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 shocking fifth-round stoppage of Anthony Joshua on September 21 in London. 

Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) scored four knockdowns before 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 won three bouts in a row since suffering a ninth-round stoppage loss to unified Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk last August, scoring stoppages against Jarrell Miller (TKO 10) in December 2023, Filip Hrgovic (TKO 8) in June, and now Joshua.

Dubois, who has to be viewed as the frontrunner for 2024 Comeback of the Year, unseated the face of British boxing in front of a record-setting crowd of nearly 100,000 at Wembley Stadium.

Anson Wainwright suggested Dubois assume the No. 2 spot in The Ring’s heavyweight top 10 (Joshua’s previous ranking), behind champion Usyk and No. 1-rated Tyson Fury. He suggested that the 34-year-old superstar drop to No. 7 behind the streaking Martin Bakole.

Your favorite Editor-In-Chief wondered why we wouldn’t merely have Joshua switch places with Dubois, who was previously rated No. 6, but understood Wainwright’s reasoning.

“I’d be OK with Johsua switching places with Dubois, but Bakole is on a very good run.” Ten straight victories to be exact, including a decision over French star Tony Yokam in Paris, a fourth-round stoppage of tough veteran Carlos Takam, and a seventh-round KO of previously unbeaten American contender Jared Anderson in Los Angeles. 

Adam Abramowitz preferred the switch.

“I think we are dropping Joshua a little too far. I would move him to No. 6,” said Abramowitz. “He’s done so much more than Bakole in the division.” 

Tom Gray, Michael Montero and Daisuke Sugiura agreed with Abramowitz. However, they were outvoted by Wainwright, Jake Donovan, Tris Dixon, Wasim Mather, Diego Morilla and Abraham Gonzalez. 

The previous weekend in Las Vegas, Canelo Alvarez remained the face of boxing in North America following his lopsided unanimous decision victory over Edgar Berlanga on September 14 in Las Vegas. The 34-year-old Mexican veteran also remains the unified Ring Magazine super middleweight champion and No. 4 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings. 

Berlanga, a 27-year-old boxer-puncher from Brooklyn, got up from a third-round knockdown (off a quick, compact left hook from Canelo) and boxed to the best of his ability given his level of experience, going the distance with the future hall of famer. 

Montero questioned whether Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) performed well enough to still be inside the top five of The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings.

“It’s hard to justify Canelo being in the top five P4P given his recent opposition, but nobody else has really stepped up to take his place,” he said. “After the big three (Usyk, Inoue and Crawford), everyone is pretty interchangeable. So, I’m good with him remaining where he is for now; he will drop next month after the (Artur) Beterbiev vs. (Dmitry) Bivol fight.”

Gray believes Alvarez did enough to hold his elite-fighter status.

“I picked Canelo by decision and was surprised at how many people went for the KO,” he noted.

“Canelo weighed 166 wearing tracksuit bottoms and shoes, so 164 is more accurate. He probably went up to the late 170s, but Berlanga was rumored to be 190 on fight night. He was always going to be hard to shift.

“Also, Canelo is 34 years old now and there seems to be an intensity drop-off after the midway point. The same thing happened with Pacquiao at 147 with him posting decision wins for seven or eight years. Roy Jones posted a ton of UD12s at light heavyweight. We’ve seen it before.

“Still, I thought Canelo looked well and he produced some magic.”

Did Berlanga (22-1, 17 KOs) live up to The Ring’s No. 7 ranking he brought into the 168-pound title challenge?

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

“Berlanga to drop one place, two with Caleb Plant coming back in. Berlanga did about as well as he could have,” Wainwright said. “Plant got off the canvas and was given all he could (handle) by Trevor McCumby before getting a ninth-round stoppage. Plant to re-enter at No. 3.”

Ye ole EIC challenged Wainwright’s suggestions for both Berlanga and Plant given the level of their opposition.

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

“I agree with Doug on keeping Berlanga at No. 7 (No. 8 once Plant re-enters),” Donovan said. “I’d put Plant at No. 5; (Osleys) Iglesias and (Diego) Pacheco have earned their way to top four.”

Added Montero: “I don’t think Plant should be ranked third at this time; he has one win over a ranked opponent (Dirrell) since 2021 and McCumby has never defeated a ranked opponent in his career. I’m good with Plant at five and Berlanga drops to eight.”

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

Even Wainwright came around.

