Fightful Boxing Newsletter (10/12): Miguel Cotto Retirement Fight, Boxing Hall Of Fame Ballot

By the time you’re reading this, Miguel Cotto, and the boxing community, already knows who his final opponent will be: Sadam Ali.

Ali may not be the most attractive to be Cotto’s last fight. In fact, there’s probably at least a dozen boxers the boxing community would rather see fight Cotto than Ali. But it’s not to say this fight won’t be competitive. After all, many thought Manny Pacquiao would steamroll Jeff Horn earlier this year, but we all know how that turned out. But the difference here is that Cotto is calling it quits, win or lose. The opponent never really mattered in the grand scheme of things. The boxing public will be looking at this fight as the culmination of a Hall of Fame career instead of some set up fight for Cotto down the line. Cotto has earned the privilege of fighting whoever he wants.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, the International Boxing Hall of Fame sent out its ballot to an exclusive list of boxing writers and we now know the 32 candidates for the upcoming Hall of Fame ceremony. Newcomers Vitali Klitschko, Erik Morales and Ricky Hatton highlight this year’s group with other notable names such as Chris Eubank and Ivan Calderon taking a spot in this year’s Hall of Fame ballot.

Cotto’s last fight, the Hall of Fame and a busy weekend in European boxing highlight this week’s Fightful’s boxing newsletter.

Fightful Boxing Newsletter (10/12) Table Of Contents:

1. Miguel Cotto’s Retirement Fight (Page 2)
2. WBC Convention Notes (Page 3)
3. Weekend Recap (Page 4)
4. Results From The World Of Boxing (Page 5)
5. Fightful Boxing Rankings (Page 6-7)
6. Other News In Boxing (Page 8)
7. International Boxing Hall Of Fame Ballot (Page 9)

Miguel Cotto’s Retirement Fight

The mystery of who will be Miguel Cotto’s final opponent might just be resolved.

Still scheduled to fight on December 2 in New York on HBO, Cotto is reportedly going to fight former welterweight title challenger Sadam Ali. ESPN’s Dan Rafael said sources with knowledge of the situation that the fight has been agreed upon and Cotto would be defending his WBO junior middleweight title. Ali is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, same as Cotto, who signed his deal earlier this year to set up his last fight against Yoshihiro Kamegai.

Ali is 25-1 as a pro boxer with his lone loss coming from last year when he was defeated by Jessie Vargas. That fight was for the then-vacant WBO welterweight title. Since the loss, he has won his last four fights, capturing the WBA International welterweight title. His last fight was in July, when he beat Johan Perez.

A number of boxers had publicly expressed interest in fighting Cotto, including David Lemieux, Mikey Garcia, Sergio Mora and Antonio Margarito. Lemieux was reportedly in deep negotiations to fight Cotto, but that deal, as well as deals with Garcia and Vargas, fell through.

Two boxers that certainly were very much in the running outside of Lemieux were Garcia and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. What’s interesting about Garcia and Spence’s cases is that they are both not signed with any promoter to an exclusive deal. Garcia and Spence were in relatively deep negotiations with Golden Boy Promotions. The reason those deals fell through is because Golden Boy wanted whoever would be fighting Cotto between Garcia and Spence to also sign a multi-fight deal with the company. That ended up being the straw that broke the camel’s back.

For some reason, the fight with Lemieux didn’t materialize. One train of thought is that Lemieux wanted a middleweight title fight now because he has been knocking on that door all year long. With Cotto only owning a junior middleweight world title, it doesn’t benefit Lemieux’s career in trying to pick a fight with Cotto. Lemieux did get his wish and is ordered to challenge for the WBO middleweight title, owned by Billy Joe Saunders. Another train of thought, according to sources, is that Cotto realized that he can’t fight at 160 pounds at this stage of his career, which is a fair assessment, given that, even during his time as the middleweight world champion, he was considered a small middleweight.

As for any other boxers that wanted to fight Cotto, Antonio Margarito has been adamant about getting a third fight with Cotto, especially since he came back to boxing last year. To the surprise of some, Margarito was ranked No. 9 in the most recent WBO rankings at junior middleweight. The issue of a Cotto-Margarito 3 happening was never because the WBO wouldn’t sign off on it. After all, Ali isn’t even ranked on the WBO rankings and there’s no reason to believe the WBO wouldn’t let Cotto defend his title as we are still awaiting for the winner of the Liam Smith vs. Liam Williams title eliminator.

The problem is that it doesn’t benefit Cotto. To many, Margarito is just a shell of his former self, despite the fact that he has won all three of his fights since coming back. There’s also the issue of people possibly tuning in to watch that fight, given how Cotto decimated Margarito in the rematch and Margarito’s long past with cheating in the sport.

But with no Lemieux, Garcia and Spence to finalize the fight, Golden Boy Promotions simply went with one of its own and made the fight with Ali official.

Regardless of whether or not Ali deserves such an opponent on a grand stage like an HBO-televised card at Madison Square Garden, December 2 will be a celebration of the career of the biggest star in Puerto Rico boxing for the last 10 years. The opponent was always going to be a secondary objective. Cotto is a proven draw in the Puerto Rican-heavy New York market and will more than likely sell out the Garden for this fight.

Cotto won his title back on August 26 when he beat Kamegai on an HBO-televised card in California. As the only Puerto Rican man to have won world titles in four different boxing weight classes, Cotto has repeatedly said that 2017 will be his final year as an active boxer. This upcoming fight would mark the end of a Hall of Fame-caliber career that started in 2001.

WBC Convention Notes

The 2017 WBC Convention has concluded and there is much to unravel.

Quite possibly the biggest piece of news of the convention, outside of a Canelo vs. GGG rematch being ordered and the status of its numerous world champions, is the possibility of the WBC creating a super heavyweight division. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman publicly addressed the issue and said it has been something under consideration, but no concrete plans are done as of this writing to institute such a move any time soon.

“Yes, we are starting a process to study the data, statistics, regarding heavyweights. Mike Tyson was a small heavyweight. Today, heavyweights are 250, 260 pounds, they are very strong. It’s a much difference from the 200 limit that currently exists. So we started a program through statistics and through medical, so in six months we’re going to review the results and we’ll go from there,” Sulaiman said.

