Tony Thompson, who will fight champion Wladimir Klitschko in July, is ranked sixth in the latest SportsRatings Heavyweight Top 100. Samuel Peter, as expected, has moved up to #3 after his March TKO of former #6 Oleg Maskaev.
Almost all of the changes in the top 10 are due to the Peter-Maskaev bout. As Peter jumps from #5 to #3, he pushes down the men who held the #3 spot in January and February, Alex Povetkin and Nicolay Valuev, to #5 and #4 respectively. Valuev will fight #2 Ruslan Chagaev in late May, and Povetkin is promised by the IBF a shot at the Klitschko/Thompson winner later in the year, around November.
Thompson and Tua, though idle, move up a spot as Maskeav falls to #18, and Vladimir Virchis jumps to #8 over #9 Vitali Klitschko, who may have a bout against Peter this year if he actually does come back to the ring, where he has not been in well over three years.
Chris Arreola moves into the top 10 for the first time. He is now 23-0 (21 KO) and has won his last 11 fights by knockout; he should be taken seriously as a title contender. His highest ranking is with the WBC at #6.
| last mo. | Rank | Fighter | Rating |
Rated Record | Recent Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | WLAD KLITSCHKO | 57.24 |
34-3-0 |
|
| 2 | 2 | RUSLAN CHAGAEV | 46.09 |
10-0-0 |
|
| 5 | 3 | SAMUEL PETER | 38.07 |
16-1-0 |
W6 #6 OLEG MASKAEV |
| 3 | 4 | NICOLAY VALUEV | 35.12 |
20-1-0 |
|
| 4 | 5 | ALEX POVETKIN | 32.88 |
10-0-0 |
|
| 7 | 6 | TONY THOMPSON | 26.25 |
14-0-0 |
|
| 8 | 7 | DAVID TUA | 25.63 |
28-3-1 |
|
| 10 | 8 | VLADIMIR VIRCHIS | 24.61 |
12-1-0 |
|
| 9 | 9 | VITALI KLITSCHKO | 24.33 |
20-2-0 |
inactive 39 months. |
| 11 | 10 | CHRIS ARREOLA | 23.20 |
9-0-0 |
|
| 12 | 11 | CHRIS BYRD | 22.84 |
24-4-1 |
|
| 13 | 12 | JUAN C GOMEZ | 22.01 |
8-1-0 |
|
| 15 | 13 | JOE MESI | 21.47 |
15-0-0 |
|
| 16 | 14 | HASIM RAHMAN | 21.39 |
17-6-2 |
|
| 17 | 15 | TYE FIELDS | 20.59 |
12-1-0 |
W1 #224 RODERICK WILLIS |
| 20 | 16 | JOHN RUIZ | 20.11 |
19-6-1 |
W12 #169 JAMEEL MCCLINE |
| 18 | 17 | OLEG PLATOV | 19.69 |
5-0-0 |
|
| 6 | 18 | OLEG MASKAEV | 19.64 |
20-6-0 |
L6 #5 SAMUEL PETER |
| 19 | 19 | SULTAN IBRAGIMOV | 19.63 |
9-1-1 |
|
| 21 | 20 | SHANNON BRIGGS | 18.69 |
21-5-1 |
|
| 22 | 21 | ALEX DIMITRENKO | 18.68 |
12-0-0 |
|
| 14 | 22 | LENNOX LEWIS | 18.68 |
34-2-1 |
inactive 57 months. |
| 23 | 23 | MATT SKELTON | 18.48 |
11-2-0 |
|
| 24 | 24 | EDDIE CHAMBERS | 18.16 |
11-1-0 |
|
| 25 | 25 | MALIK SCOTT | 17.71 |
12-0-0 |
In the lower part of the top 25, several fighters slide up due to Maskaev's fall and Lennox Lewis' continued slide due to retirement. Almost five years later, people are finally realizing that he's never coming back, and appropriately this is reflected in his ranking as he begins dropping like a stone. So we see the likes of Chris Byrd, Juan Carlos Gomez, Joe Mesi, Hasim Rahman, Oleg Platov, Shannon Briggs, and Alex Dimitrenko gaining a spot or two.
Boxing fan favorites* Tye Fields and John Ruiz jump to #15 and #16 for beating Roderick Willis and Jameel McCline in March. McCline was once in the top ten but has now lost three fights in a row.
In the rest of the Top 100, Alex Leapai, Australian by way of Samoa, leaps 20 spots to #35 after defeating former #61 Michael Kirby. Leapai is 9-1-2 after winning seven in a row, but only his last two have been wins over "registered" fighters.
Nigerian Gbenga Oloukun moves up only one spot to #43 for his win over Raphael Zumbano. Oloukun is 15-0-0.
Carl Davis (11-2-0 overall), who was just outside the Top 100, puts himself just inside at #95 by defeating Jermell Barnes.
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