RANKINGS: Usyk is king of the heavyweights, plus Loma, Berinchyk, more

Next update will come on Monday, June 3.

Ranked fights this period:

Heavyweight: (6) Zhilei Zhang vs (9) Deontay Wilder, June 1
Heavyweight: (5) Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois, June 1
Light Heavyweight: (1) Dmitry Bivol vs Malik Zinad, June 1
Super Middleweight: (3) Christian Mbilli vs Mark Heffron, May 25
Middleweight: (7) Hamzah Sheeraz vs (9) Austin “Ammo” Williams, June 1
Super Lightweight: (4) Jack Catterall vs (10) Josh Taylor, May 25
Featherweight: (4) Nick Ball vs (7) Raymond Ford, June 1
Women’s P4P: (9) Dina Thorslund vs Seren Cetin, May 25

Notes: There had been some debate about Fury or Usyk at No. 1 for a bit, largely because Fury looked so crummy against Francis Ngannou, and especially after Anthony Joshua treated Ngannou like a seasoned pro boxer should treat a novice from the MMA world.

There’s no debate now. Oleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury, beat him fair and clean, and was simply the better man on the night. There will — and should — be a rematch, and it was such a good fight that I think everyone will look forward to it. But Usyk is the man at heavyweight. He is the undisputed champion, if you care about the collection of individually meaningless belts. He is the man who beat the man who beat … well, Ruslan Chagaev, not really the man, but that is how boxing’s esteemed “lineal” claims tend to work out.

Frank Sanchez is out after his loss to Agit Kabayel, and Martin Bakole slips back in. Sanchez could return. But what a rise for Kabayel, huh?

Upcoming Fights: (6) Zhilei Zhang vs (9) Deontay Wilder, June 1 … (5) Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois, June 1

Notes: Jai Opetaia further cemented his claim as the division’s top dog with a rematch win over Mairis Briedis, which didn’t exactly blow the doors off but was clear in the end despite a late charge from Brieidis.

There will be some debate about Briedis’ standing. I saw an old man who threw in desperation late in that fight, and was largely very cautious before then, kinda hoping for the opening that never really came. But I also still saw someone who could, at the least, compete in the division. I’m slotting him back in at No. 6 coming off the inactive spell, even with the loss, because the loss was to someone better than anyone else is fighting.

Upcoming Fights: (5) Norair Mikaeljan vs Ryan Rozicki, June 7 … (2) Chris Billam-Smith vs (3) Richard Riakporhe, June 15 … (6) Michal Cieslak vs (7) Isaac Chamberlain, June 15

Upcoming Fights: (1) Dmitry Bivol vs Malik Zinad, June 1 … (7) Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs David Benavidez, June 15 … (9) Dan Azeez vs TBA, June 15

Upcoming Fights: (3) Christian Mbilli vs Mark Heffron, May 25 … (9) Kevin Lele Sadjo vs TBA, June 13

Upcoming Fights: (7) Hamzah Sheeraz vs (9) Austin Williams, June 1 … (2) Carlos Adames vs Terrell Gausha, June 15

Upcoming Fights: (2) Tim Tszyu vs (7) Vergil Ortiz Jr, Aug. 3 … (3) Israil Madrimov vs Terence “Bud” Crawford, Aug. 3

Notes: When a division kinda hits a wall like welterweight has thanks to retirements, aging, and departures, what you hope for is that new potential stars will emerge. Brian Norman Jr got a sink-or-swim against Giovani Santillan and beat his opponent to a bloody stoppage. That’s all you can ask of Norman, who enters the rankings at No. 5.

Santillan drops all the way out from No. 3, which might seem unfair, but he was there largely on:

The strength of his win over Alexis Rocha, and
The fact that nobody else had done more, though mostly nobody had done less, either.

In short, it’s a division of slim margins to rank right now. Sure, Santillan could still be here. I have him just outside now.

Upcoming Fights: (10) Lewis Crocker vs Conah Walker, June 22 … (1) Jaron “Boots” Ennis vs (4) Cody Crowley, July 13

Upcoming Fights: (4) Jack Catterall vs (10) Josh Taylor, May 25 … (1) Subriel Matias vs (8) Liam Paro, June 15 … (7) Gary Antuanne Russell vs Alberto Puello, June 15 … (3) Teofimo Lopez vs Steve Claggett, June 29 … (6) Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz vs Jose Valenzuela, Aug. 3

Notes: Vasiliy Lomachenko did the business in Australia, beating George Kambosos Jr decisively, and doing what Devin Haney didn’t, stopping the Ferocious Emperor.

Kambosos has taken losses like a real man and a real fighter, and he’s done so again with Lomachenko. He’s lost to top dogs. But it’s also three losses in four fights and the win over Maxi Hughes, who is no Lomachenko or Haney, is plenty questionable.

So he’s out of the top 10, and Denys Berinchyk, who holds the WBO title after a win against Emanuel Navarrete, is in at No. 10. I’m not sold on Berinchyk as a top fighter because of a win over Navarrete, who is fighting too heavy, but it’s a win worth respect and consideration. The division otherwise will shake out.

Loma holds at No. 1. That could change in a few weeks, if Tank Davis is really, really impressive against Frank Martin. Not saying it will if he is, but it’d be a thing to consider.

Upcoming Fights: (2) Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs (5) Frank Martin, June 15 … (3) Shakur Stevenson vs Artem Harutyunyan, July 6 … (4) William Zepeda vs Giovanni Cabrera, July 6 … (8) Keyshawn Davis vs Miguel Madueno, July 6 … (6) Andy Cruz vs Antonio Moran, Aug. 3

Notes: Anthony Cacace storms the top 10, entering at No. 4 after his upset win over Joe Cordina, who drops to No. 5. That’s a fight with circumstances that ask for a rematch, even if not immediate, but Cacace might simply be wrong for Cordina, too.

Upcoming Fights: (10) Andres Cortes vs Abraham Nova, June 21

Upcoming Fights: (4) Nick Ball vs (7) Raymond Ford, June 1 … (2) Rafael Espinoza vs Sergio Chirino, June 21 … (1) Luis Alberto Lopez vs Angelo Leo, Aug. 10

Upcoming Fights: (7) Liam Davies vs Shabaz Masoud, July 20

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Upcoming Fights: (1) Juan Francisco Estrada vs (3) Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, June 29 … (2) Kazuto Ioka vs (4) Fernando Martinez, July 7 … (10) Suzumi Takayama vs Isao Aoyama, July 18