There are many in the community that are against this consideration and understandably so. A common complaint is that the sport already has too many weight classes and world champion and so creating a new division could run the risk of alienating potential fans and would thin out the heavyweights even more.

Through the years, the heavyweights in the sport have gotten bigger and larger, and now a day we can find mammoth size fighters who make a 218 pounds boxer look tiny next to them. Be it that the food, sports medicine or training has improved their physique; but the reality is that nowadays the heavyweights fighters are not necessarily more skilled but they do are physically more impressive than ever.

Think of some of the greatest heavyweights of the 20th century (Max Baer, Floyd Patterson, Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson). All of those heavyweights weighed in less than 220 pounds in their prime. That’s somewhat small compared to today’s heavyweights. Riddick Bowe, the Klitschko brothers, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua all stood tall and heavy at least 240 pounds.

I wouldn’t be against such a division being created, but there needs to be some serious regulations and planning. What would be the weight limit for the existing heavyweights, would heavyweight champions that are retroactively over the limit have to vacate their belts, etc…

Arguments for both sides can be take into consideration, but don’t take Sulaiman’s words as absolute. The commission was considering it, and even if they were to implement a super heavyweight division, it would take years to get it fully functional.

Weekend Recap:

Anthony Crolla vs. Ricky Burns Televised Card: October 7

Lewis Ritson defeated Robbie Barrett via TKO, round 7, to win the British Lightweight Title: The fight itself was a pretty good one, best of the televised card so far, given that it was mostly one-sided. Barrett got some early offense, but for the majority of the fight, it was more Barrett dominating the fight. Barrett was performing well when he was the aggressor and in the center of the ring, but Ritson’s footwork helped escape from danger at various parts. Ritson started to get some confidence beginning in the fifth round and it translated to a knockdown in the sixth round, which was Ritson’s best round of the fight. Ritson’s body shots started to affect Barrett greatly, especially in the middle rounds and Barrett started to play more defense as the fight got deeper. Barrett landed a hard counter left body hook on Ritson, which ended the fight right there. Barrett’s title reign, and 11-fight win streak, is over.

Mohamed Mimoune defeated Sam Eggington via split decision (116-112, 112-116, 115-113) to win the European Welterweight Title: Mimoune brought the fight to Eggington to start the bout. A few rounds into the fight, Eggington starts to back up Mimoune on the ropes and work the body at times, but doesn’t follow up on some of the combinations Eggington is throwing. Eggington started to get a lot of momentum starting at the end of the fourth round because Eggington is pressuring Mimoune and landing cleaner punches. Those punches are also starting split through Mimoune’s defense, but it is not like Mimoune started to throw way less punches. Mimoune got a couple of rounds late in the fight to make it a much closer fight in the cards.

In the 11th round, Eggington goes back to pressuring Mimoune into the ropes, but Mimoune defended against Eggington’s pressure relatively well. Eggington’s face got pretty battered and bruised throughout the course of the fight, but has shown a lot of toughness in not slowing down pretty much at any point of the fight. Eggington did look a bit sluggish at times, but not terrible. Mimoune looked great in the second half of the fight, not allowing Eggington’s pressure to affect him much. Mimoune was a heavy underdog coming into this fight and it did look like he would just be Eggington’s fifth straight opponent to get knocked out. I had Mimoune up 115-113.

Anthony Crolla defeats Ricky Burns via unanimous decision (116-113, 117-112, 116-114): This fight was a rollercoaster through and through. Burns initially got the upper hand, but soon started to fall behind in the cards after Crolla picked up activity. The fight had a lot of close rounds, but it certainly felt like Crolla landed the stronger punches throughout the fight. In a somewhat odd case, this was a fight where a lot of rounds seriously could have been scored 10-10, an already rare score to have once in a boxing fight. The fight got interesting late when Burns put some heat on Crolla, but the fight was already decided by the time the 11th round rolled around.

This fight did not have any titles on the line, nor was it a title eliminator. What it does provide is a possibility for Crolla to come out and ask for a lightweight title opportunity, mainly against Terry Flanagan and his WBO title. At this point in Flanagan’s reign, he’ll likely prefer a unification fight rather than have to keep defending the title. Flanagan vs. Crolla would be a big money fight in the U.K. and while Flanagan recovers from an injury, the rest of the division’s champons are looking to unify without him.

World Boxing Super Series: Super Middleweight Quarterfinals: October 7

Chris Eubank Jr. defeated Avni Yildirim to retain the International Boxing Organization World Super Middleweight Title: KO, Round 3: Eubank Jr. made a statement in the World Boxing Super Series, dominating Yildirim from the very beginning. It took only about eight minutes to wrap this up and this fight essentially made Eubank into an even bigger threat to top-ranked George Groves. There is some that thought the referee didn’t give Yildirim any chance to even get back up before the count reaches to 10, but it’s understandable why this eneded the way it did. Yildirim looked like he got his lights knocked out for good and before the knockout even happened, Eubank was having his way with Yildirim, landing power punch after power punch with seemingly no consequence. It’s not a great stoppage, but it’s one the boxing community should not be upset about.

The rest of the boxing results can be seen in the follow page.

