) of Poland. Ugonoh scored a second round knockout over Fred Kassi in his last fight back in May.
The cruiserweight division saw some of the biggest moves as both #1 ranked Tony Bellew and #2 ranked Krzysztof Glowacki were dropped from the rankings. Bellew retired after getting stopped by Oleksandr Usyk while Glowacki was dropped after winning the interim junior heavyweight title earlier this month with a decision over Maksim Vlasov. Vlasov dropped from #5 to #11 with the loss. Moving into the #1 spot was the former #3 contender Firat Arslan, the Intercontinental Champion. Also falling out of the world rankings is Mateusz Masternak of Poland, the former #6 ranked contender. Moving into the world rankings is Andrzej Fonfara (#10), Huseyin Cinkana (#12) and Nikolai Milacic (#13).
In the light heavyweight division #1 ranked Marcus Browne and #2 ranked Anthony Yarde traded spots at the top of the rankings while #3 ranked Mike Lee and #4 ranked Dominic Boesel also traded rankings. #11 ranked Sean Monaghan and #15 ranked Enrico Koelling were dropped from the rankings, replaced by Cuban Sullivan Barrera (#11) and Trevor McCumby at #15.
In the Super Middleweight division, Arthur Abraham dropped from #4 to #7 while #12 ranked Avni Yildirim and #14 ranked WuZhati Nuerlang were dropped from the rankings. Moving into the rankings is Ghanaian Emmanuel Martey who now sees himself sitting on the #12 ranking. Mate Kis of Hungary moved into the rankings at #14 as well.
In the middleweight division #1 ranked Demetruis Andrade moved out of world ranking after winning the vacant world title. He was replaced with David Lemieux, who was ranked #3 in October. Walter Kautondokwa, the previous #2 ranked contender, was dropped from the rankings after losing a decision to Andrade on October 20th. Also dropping out of the rankings was the previously #8 ranked contender, Willie Monroe Jr. #15 ranked Emanuel Martey was dropped out of the middleweight rankings after moving up to super middleweight. Moving into the rankings are Brandon Adams at #6, Artem Chebotarev at #13, and Mark Heffron at #15.
At 154-pounds James Metcalf moved into the world ranking at #15 while #7 ranked Tony Harrison was dropped from the world rankings. In the welterweight division the biggest loser was undoubtedly the previous #1 ranked contender Custio Clayton of Canada. Clayton, who has not fought since May 26th, dropped down to #5 in the world rankings. #8 ranked Roberto Arriaza slipped out of the rankings, as did #15 ranked Jose Benavidez. Moving into the rankings is #15 Keita Obara at #15 and Luis Collazo at #11.
At junior welterweight #5 ranked Anthony Yigit was dropped from the rankings while Jorge Linares moved into the ranking at #5. Logan Yoon was dropped from the #11 ranking and was replaced with Jean Carlos Torres at #11. In the lightweight division #2 Daud Yordan was dropped from the world rankings as was the #8 ranked Ryan Martin. Ghanaian Emmanuel Tagoe moved into the #8 ranking. Also moving into the world ranking was Felix Verdejo at #10 and Anthony Crolla at #15. Namibian Paulus Moses was also dropped from the world rankings.
At 130-pounds the previously #10 ranked Francisco Fonseca was dropped from the rankings while Matt Remillard moves into the rankings at #15. In the featherweight division Albuquerque New Mexico’s Jason Sanchez moves into the world rankings at #15 after winning the Youth Title in Panama City on October 31st. Also moving into the rankings is Nathaniel May (at #9). The previous 5th ranked contender, Mark Magsayo, dropped to #10 while the previously 9th ranked Erick Ituarde moved up to #5. At junior featherweight undefeated Ghanaian Wasiru Mohammed moved into the world ranking after crushing undefeated Isaac Sackey. Mohammed moved to #14 while Sackey dropped out the rankings entirely. Sackey had been ranked #12. Tomoki Kameda also dropped out of the world rankings, having been ranked #8 in October. Jesse Angel Hernandez moved into the rankings at #15.
At 118-pounds former world champion Joseph Agbeko moved up from #5 to #4 while Takuma Inoue, the previous #4 ranked contender, dropped out the rankings. At 115-pounds McJoe Arroyo slipped from #13 to #15 while Filipino Jayson Mama dropped from #14 to #15 in the flyweight division.
In boxing’s smallest division the previously #2 ranked Carlos Licona and #3 ranked Mark Anthony Barriaga were dropped from the rankings. They were replaced by Masataka Taniguchi at #2 and the former WBO world champion, Tatsuya Fukuhara, who returned to the WBO world ranking at #3. Fukuhara has won two in a row.