Beating previously undefeated #27 Chazz Witherspoon, Chris Arreola moves up 2 spots from #9 to #7. Now 24-0, Arreola moves past David Tua, who was rumored to be the next fight for the winner. Witherspoon tumbles all the way to #69 with his first loss.
The Top 10 as of July 1st:
| 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 |
|
| 3 | 3 | SAMUEL PETER | 38.07 |
16-1-0 |
|
| 4 | 4 | NICOLAY VALUEV | 35.12 |
20-1-0 |
|
| 5 | 5 | ALEX POVETKIN | 32.88 |
10-0-0 |
|
| 6 | 6 | TONY THOMPSON | 26.25 |
14-0-0 |
|
| 9 | 7 | CHRIS ARREOLA | 26.06 |
10-0-0 |
DQ 3 #27 CHAZZ WITHERSPOON |
| 7 | 8 | DAVID TUA | 25.63 |
28-3-1 |
|
| 8 | 9 | VLADIMIR VIRCHIS | 24.61 |
12-1-0 |
|
| 10 | 10 | VITALI KLITSCHKO | 22.53 |
20-2-0 |
inactive 42 months. |
No change in the top six this month, as none of the biggest names fought, and two of them—#2 Ruslan Chagaev and #4 Nicolay Valuev—won't be fighting in early July as planned, due to Chagaev's torn achilles tendon. This is Chagaev's third training injury in a year—2 more than the number of fights he's actually participated in. Still on for July 12th is #1 Wladimir Klitschko vs. #6 Tony Thompson.
Eddie Chambers inched up five spots to #19 after defeating Raphael Butler, but Monte Barrett made the big move in the Top 100 this week. His 1st round KO of previous #14 Tye Fields brought him from #129 all the way into the top 25, at #25. Fields fell to #37 after suffering just his 2nd loss, but the 2nd 1st-round-KO of his career. Given Fields' usual level of opponent, it will take him several years to reach #14 again, should he consider his career salvageable.
#79 Friday Ahunanya took on #80 Alonzo Butler, and Ahunanya emerged victorious, jumping into the top 50 at #47. Meanwhile in Australia, Kiwi journeyman Colin Wilson upset Samoan Alex Leapai, knocking him from #35 to #85 while Wilson popped in at #81 himself. And newcomer Evans Quinn debuted at #68 after taking out Andrew Greeley.
May fights recap
Alex Dimitrenko jumped from #21 to #16 beating Derrick Rossy; Taras Bidenko moved from #26 to #21 with a win over #79 Michael Sprott; and Danny Williams moved up 4 spots to #21 stopping Konstantin Airich in 7 rounds. Going the other direction was Chris Byrd, falling from #11 to #30 after losing his first fight after switching to the light heavyweight class. Debuts in the top 100: Francesco Pianeta at #40, after beating former #40 Michael Marrone, who falls just outside the top 100; Lovey Page at #70 (def. Arron Lyons); and #96 and #97, Troy Ross and Darrel Madison, who beat Kendrick Releford and Zuri Lawrence respectively.
Lennox Lewis career
After almost 2 decades, Lennox Lewis finally falls out of the Top 100 this month after 5 years of inactivity and being retired for more than 4 of those.
Lewis first entered the top 100 in July of 1989 at #70 after beating Al Malcom in his pro debut. He made the top 50 by the following February, the top 25 by November, 1990, and the top 10 in April of 1991 after beating 35-0 Gary Mason. He entered the top 5 in July of 1992, but didn't get his shot at Bowe or Holyfield before losing to Oliver McCall in September of 1994. He remained in the top ten, though, and quickly fought his way back into the top 5. Still, in early 1997 he was still stuck behind Bowe and Holyfield, watching as Holyfield beat Tyson and Bowe retired without fighting him as a pro. Finally in March of 1999, with Holyfield at #1 and Lewis at #2, he got his chance at the champ, but the fight ended in a controversial draw. It wasn't until the rematch in November, 1999, that Lennox Lewis took over the SportsRatings Heavyweight belt.
He held it, of course, until his upset loss to Hasim Rahman in April of 2001; regained it by beating Rahman in November; then held it through his win over Mike Tyson, the wild fight with Vitali Klitschko, even through his retirement in 2004, there was no one close to him in the rankings. At first, Chris Byrd was #2, but never came close to passing Lewis, even as Lewis' score began to decline from inactivity. In April of 2006, Wlad Klitshcko replaced Chris Byrd at #2, and in November of 2006, 2 1/2 years after Lewis' retirement, Klitschko moved past Lewis at #1 after beating Calvin Brock. Rumors of his un-retirement continued to pop up, but no fights materialized, and Lewis slowly slid down the rankings until finally falling out this month.
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