Results from the world of boxing:

October 10: Arena El Jefe, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

• Ramon Aguinaga defeated Jesus Angel Nerio to win the vacant WBC FECOMBOX Super Middleweight Title: TKO, Round 4
• Bruno Salazar defeated Eliud Montoya via UD
• Juan Guadalupe Munoz defeated Emmanuel Zuniga via UD
• Omar Barajas defeated Rodolfo Castillo: TKO, Round 2
• Luis Montoya defeated Jaime Jimenez via UD
• Jorge Munoz defeated Ricardo Lara via MD

October 10: Ram 100 Thai Boxing Stadium, Ramkamhaeng, Bangkok, Thailand

• Wenfeng Ge defeated Yutthichai Wannawong to win the vacant Thai Super Flyweight Title: TKO Round 5

October 8: NTT Cred Hall, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan

• Koji Itagaki defeated Koki Ono via SD
• Hironori Miyake defeated Koichi Uryu via SD
• Takumi Sakae defeated Kenta Yokoe: TKO, Round 3
• Taiyo Inoue defeated Shogo Sumitomo: TKO, Round 5
• Daichi Kano and Ryuji Kido fight to a majority draw
• Taiga Hashimoto defeated Takahiro Maeda via UD
• Junichi Itoga defeated Kohei Oshima via MD
• Eruka Hiromoto defeated Kisara Okamoto via MD
• Miki Mitsuda defeated Akane Wada via MD
• Yasushi Handa defeated Ryuji Takada: TKO, Round 3
• Yutaka Asakura defeated Shoki Shimote: TKO, Round 4

October 7: Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

• Chris Eubank Jr. defeated Avni Yildirim to retain the International Boxing Organization World Super Middleweight Title: KO, Round 3
• Firat Arslan defeated Alejandro Emilio Valori: KO, Round 7
• Stefan Haertel defeated Viktor Polyakov via MD
• Denis Radovan defeated Tiran Metz via UD
• Timo Schwarzkopf defeated Massimiliano Ballisai via UD
• Zach Parker defeated Matingu Kindele via UD
• Emre Cukur defeated Soso Abuladze via UD
• Leon Bauer and Atin Karabet fight to a draw on PTS
• Burak Sahin defeated Andre Bunga via UD
• Albon Pervizaj defeated Predrag Jevtic via UD

October 7: Community Hall, Makhado, Limpopo, South Africa

• Zolile Miya defeated Nyelisani Thagambega: KO, Round 10
• Thizwilondi Nemapandoni and Balanganani Ndou fight to a draw on PTS
• Thando Mulima defeated Phumudzo Munyai via PTS
• Deon Mbumbana defeated Rendani Ramudzi via PTS
• Humvhulani Netshamutshedzi defeated Onke Duku via PTS
• Mashudu Ramakwelo defeated Modau Gudani via PTS
• Nothuthuzele Chitani defeated Thompo Mathodzi via PTS

October 7: Gallera del López Socas, Las Palmas, Islas Canarias, Spain

• Davinia Perez defeated Jorgelina Guanini to win the vacant WBC Silver Female Super Bantamweight Title via SD
• Moncho Miras and Aramis Torres fight to a split draw: Vacant Spanish Flyweight Title Bout
• Marcos Ortega defeated Elkhan Bairamov via PTS

October 7: Pabellón Anaitasuna, Pamplona, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, Spain

• Cesar Nunez defeated Jose Charles via PTS
• Ander Amatriain defeated Reynaldo Mora via PTS

October 7: Gimnasio del Rayo Vallecano, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

• Brian Pelaez defeated Eduardo Cobos via PTS
• Carlos Lopez defeated Albert Ulrich via PTS

October 7: Berne, Switzerland

• Ando Hako defeated Giorgi Gviniashvili: KO, Round 5
• Viviane Obenauf defeated Sylwia Maksym: TKO, Round 5
• Bruno Tavares defeated Otar Gogoberishvili via MD

October 7: Manyara Park, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

• Hamza Mchanjo defeated James Kibazange via MD
• Swedi Mohamed defeated Rajabu Salum: KO, Round 1
• Deo Samwel defeated Iddi Mohamed: KO, Round 2
• Shafii Ramadhani defeated Mohamed Rashid via PTS
• Godfrey Silver and Seif Alaba fight to a draw on PTS
• Adam Kipenga defeated Mustafa Yahya: KO, Round 1
• Hamidu Kwata defeated Omari Abdallah: KO, Round 3
• Ramadhan Kondo defeated Saidi Mgwenyo: KO, Round 2
• Abdallah Luanja defeated Said Yusufu via PTS
• Mohamed Pesa defeated Iddy Jumanne via PTS

October 7: York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, United Kingdom

• Andrew Selby defeated Maximino Flores in a WBC Flyweight Eliminator via UD
• Luke Watkins defeated Robin Dupre to win the vacant Commonwealth (British Empire) Cruiserweight Title: TKO, Round 6
• Asinia Byfield defeatedGabor Gorbics: TKO, Round 5
• Chantelle Cameron defeated Bilitis Gaucher: TKO, Round 1
• Martin Bakole Ilunga defeated Kamil Sokolowski via PTS
• Chris Kongo defeated Bronislav Kubin: TKO, Round 1
• Joshua Ejakpovi defeated Konstantin Alexandrov via PTS
• Gelasius Taaru defeated Reynaldo Cajina via PTS
• Terry Russell defeated Martin Kabrhel: TKO, Round 3
• Jan Korec defeated Ihsan Khan via PTS

October 7: Manchester Arena (formerly M.E.N Arena), Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom

• Anthony Crolla defeated Ricky Burns via UD
• Mohamed Mimoune defeated Sam Eggington to win the EBU (European) Welterweight Title via SD
• Lewis Ritson defeated Robbie Barrett to win the BBBofC British Lightweight Title: TKO, Round 7
• Scott Cardle defeated Lee Connelly via PTS
• Gavin McDonnell defeated Jozsef Ajtai: KO, Round 1
• Hosea Burton defeated Ratu Latianara: TKO, Round 1
• Conor Benn defeated Nathan Clarke: TKO, Round 1
• Charlie Flynn defeated Liam Richards via PTS
• Joe Ham defeated Jose Aguilar via PTS
• Sam Hyde defeated Gheorghe Danut via PTS
• Marcus Morrison defeated Mariusz Biskupski: TKO, Round 4
• Ryan Doyle defeated Lesther Cantillano via PTS
• Jake Haigh defeated Anthony Fox via PTS

October 7: Bowlers Exhibition Centre, Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom

• Jordan Thompson defeated Michael Pareo: TKO, Round 1
• Mason Cartwright defeated Zoltan Turai: TKO, Round 1
• John Telford defeated Ladislav Nemeth: TKO, Round 3
• CJ Challenger defeated William Warburton via PTS
• Raza Hamza defeated Andis Didzus: TKO, Round 1
• Irvin Magno defeated Ibrar Riyaz via PTS
• Jack Rafferty defeated Kevin McCauley via PTS
• Damian Chambers defeatedTayar Mehmed via PTS
• Muheeb Fazeldin defeated Kristian Laight via PTS

October 6: Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

• Sam Sexton defeated Gary Cornish to win the vacant BBBofC British Heavyweight Title via UD
• Stephen Simmons defeated Simon Barclay to win the vacant IBF East/West Europe Cruiserweight Title via UD
• Stephen Tiffney defeated Troy James via PTS
• Paddy Gallagher defeated Gary Murray to retain the BBBofC Celtic Welterweight Title: TKO, Round 10
• Tommy Philbin defeated Rhys Pagan to win the vacant BBBofC Celtic Super Middleweight Title via UD
• Paddy Barnes defeated Juan Hinostroza via PTS
• Thomas Dickson defeated Rhys Saunders via PTS
• Lewis Benson defeated Mikheil Avakian via PTS
• Monty Ogilvie defeated Antonio Horvatic via PTS
• Aidan McGlynn defeated Radoslav Mitev via PTS
• Connor Law defeated Antonio Petrov: TKO, Round 2

October 6: Metrodome, Barnsley, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

• Ben Wager defeated Danny Holmes to win the vacant BBBofC Central Area Lightweight Title: TKO, Round 2
• Paul Economides defeated Artif Ali to win the vacant BBBofC Central Area Super Bantamweight Title: TKO, Round 8
• Harry Matthews defeated Ben Davies via PTS
• Reece Cartwright defeated Adam Jones via PTS
• Wayne Reed defeated Sonny Whiting via PTS
• Jordan Turner defeated Tommy Chadburn via PTS
• Yailton Neves defeated Matthew Mallin via PTS
• Ross Blackwell defeated Liam Wright via PTS

October 6: Dolman Exhibition Hall, Bristol City FC, Bristol, Avon, United Kingdom

• Ryan Wheeler defeated Jamie Speight via PTS
• Dan Sarkozi defeated Jordan Grannum via PTS
• Liam Hunt and Geraint Goodridge fight to a draw on PTS
• Pawel August defeated Jevgenijs Andrejevs via PTS
• Tyler Davies defeated Dylan Draper via PTS
• Nathan Halton defeated Scott Hillman via PTS
• Robert Boardman defeated Norbert Szekeres via PTS
• Aaron Sutton defeated Paul Cummings via PTS
• Tim Cutler defeated Adam Bannister: RTD, Round 1

October 6: Belasco Theater, Los Angeles, California, USA

• Christian Gonzalez defeated Gamaliel Diaz via UD
• Edgar Valerio defeated Martin Cardona: KO, Round 2
• Ferdinand Kerobyan defeated Uriel Gonzalez: KO, Round 1
• Jousce Gonzalez defeated Ricardo Alan Fernandez: KO, Round 1

October 6: Remington Park, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

• Nick Jones defeated Ty Cobb via SD
• Dennis Knifechief defeated Antoine Anderson: TKO, Round 3
• John Trowbridge defeated Kristopher Clark: KO, Round 1
• Twon Smith defeated Marvin Babe: TKO, Round 2
• Vincent Baccus defeated Edwin Williams: RTD, Round 1
• Keyon Jackson defeated Steven Crowfield via UD

October 6: Shelby Co Fairgrounds, Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA

• Thomas Amaro defeated Oscar Gutierrez Jimenez: TKO, Round 2
• Yunier Valdes defeated DeWayne Wisdom via UD
• Cory Rhyne defeated Andrew Greening: TKO, Round 3
• Timothy Moten defeated Francois Russell via UD

Official Fightful Rankings:

Pound-for-pound

1. Terence Crawford
2. Gennady Golovkin
3. Canelo Alvarez
4. Vasyl Lomachenko
5. Mikey Garcia
6. Keith Thurman
7. Guillermo Rigondeaux
8. Anthony Joshua
9. Naoya Inoue
10. Oleksandr Usyk

Heavyweight

1. Anthony Joshua
2. Deontay Wilder
3. Joseph Parker
4. Luis Ortiz
5. Kubrat Pulev
6. Dillian White
7. Andy Ruiz Jr.
8. Dominic Breazeale
9. Charles Martin
10. Hughie Fury

Cruiserweight

1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Denis Lebediev
3. Murat Gassiev
4. Krzysztof Glowacki
5. Mairis Briedis
6. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
7. Marco Huck
8. Firat Arslan
9. Tony Bellew
10. Yunier Dorticos

Light heavyweight

1. Sergey Kovalev
2. Badou Jack
3. Adonis Stevenson
4. Oleksandr Gvozdyk
5. Sullivan Barrera
6. Artur Beterbiev
7. Eleider Alvarez
8. Juergen Braehmer
9. Joe Smith Jr.

Super middleweight

1. James DeGale
2. Gilberto Ramirez
3. George Groves
4. Anthony Dirrell
5. Andre Dirrell
6. Chris Eubank Jr.
7. David Benavidez
8. Jose Uzcategui
9. Tyron Zeuge
10. Callum Smith

Middleweight

1. Gennady Golovkin
2. Canelo Alvarez
3. Daniel Jacobs
4. Jermall Charlo
5. David Lemieux
6. Billy Joe Saunders
7. Andy Lee
8. Hassan N’Dam
9. Ryota Murata
10. Sergiy Derevyanchenko

Light middleweight

1. Erislandy Lara
2. Miguel Cotto
3. Jermell Charlo
4. Demetrius Andrade
5. Jarrett Hurd
6. Julian Williams
7. Austin Trout
8. Erickson Lubin
9. Liam Smith
10. Jack Culcay

Welterweight

1. Keith Thurman
2. Errol Spence Jr.
3. Danny Garcia
4. Shawn Porter
5. Manny Pacquiao
6. Jeff Horn
7. Kell Brook
8. Jessie Vargas
9. Lamont Peterson
10. Lucas Matthysse

The rest of the rankings are in the next page.