“I’m OK with Berlanga only dropping one place due to Plant re-entering,” he said. “Plant at No. 5 is also fine. There was a definite trend with guys coming off inactivity: Plant, Danny Garcia, (Roiman) Villa and (Stephen) Fulton struggling after so long out. To quote Steve Kim, ‘activity matters.’”

In other news, former cruiserweight champ Mairis Briedis announced his retirement via social media in August.

The Latvian veteran had been a major cruiserweight player for almost 10 years, including an eight-and-half year stint in The Ring rankings, occupying the top five for much of that tenure. 

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

Briedis scored subsequent victories over top-10 contender Mike Perez, current 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 Magazine title).

He gave Oleksandr Usyk the toughest fight of the pound-for-pound king’s cruiserweight reign, losing a majority decision in his native Latvia. And Briedis gave current Ring champ Jai Opetaia hell in two competitive decision losses to close out his decorated career.

RING RATINGS UPDATE (as of September 21):

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

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

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

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – Joshua Buatsi remains at No. 4 after scoring a rousing 12-round majority decision 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 remains champion. Diego Pacheco remains 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 game Erik Bazinyan, who drops to No. 8 (bumping Berlanga back to No. 7).

Wainwright had suggested Munguia hold his No. 2 spot, but Gray thought the young Mexican veteran deserved to advance. 

“I was a lot more impressed with Munguia stopping a top-10-rated Bazinyan than I was with Mbilli struggling with a one-armed Derevyanchenko, who I believe was unrated,” Gray said. “I’d personally move Munguia to the No. 1 spot.”

Added Donovan: “Coin-toss for me but Tom raises a good point. 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 along with Liam Smith, who’s been inactive for more than a year. Erislandy Lara remains 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. 

Wainwright suggested that Sheeraz remain at No. 3, but the EIC wondered if the 25-year-old contender should take another step up the 160-pound ladder.

“I’d have no problem with Sheeraz advancing to No. 2. I know [previous No. 2-rated] (Carlos) Adames has a belt and he’s more experienced on the world level, but he’s been inactive, and he didn’t look good in his most recent outing.” 

“I agree with Doug on Sheeraz,” said Gray. “No. 2 after blasting out the European champ makes sense.”

Added Donovan: “Agreed with Doug on Hamzah to No. 2. Quite possibly the best middleweight in the world right now (and certainly the division’s only star hopeful).”

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

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

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

Wainwright had suggested Edwin De Los Santos replacing Chamberlain in the rankings, but his fellow panelists had other ideas.

“I’m not high on bringing De Los Santos in off an uninspiring defeat,” said Gray. “He’s 3-2 in his last five, so hopefully we can do better. I actually 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 name mentioned, followed by Noakes. A hard NO on De Los Santos, who hasn’t won in over a year and would 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 decision over former featherweight titleholder Josh Warrington. Eduardo Nunez advances to No. 9 off his ninth-round KO of veteran Miguel Marriaga.

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT – Inoue remains champion after defending his undisputed crown against Doheny, who drops to No. 8 (but is elevated back to No. 7 with Stephen Fulton’s exit). Marlon Tapales remains at No. 2 after scoring a 10-round decision over Saurabh Kumar. Alan Picasso advances to No. 8 after a hard-fought 12-round decision over rugged veteran Azat Hovhannisyan. Elijah Pierce remains at No. 9 after scoring a 10-round decision 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 had to get off the canvas and tough it out against Carlos Castro to win a 10-round majority decision,” noted Wainwright. “Fulton snaps 14 months off and got rid of some ring rust. Interesting to see what and when he’s back next. Not top 10 [at featherweight] and will have to show more to crack our top 10.”

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

“Takei edged past Higa to retain his WBO title by split decision,” noted Wainwright. “I thought Takei did enough to remain champion and Higa put up a really good challenge. Takei to remain where he is. Higa has mentioned retirement. I think we give it a little more time to see how things play out.”

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT – Srisaket Sor Rungvisai remains at No. 8 after a stay-busy six-round decision over Wuttichai Yurachai. Kenbun Torres enters at No. 10 with an upset 10-round split decision over previously unbeaten KJ Cataraja. 

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

“Knockout CP Freshmart edged past a gutsy challenge of Winwood to retain his WBA title,” noted Wainwright. “The knockdowns appear to be the difference maker for boxing’s longest reigning champion. Seems like a move up one place is in order. Got to love a road win.”

Email Fischer at dougiefischer@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter and IG at @dougiefischer, and join him, Tom Loeffler, Coach Schwartz and friends via Tom’s or Doug’s IG Live most Sundays.

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