First Boxing ratings of 2009: Valuev holds steady, Haye & others leap

A lot happened in heavyweight boxing in the last few months, and the updated top 100—through fights of December 31—refects all the action (or lack thereof, in some cases):

Nov. rank	Jan. Rank	Fighter	Rating	Rated Record	Recent Results (Nov-Dec)
1	1	WLAD KLITSCHKO	59.84	36-3-0	W7 #11 HASIM RAHMAN
2	2	RUSLAN CHAGAEV	44.11	10-0-0
3	3	NICOLAY VALUEV	37.26	22-1-0	W12 #88 EVANDER HOLYFIELD
4	4	VITALI KLITSCHKO	32.32	21-2-0
5	5	ALEX POVETKIN	31.92	11-0-0
8	6	CHRIS ARREOLA	26.22	11-0-0	W3 #64 TRAVIS WALKER
6	7	JUAN C GOMEZ	26.21	9-1-0
7	8	SAMUEL PETER	26.02	16-2-0
9	9	DAVID TUA	23.49	28-3-1	inactive 16 months.
16	10	ALEX DIMITRENKO	20.56	14-0-0	W3 #46 LUAN KRASNIQI

Of course Wlad Klitchko remains #1 after his win over Hasim Rahman, which perhaps thankfully drops the latter out of the top 25. Chris Arreola came off-the-canvas to KO Travis Walker in three in moves back up to #6 edging past Juan Gomez, who has an upcoming shot at #4 Vitali Klitchko. Though David Tua hasn't lost in ages, he's probably soon to slump out of the top 10 while undefeated Alexander Dimitrenko, ranked in the top 5 by all the alphabet groups, is threatening to break into the single digits soon.

This brings us to #3 Nicolay Valuev. Yes, he gets credit for beating Evander Holyfield. No, he didn't receive many points as Holyfield was only #88 prior to the win, not close to enough to dislodge Ruslan Chagaev at #2. It's rather a shame the fight wasn't a draw—as I called it, giving six rounds to neither fighter as neither deserved it—because then Valuev would have slipped to #4, and he should be docked for his performance. But that would have rewarded Holyfield as well with a huge jump to #12. And if Evander had been declared the winner? He would be at #5 right now, with Valuev at #9. So maybe I shouldn't complain.

As for Chagaev, he returns soon against Carl David Drummond, who is 26-0 but has only three significant wins, the last one 13 months ago. He's #94 in this month's rankings. Should he beat Chagaev, he would likely leap to #3 in the world, knocking the Ukrainian champ down to sixth. A Chagaev win would put him marginally closer to Wlad Klitchko, not even making up for the gain Klitschko got from beating Rahman.

Further down the chart we see several fighters make significant jumps:

121	25	ALBERT SOSNOWSKI	15.90	11-2-0	W8 #17 DANNY WILLIAMS
76	26	DAVID HAYE	15.87	2-0-0	W5 #25 MONTE BARRETT
61	27	RAY AUSTIN	15.79	17-3-4	W1 #31 ANDREW GOLOTA

David Haye's second heavyweight fight puts him near the top 25. Most rankings have him higher, giving him credit for his cruiserweight career, but in the heavyweight world he gets credit only for beating heavyweights. Meanwhile Ray Austin has a decent jump for beating Andrew Golota, or rather being there while Golota beats himself yet again. But Al Sosnowski outdoes both of them, jumping into the top 100 at #25 by getting a stoppage vs. Danny Williams.

More highlights:

83	31	CHAZZ WITHERSPOON	14.89	9-1-0	W8 #32 ADAM RICHARDS
36	32	MICHAEL GRANT	14.77	25-3-0	W12 #212 PAUL MARINACCIO
33	33	ODLANIER SOLIS	14.69	5-0-0
11	34	HASIM RAHMAN	14.68	17-7-2	L7 #1 WLAD KLITSCHKO
57	35	MARTIN ROGAN	14.64	3-0-0	W10 #67 AUDLEY HARRISON

Chazz Witherspoon is on his way back up after his summertime loss to Arreola, handing Adam Richards his first loss since his third fight seven years ago. But the surprise boxing story of 2008 has to be Martin Rogan, who won the "Prizefighter" tournament last year which gained him a bout with Audley Harrison. Many expected Rogan to fold, having received the bout in an almost Rocky-like lark, but he gutted out a slim win on points against the former gold medalist. Now he's actually signed to fight Matt Skelton for the British Commonwealth Title, a situation that I almost jokingly stated he could find himself in back when he won the Prizefighter tournament.