Light welterweight

1. Terence Crawford
2. Julius Indongo
3. Viktor Postol
4. Antonio Orozco
5. Eduard Troyanovski
6. Rances Barthelemy
7. Adrian Granados
8. Sergey Lipinets
9. Regis Prograis
10. Rances Barthelemy

Lightweight

1. Jorge Linares
2. Mikey Garcia
3. Terry Flanagan
4. Robert Easter Jr.
5. Anthony Crolla
6. Luke Campbell
7. Dejan Zlaticanin
8. Raymundo Beltran
9. Denis Shafikov
10. Ricky Burns

Junior lightweight

1. Vasyl Lomachenko
2. Miguel Berchelt
3. Gervonta Davis
4. Jezreel Corrales
5. Francisco Vargas
6. Orlando Salido
7. Robinson Castellanos
8. Jason Sosa
9. Jhonny Gonzalez
10. Masayuki Ito

Featherweight

1. Leo Santa Cruz
2. Carl Frampton
3. Gary Russell Jr.
4. Lee Selby
5. Abner Mares
6. Oscar Valdez
7. Scott Quigg
8. Jesus Cuellar
9. Joseph Diaz
10. Claudio Marrero

Light featherweight

1. Guillermo Rigondeaux
2. Jessie Magdaleno
3. Nonito Donaire
4. Moises Flores
5. Daniel Roman
6. Hugo Ruiz
7. Rey Vargas
8. Marlon Tapales
9. Julio Ceja
10. Yukinori Oguni

Bantamweight

1. Jamie McDonnell
2. Luis Nery
3. Zhanat Zhakiyanov
4. Ryan Burnett
5. Juan Carlos Payano
6. Shinsuke Yamanaka
7. Zolani Tete
8. Lee Haskins
9. Takoma Inoue
10. Liborio Solis

Light bantamweight

1. Naoya Inoue
2. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
3. Jerwin Ancajas
4. Khalid Yafai
5. Juan Francisco Estrada
6. Carlos Cuadras
7. Roman Gonzalez
8. John Riel Casimero
9. Rau’shee Warren
10. Luis Concepcion

Flyweight

1. Kazuto Ioka
2. Donnie Nietes
3. Daigo Higa
4. Juan Carlos Reveco
5. Sho Kimura
6. Moruti Mthalane
7. McWilliams Arroyo
8. Francisco Rodriguez Jr.
9. Zou Shiming
10. Komgrich Nantapech

Light flyweight/Strawweight

1. Milan Melindo
2. Kosei Tanaka
3. Knockout CP Freshmart
4. Jose Argumedo
5. Ken Shiro
6. Ryoichi Taguchi
7. Tatsuya Fukuhara
8. Hekkie Budler
9. Pedro Guevara
10. Wanheng Menayothin

Other news in boxing:

1. HBO announced that longtime boxing play-by-play guy Jim Lampley has agreed to a five-year extension to remain on the network and be its signature voice for its boxing broadcasts. Lampley, who has called many of the biggest moments in boxing history, will continue to serve as the play-by-play announcer for HBO’s boxing franchises “World Championship Boxing,” “Boxing After Dark” and its pay-per-view fights. Lampley will also continue to host his studio show, “The Fight Game with Jim Lampley.” This comes after there were some in the boxing community that felt like the network is slowly starting to transition out of being a major player in the sport, especially with Top Rank signing with ESPN.

If anything, this announcement shows that the network is still primarily focused on beng the best boxing network in the United States. HBO is starting to increase its relationship with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing and has started to expand European boxing broadcasts. The network does own two of the top three boxing pay-per-views for 2017 and both of those events did more than a million buys.

What we’re now going to see is a bigger emphasis on television cards, shifting away from the pay-per-view model except for the major players such as Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin. It’s become apparent that those two are probably the only boxers HBO feels comfortable putting on pay-per-view.

2. Since Andre Ward retired, surrendering his WBA “super” light hevayweight title, and Badou Jack vacated his WBA “regular” light heavyweight, questions started surround Dmitry Bivol and his status as the WBA’s “interim” champion. WBA President Gilberto Mendoza finally answered those doubts recently by announcing that Bivol will be elevated to full titleholder, meaning that he is now the WBA light heavyweight champion. At the moment, there will no longer be “super” and “regular” labels being put on that specific title as the governing body continues its mission to only having one world titleholder per weight class.

What does that mean for his upcoming fight against Trent Broadhurst? It means that the promotion for the fight was right on the money in calling it a WBA light heavyweight title defense. This isn’t a shock to anyone with knowledge of the situation, but it does finally give clarity to anyone that was wondering about the situation. Now that that matter has settled, Bivol will now be looked upon to start defending the title. The winner of the Bivol vs. Broadhurst winner will be ordered to fight the highest-ranked available fighter. If that is the case, then it would be Sullivan Barrera, who will be fighting on the November 25 HBO card at Madison Square Garden. Should Barrera win, then he’ll likely get the title shot.

3. Even though Luis Ortiz has been punished by the WBC for failing a drug test with weeks remaining before his planned WBC heavyweight title challenge against Deontay Wilder, his status as the WBA’s mandatory challenger could remain untouched. Anthony Joshua, the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, is defending his title against IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev on October 28, but the plan was always to fight Pulev first, then Ortiz.

The WBA hasn’t made a ruling on whether or not the organization will revoke Ortiz’s mandatory challenger status and Hearn spoke on the matter, hinting that Ortiz could still be ordered to fight Joshua when it’s all said and done.

“The WBA have to rule on their position, they might have to install him as the mandatory,” Hearn recently said.

4. Instead of fighting in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator on the November 4 Barclays Center card headlined by Deontay Wilder’s latest title defense, Dominic Breazeale will have to settle for a fight against former world title challenger Eric Molina. According to reports, Breazeale will fight Molina on the undercard.

Since it was announced that Bermane Stiverne, Breazeale’s original opponent, would be fighting Wilder in the main event in the wake of Luis Ortiz’s failed drug test, Breazeale had been lobbying for a fight against Dillian Whyte. Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn wanted to try and make the fight a reality and place it on the Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev card on October 28.

