On the Move: SecondsOut World Rankings 3-6-16

By Derek Bonnett: While many boxing fans will focus their attention toward the number of upsets in the sport this weekend, most out of the spotlight, my attention must go back to the officiating. In just a matter of a handful of important bouts this weekend, boxing followers witnessed myriad officiating blunders which received little attention, mostly probably because they did not impact the overall result of the bout. First up, Ian John-Lewis will be called to task for ruling two knockdowns against challenger Liborio Solis in his WBC bantamweight title bout against Shinsuke Yamanaka. In both instances, Solis tumbled forward off balance and was already on his way down before glancing punches landed in non-scoring areas. Don’t get me wrong, Yamanaka deserved to win the fight and he still would have had the slips been properly surmised. On the same card, judge Juan Carlos Pelayo must be called to task for scoring the Ganigan Lopez-Yu Kimura bout a draw. He fellow judges gave the defending champion one and two rounds throughout the twelve round bout. Pelayo somehow managed to grant the defending champion six rounds at home. Oddly enough, Pelayo hails from Mexico like Lopez, so his error in judgment is not easily explained. Lastly, Kenny Chevalier, whilst entertaining to observe in the same light as a 1930s cinematic boxer caricature, made a couple of questionable actions throughout the Jessie Vargas-Sadam Ali bout. In round eight, Chevalier paused his count to tell Vargas to remain in the neutral corner, which he had been doing. In round nine, Chevalier ignored Ali’s glove touching the canvas after a glancing blow sent him reeling. Ali, clearly hurt, was given a couple additional seconds to recover as Chevalier pushed Vargas back from attacking even though no knockdown had been ruled. In the end, Yamanaka, Lopez, and Vargas all got their just dues and all currently reign as world champions, but you it is hard to shake the feeling that officials continue to act on behalf of the house fighter seeking to produce just enough of an advantage to preserve victory.

SecondsOut fighters On the Move:

On Thursday, March 3, at Suranaree Army Camp Stadium, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand,

Wanheng Menayothin stopped Go Odaira in five rounds of a WBC World minimumweight title

bout. Odaira hit the canvas in rounds three and five. The official time of the stoppage was 2:00 of round five. Menayothin notched the fourth defense of his championship reign and moved his record to 41-0-0 (16). Odaira crashed to 12-5-3 (1).

Menayothin remained SecondsOut’s number two rated minimumweight in the world today.

On Friday, March 4, at Shimazu Arena, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, Shinsuke Yamanaka defeated Liborio Solis by unanimous decision in a twelve round WBC World bantamweight title bout. Solis was dropped in rounds two and nine. Yamanaka was knocked down twice in round three. All three judges scored the contest 117-109. Yamanaka made the tenth defense of his title and raised his ledger to 25-0-02 (17). Solis fell to 23-4-1 (10).

Yamanaka remained SecondsOut’s top-rated bantamweight in the world. Solis remained ranked number six with his solid performance.

Also on the card, Ganigan Lopez dethroned Yu Kimura by majority decision after twelve rounds of a WBC World light flyweight title bout. The three judges saw the contest 119-109, 118-110, and 114-114. Lopez won his first world championship and improved his dossier to 27-6-0 (17). Kimura fell to 18-3-1 (3).

Lopez returned to the SecondsOut 108-pound rankings after a brief move to 112. Lopez returned to claim the number three spot. Kimura fell from third to fifth. Pedro Guevara climbed from fourth to second. Ryoichi Taguchi fell from second to fourth.

At DC Armory, Washington, District of Columbia, USA, Luis Ortiz stopped Tony Thompson in six rounds of an ) interim WBA World heavyweight title bout. Ortiz dropped Thompson in rounds one, three, and six. The official time of the stoppage was 2:29 of round six. Ortiz improved his record to 25-0-0 (22). Thompson crashed to 40-7-0 (27).

Ortiz jumped from eighth to fifth in the murky SecondsOut heavyweight ranks. Bermane Stiverne, Carlos Takam, and Kubrat Pulev each fell one ranking.

Also on the card, Jessie Vargas stopped Sadam Ali in nine rounds to win the vacant WBO World welterweight title. Ali hit the canvas in rounds eight and nine. The bout ended at the 2:09 mark. Vargas became a two-division champion with the victory and raised his numbers to 27-1-0 (10). Ali fell to 22-1-0 (13).

Vargas climbed from seventh to sixth in the SecondsOut welterweight rankings. Danny Garcia fell from sixth to seventh.

Also on this date, at Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, Julian Williams defeated Marcello Matana by seventh round TKO. The end came at the 2:24 mark. Williams raised his record to 22-0-1 (14). Matano fell to 16-2-0 (5).

Williams remained SecondsOut’s number six-rated junior middleweight in the world today.

Also on the this date, at Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico, Giovani Delgado upset Cesar Juarez by split decision after ten rounds in a super bantamweight bout. The three judges scored the bout 96-93, 96-95, and 94-95. Delgado broke a two-fight losing streak with the win and raised his record to 16-4-0 (9). Juarez lost for the second time straight and dipped to 17-5-0 (13).

Juarez, previously ranked sixth, fell out of the SecondsOut super bantamweight rankings. The previously rated seven through ten boxers each advanced one ranking. Shingo Wake climbed back in to fill the ten spot.

Also On the Move, Amir Khan has been dropped from the SecondsOut welterweight rankings as he will compete for the middleweight title in May. Errol Spence Jr. and Sammy Vasquez each climbed one ranking to eighth and ninth respectively. Lamont Peterson stepped in to take a shaky hold of the ten spot.

SecondsOut ranked fighters in action through Sunday, March 13, 2016:

Saturday 12 March 2016

Olympia Theatre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

10 Middleweight David Lemieux 34 3 0 (31) vs. James De la Rosa 23 3 0 (13)

Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

12 Light Heavyweight Juergen Braehmer 47 2 0 (35) vs. Eduard Gutknecht 29 3 1 (12) WBA World light heavyweight title rematch

Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom

television: Panama Cable Onda Sports

12 Lightweight Terry Flanagan 29 0 0 (12) vs. Derry Mathews 38 9 2 (20) WBO World lightweight title rematch; 12 Bantamweight Zolani Tete 22 3 0 (18) vs. Jose Santos Gonzalez 22 3 0 (12); 10 Super Bantamweight Guillermo Rigondeaux 16 0 0 (10) vs. James Dickens 21 1 0 (6)

For a more in depth look at Derek Bonnett’s SecondsOut world rankings:

www.secondsout.com/rankstat/secondsout-rankings

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