Obviously, that fight isn’t happening and while Whyte would have provided a more interesting challenge for Breazeale, Molina isn’t a terrible fight for Breazeale. Whyte is ranked No. 3 in the WBC rankings while Molina is only ranked No. 12. Beating Whyte probably would have put Breazeale in the driver’s seat to be the next boxer to be named the mandatory challenger.

5. Muhammad Ali Enterprises filed a $30 million federal lawsuit against the FOX Broadcasting Company earlier this week, claiming the network used without permission the late boxer’s identity in a video that aired just before its broadcast of the Super Bowl last February, which can be seen below.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in Chicago, Muhammad Ali Enterprises contends that FOX used Ali’s “name, image and likeness as the centerpiece of its three-minute promotional video” before its broadcast of the game that attracted a national audience of 111 million viewers. In explaining just how valuable Ali’s name and image were to FOX, the lawsuit contends that FOX could have sold those three minutes of time just before the start of the Super Bowl to advertisers for $30 million.

“FOX obtained great value by using Muhammad Ali to promote itself,” attorney Frederick J. Sperling, who filed the lawsuit, said in a statement. “It should pay for what it took.”

The lawsuit contends that the video, which included the images of NFL greats such as Joe Montana, Vince Lombardi and Tom Brady, was “far more” than a tribute to Ali eight months after his death. It says the video was done in such a way as to “define greatness and ultimately compare the NFL legends to Ali and thus to define them and the Super Bowl as ‘greatness’ too.” The lawsuit also says the video “falsely implies” that Ali or Muhammad Ali Enterprises had endorsed FOX. Muhammad Ali Enterprises owns the trademark rights, copyrights, the right of publicity and all other intellectual property rights of Ali.

FOX has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Two years ago, a federal jury awarded basketball legend Michael Jordan $8.9 million in his lawsuit against a now-defunct supermarket chain for using his identity in an advertisement without his permission. Last year, Sperling filed a $30 million lawsuit on behalf of soccer legend Pele, claiming that electronics company Samsung improperly used a Pele look-alike in an advertisement for televisions. The lawsuit said it would hurt the value of his endorsement rights.

2017 Hall of Fame Ballot

It’s that time of the year again: International Boxing Hall of Fame selection time. Just like we have seen throughout this entire year in the sport of boxing, the 2017 Hall of Fame ballot is truly a special one.

In terms of the modern category – boxers whose last fight was no earlier than 1989 – usually only three new candidates are added to the ballot each year. With such a deep class of fighters becoming eligible this year (five years since their last fight), the HOF made an exception. It has added five new names to the ballot this year: Vitali Klitschko, Erik Morales, Ricky Hatton, Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon and Ronald Wright. Voters can vote for up to five fighters on the 32-man ballot but only three will be elected, which means at least two very worthy candidates will be left out when induction weekend at the Canastota, New York, rolls around in June.

Full members of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a panel of international boxing historians began receiving their ballots earlier this month. They are due back by October 31 with results of the voting due to be announced in December.

Below is an abridged retrospective on each of the candidates on this year’s ballot.

1. Yuri Arbachakov (23-1, 16 KO): One of the more accomplished Asian amateur boxers in the 20th century, amassing a 165-21 record and won the gold medal in the 1989 Soviet, European and World Championships. Also the first ever Russian champion in professional boxing. Arbachakov ruled the flyweight division in the 1990s, winning the WBC flyweight title in 1992 and defended it 10 times until he lost the title, as well as his last fight, in 1997.
2. Paulie Ayala (35-3, 12 KO): 1999 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year. Former IBO super bantamweight and WBA bantamweight champion. Has defeated the likes of Johnny Tapia, Johnny Bredahl and Clarence Adams and fought Erik Morales as well as Marco Antonio Barrera.
3. Nigel Benn (42-5-1, 35 KO): Arguably one of the greatest British super middleweight boxers in history. Two-weight world champion, having won the WBO middleweight and WBC super middleweight titles. 2013 WBC Hall of Fame inductee. Had one of the best British rivalries of the 1990s against Chris Eubank, having lost to Eubank in 1990 and fighting to a split draw in 1992. Also gave one of the all-time most brutal beatings in boxing, defeating Gerald McClellan in 1995, causing McClellan to fall into a two-week long coma.
4. Ivan Calderon (35-3-1, 6 KO): Arguably a top five Puerto Rican boxer in the 21st century thus far. Former WBO minimumweight and WBO light flyweight title. Represented Puerto Rico in the 2000 Summer Olympic. His August 2010 fight against Giovani Segura, in which Segura knocked Calderon out in the eighth round, was named the 2010 fight of the year by Ring Magazine. Calderon is regarded by many as one of the greatest world champions in the island’s history, having won 18 world title fights, most by a Puerto Rican boxer.
5. Sot Chitalada (26-4-1, 16 KO): Before transitioning to boxing, Chitalada was a former Muay Thai champion in Thailand. Once he turned pro, he was one of the earliest examples of a boxer getting a world title shot almost immediately after turning pro. In his fifth fight, Chitalada challenged for the WBC junior flyweight title in 1984, losing his first fight in the process. Chitalada won the WBC flyweight title in his eighth pro fight and won 10 title defenses. Retired in 1992 after losing a flyweight world title match against Muangchai Kittikasem.
6. Donald Curry (34-6, 25 KO): Won world titles at welterweight and junior middleweight, including a reign as the unified WBA, IBF, WBC, lineal and Ring Magazine welterweight title. Became the undisputed welterweight champion when he knocked out Milton McCrory in 1985 in just under two rounds. Won the WBC junior middleweight title in 1988 by beating Gianfranco Rosi. Retired in 1991, but came back in 1997, challenging Emmett Linton for the IBA junior middleweight title. 1980 Golden Gloves champion and was named, alongside Marvin Hagler, as Ring Magazine’s Co-fighters of the Year for 1985. Holds a 9-5 record in world title fights and has reportedly won 400 amateur bouts while only losing four.
7. Chris Eubank (45-5-2, 23 KO): Former WBO middleweight and super middleweight champion and generally regarded as one of the toughest boxer of his generation. Known for his several encounters against the likes of Joe Calzaghe, Carl Thompson, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins. Won 17 world title fights and rose to prominence when he, as an underdog, stopped Benn in the first of their two classic battles in 1990, en route to a 43-fight unbeaten streak to start his career. Has remained one of Britain’s most popular retired sporting icons. Ranked by BoxRec as the third-best British super middleweight boxer of all time.
8. Leo Gamez (35-12-1, 26 KO): Former WBA champion at minimumweight, light flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight. Gamez is one of two Latino boxers in history to win a major world title from four different weight classes, the other being Roberto Duran. Some version of the WBA title was on the line in 24 of his 48 career fights. In terms of Venezuela’s boxing history, Gamez is considered to be an all-time great, arguably the best Venezuelan boxer since the end of Betulio Gonzalez’s career. During his career, which spanned from 1985-2005, Gamez has beaten the likes of Josue Camacho, Hideki Todaka and Bong-Jun Kim.
9. Ricky Hatton (45-3, 32 KO): Arguably one of the greatest British boxers of all time, regarded as the greatest junior welterweight boxer in the history of Great Britain. Won his first 43 professional fights, 31 of those wins coming via knockout. Won the IBF, The Ring and lineal junior welterweight championships in 2005 when he knocked out Carlos Maussa. The end of Hatton’s career is mostly known for him fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr., Paulie Malignaggi and Manny Pacquiao, going 1-2 in those fights. Has defeated the likes of Luis Collazo, Jose Luis Castillo and Juan Urango. Hatton is the first British boxer to win Ring Magazine’s Fighter of the Year, when he won it in 2005.
10. Genaro Hernandez (38-2-1, 17 KO): Two-time super featherweight champion (WBA and WBC). Final match was against Floyd Mayweather Jr., where Mayweather stopped Hernandez and Mayweather Jr. won his first world title. Challenged for the WBO lightweight title in 1995, held by De La Hoya at the time, but lost to De La Hoya after six rounds. Has fought the likes of Mayweather Jr., De La Hoya, Carlos Hernandez, Azumah Nelson and Raul Perez. Has a 12-2-1 record in world title fights. Hernandez spent the first 11 years of his pro career undefeated, a streak of 33 fights that ended against De La Hoya.
11. Julian Jackson (55-6, 49 KO): Possessing punching power matched by only a few boxers in history, Jackson knocked out 49 opponents in his 55 wins. One of Jackson’s biggest wins came in 1989 when he knocked out Hall of Famer Terry Norris in just two rounds. The Ring Magazine named Jackson the fifth greatest junior middleweight of all-time in 1994 and the 25th greatest puncher of all-time in 2003. Jackson is 10-4 in world title fights, beating the likes of Norris, Eddie Gazo, In-Chul Baek and Buster Drayton throughout his career. Former WBA junior middleweight and WBC middleweight champion. Ring Magazine rated him as the top junior middleweight in 1989 and the top middleweight in 1992.
12. Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO): One of the most dominant heavyweight boxers of the 21st century. Klitschko held the WBC heavyweight title from 2004-2012. Finished his career on a 13-fight win streak since losing to Lennox Lewis in 2003. He and brother Wladimir are the first pair of brothers to hold world heavyweight titles at the same time. Klitschko is 15-2 in world title fights. With an 87.23 knockout percentage, he holds one of the highest knockout-to-fight ratios of any world champion in heavyweight boxing history.
13. Santos Laciar (79-10-11, 31 KO): Former WBC super flyweight and two-time WBA flyweight world champion. Primarily considered one of the greatest Argentine boxers in the country’s history, Laciar also engaged in three-fight rivalries against the likes of Juan Herrera and Gilberto Roman. Has also fought the likes of Luis Ibarra and Charlie Magri.
14. Rocky Lockridge (44-9, 36 KO): He is known for handing Roger Mayweather his first defeat, a first-round knockout in just 98 seconds, earning him the WBA and lineal super featherweight titles. His fight with Tony Lopez for the IBF super featherweight title won the 1988 Fight of the Year award from Ring Magazine. Two-time Golden Gloves finalist. Has competed in the ring against the likes of Mayweather, Julio Cesar Chavez, Barry Michael, Wilfredo Gomez and Lopez twice.
15. Miguel (Happy) Lora (37-3, 17 KO): Lora enjoyed a three-year reign as the WBC bantamweight champion in the mid to late 1980s, defending it seven times. Lora defended the title against the likes of Wilfredo Vazquez and Ray Minus. Consider to be arguably the greatest defensive bantamweight boxer of his time. Winner of the 1977 Colombian flyweight amateur tournament.
16. James (Buddy) McGirt (73-6-1, 48 KO): 16-year pro and former two-weight world champion. Won the IBF junior welterweight title in 1988 and the WBC and lineal welterweight titles in 1991. Fought against the likes of Saoul Mamby, Joe Manleu, Meldrick Taylor and Pernell Whitaker twice. Inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1988. After his boxing career ended, McGirt became a trainer where would win the 2002 Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America.
17. Henry Maske (31-1, 11 KO): Three-time European amateur champion, former amateur world champion and Olympic Gold Medalist from the 1988 Summer Olympics. Won the IBF light heavyweight title in 1993 and defended it 10 times. One of those title defenses came in 1995 against Egerto Marcus, a rematch from their 1988 Olympic finals. Had a near 11-year retirement from the sport until coming back in 2007 to avenge his one loss to Virgil Hill, in which Maske was successful.
18. Dariusz Michalczewski (48-2, 38 KO): Two-weight world champion. Had an incredible reign as the WBO light heavyweight champion from 1994-2003. At one point, he held the WBO light heavyweight and cruiserweight titles at the same time. Unified the WBO, WBA, IBF and lineal light heavyweight championships when he beat Virgil Hill in 1997. Started his career on a 48-fight win streak. Former European amateur world champion. Has won an astonishing 25 world titles fights.
19. Sung-Kil Moon (20-2, 15 KO): Two-time Asian Games amateur champion and former amateur world champion. Compiled a purported amateur record of 219-22. Former WBA bantamweight and WBC super flyweight champion. Defended the WBC super flyweight title a record nine times, which included five wins over prior or future world champions. Holds a 13-2 record in world title fights.
20. Michael Moorer (52-4, 40 KO): Moorer is a multiple-time, two-weight world champion, having held the WBOlight heavyweight title from 1988 to 1991; the WBO heavyweight title from 1992 to 1993; the unified WBA, IBF, and lineal heavyweight titles in 1994; and the IBF heavyweight title again from 1996 to 1997, becoming one of four men to win a heavyweight world title on three separate occasions. Holds a record of 15-2 in world title fights owning a win over Evander Holyfield. Named Ring Magazine Prospect of the Year in 1988
21. Erik Morales (52-9, 36 KO): Morales was the first Mexican-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes, having held the WBC super bantamweight title from 1997 to 2000; the WBC featherweight twice between 2001 and 2003; the unified WBC and IBF super featherweight titles in 2004; and the WBC super lightweight title from 2011 to 2012. ESPN ranked Morales at number 49 on their list of the 50 greatest boxers of all time. Morales is also best known for his legendary trilogies against Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao.
22. Orzubek (Gussie) Nazarov (26-1, 19 KO): Held the WBA lightweight title from 1993-1997. As an amateur, Nazarov was the bronze medalist in the 1986 World Amateur Championships and European champion in 1987 and had a record of 153-12.
23. Sven Ottke (34-0, 6 KO): Ottke was a unified super-middleweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 1998 to 2004, and the WBA (Super) title from 2003 to 2004. Ottke also had one of the most impressive amateur records for a European boxer, amassing 256-47-5 record. Ottke also defended his world title an impressive 21 times, retiring as an undefeated world champion, a rare thing in boxing, in 2004.
24. Vinny Pazienza (50-10, 30 KO): Former lightweight and super middleweight. Best known for coming back to the ring a little over a year after a near fatal car accident in which his neck was broken and likely never to walk again, the inspiration for the 2016 film Bleed For This. Pazienza is one of three men to own two wins over Roberto Duran. Fought from 1983-2004.
25. Gilberto Roman (54-6-1, 35 KO): Roman was a two-time WBC and lineal Super Flyweight Champion and is considered by many fans to be one of the great champions in the division. Represented Mexico as a flyweight at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. Owns wins over the likes of Antonio Avelar, Jiro Watanabe, Frank Cedeno, Sugar Baby Rojas, Kiyoshi Hatanaka and Santos Benigno Laciar. Successfully defended his world title 11 times.
26. Gianfranco Rosi (62-6-1, 18 KO): Two-time junior middleweight world champion. Has a record of 13-2-1, 1 NC in world title fights. Held the IBF junior middleweight title from 1989-1994. Owns wins over Darrin Van Horn, Rene Jacquot, Gilbert Dele and has fought against the likes of Vincent Pettway and Donald Curry. 1976 Italian light welterweight champion 1977 Italian welterweight champion.
27. Samuel Serrano (50-5-1, 17 KO): Two-time junior lightweight world champion. Between his two reigns as WBA junior lightweight champion, Serrano defended his title 14 times, with his last title defense being a TKO loss to Roger Mayweather. Spent a combined seven years as world champion.
28. Meldrick Taylor (38-8-1, 20 KO): 1984 Summer Olympics gold medalist. As a pro, Taylor is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF junior welterweight title from 1988-1990, and the WBA welterweight title from 1991-1992. Has an extensive list of Hall of Fame-caliber opponents, including Buddy McGirt, Julio Cesar Chavez and Terry Norris. Won Ring Magazine Fight of the Year in 1990 for his match against Chavez.
29. Fernando Vargas (26-5, 22 KO): Youngest boxer to ever win a junior middleweight world title. Won the IBF title in 1998 and the WBA title in 2001. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the light welterweight division at the 1995 Pan American Games, and reached the second round of the welterweight bracket at the 1996 Olympics. Vargas is perhaps best known for his heated rivalries against Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad and Ricardo Mayorga.
30. Wilfredo Vazquez (56-9-2, 2 NC, 41 KO): Generally regarded as one of the greatest champions in the history of Puerto Rico boxing. One of just 46 boxers to ever hold a world title in three weight classes (bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight). His 11th round knockout of Eloy Rojas was named Ring Magazine Knockout of the Year for 1996. Sports a 16-4-1 record in world title fights. He and his son Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. are the third father-son duo to hold world titles.
31. Ratanapol Sor Vorapin (59-8-1, 48 KO): Former two-time IBF minimumweight world champion, winning his first world title a little more than two years into his pro boxing career. Challenged for the junior flyweight world title twice. Defended the IBF title 18 times. Sports one of the best win percentages in world title fights among the candidates on this year’s ballot.
32. Ronald (Winky) Wright (51-6-1, 25 KO): Owns wins over Bronco McKart, Angel Hernandez, Shane Mosley, Felix Trinidad, Ike Quartley. He is a two-time junior middleweight world champion and remains the last boxer to ever hold the undisputed title at that weight and the only one of the group of undisputed junior middleweight champions to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF, The Ring and lineal junior middleweight titles at the same time. Has an 11-3-1 record in world title fights.

If it were up to me, I probably would have picked Klitschko, Hatton and Morales, but there is a large number of different combinations one could vote from the 32-man list. That’s how good this year’s ballot is. One can easily make a case for the likes of Vazquez, Vargas, Eubank, Gamez, Calderon, Benn, etc…

To an extent, this type of ballot could provide an interesting test for the ballot in which boxers whose last fight took place in 2017. If you recall, this year has been an unusual year for retirements, with the top boxers calling it quits this year being Floyd Mayweather Jr., Wladimir Klitschko, Miguel Cotto and Andre Ward. Not to mention all the other former world champions that also retired at some point this year, including Robert Guerrero, Nathan Cleverly, Takashi Miura and Takashi Uchiyama, that could also potentially make the ballot someday.