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World Rankings as of March 17, 2001 by Phrank Da Slugger
There are 3 criteria I use to rate fighters: Quality of Opposition, Performance and Activity. I am ranking the best from 1 to 10; this is to see who deserves a title shot. I rate all 18 divisions, a time-consuming activity to say the least. Therefore, commentary only appears every 3rd month.

Some mistakingly think the Champion in each division is the guy who I think is the best. This is not the case. There are 2 criteria by which I determine Champions: the 1st is lineage (Dariusz Michalczewski beat Virgil Hill who beat Henry Maske); and the 2nd is defeating another fighter also ranked in the top 3 in the division. There is the exception: Bernard Hopkins is one of those rare titlists who has reigned a long time and defeated many contenders. He is the dominant fighter in his weight class and has won, mostly via KO, against a number of different contenders. You could say I'm rewarding him for long and meritorious service.

[Editor's note: I added the bracket indications as to CBZ Lineal champions.
So, don't blame Phrank.-- Mike DeLisa
]


Heavyweights (over 195 lbs)
Champion: Lennox Lewis (WBC, IBF, IBO)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Wladimir Klitschko (WBO)
2. Kirk Johnson
3. Mike Tyson
4. David Tua
5. John Ruiz (WBA)
6. Mount Whitaker
7. Evander Holyfield
8. Chris Byrd
9. Vitali Klitschko
10. Hasim Rahman

active: Holyfield, Ruiz, Whitaker 
(out: Maskaev-lost)

Crusierweights (195 lbs)
Champion: Virgil Hill (WBA)
1. Vassili Jirov (IBF)
2. Juan Carlos Gomez (WBC)
3. Johnny Nelson (WBO)
4. Carl Thompson
5. Fabrice Tiozzo
6. Louis Azille
7. James Toney
8. Wayne Braithwaite
9. Arthur Williams
10. Jason Robinson

active: Williams

Lt. Heavyweights (175 lbs)
Champion: Dariusz Michalczewski (WBO)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Roy Jones (WBC, WBA, IBF, NBA, IBO)
2. Clinton Woods
3. Reggie Johnson
4. Glenn Kelly
5. Eric Harding
6. Greg Wright
7. Antonio Tarver
8. Derrick Harmon
9. Julio Gonzalez
10. Montell Griffin (IBC)

ctive: Jones, Harmon, Kelly, Tarver, Griffin (out: Johnson-displaced)
(Inactive list: Wright, Harding)


Super Middleweights (168 lbs)
Champion: TITLE VACANT
1. Joe Calzaghe (WBO)
2. Sven Ottke (IBF)
3. Mads Larsen (WBF)
4. Bruno Girard (WBA)[CBZ Lineal]
5. Thomas Tate
6. Danilo Haussler
7. Andrei Shkalikov
8. Charles Brewer
9. Aaron Davis
10. Byron Mitchell (WBA)

ctive: Larsen, Tate, Mitchell (out: Hilton-displaced)
(Inactive list: Girard)


Middleweights (160 lbs)
Champion: Bernard Hopkins (IBF, IBC)
1. William Joppy (WBA)
2. Armand Krajnc (WBO)
3. Keith Holmes (WBC)
4. Carl Daniels
5. Tito Mendoza
6. Raymond Joval (IBO)
7. Howard Eastman
8. Christian Sanavia
9. Antwun Echols
10. Robert Allen

ctive: Sanavia (out: Perugino-inactive, Ennebati-inactive)
(Inactive list: Allen)


***PLEASE NOTE: It freakin' KILLS me not to have 
Trinidad as the 154-lb Champion. But if you believe 
in linear Championships, then you must agree with 
me that Castillejo beat Mullings who beat Norris. 
Obviously, Trinidad would beat Castillejo (I¹d 
give it no more than 2 rounds), and I think any
of the top 8 would as well, but here we are. This 
reminds me of the situation for a couple years at 
Feather when Hamed was far and away the best
fighter there, but was not the true Champion. 
Emails about how stupid I am to have to have Trinidad 
rated "second" will be ignored.

Jr. Middleweights (154 lbs)
Champion: Javier Castillejo (WBC)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Felix Trinidad (WBA & IBF)
2. Fernando Vargas
3. Harry Simon (WBO)
4. Winky Wright (IBA)
5. Bronco McKart
6. Alex Bunema
7. Rhoshii Wells
8. Luis Ramon Campas
9. Shibata Flores
10. Kirino Garcia

ctive: Bunema, Garcia, Campas (at 180!) (out: Marshall-lost,
Linton-displaced)


Welterweights (147 lbs)
Champion: Shane Mosley (WBC, IBA)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Oscar de la Hoya
2. Oba Carr
3. Andrew Lewis (WBA)
4. Vernon Forrest
5. Michele Piccirillo (WBU)
6. Thomas Damgaard (IBC)
7. Corey Spinks
8. Shannon Taylor
9. Kofi Jantuah
10. Daniel Santos-Pena (WBO)

ctive: Mosley, Taylor, Lewis, Spinks, Piccirillo, Damgaard (out:
Margarito-displaced)
(Inactive list: Forrest, Jantuah)


Jr. Welterweights (140 lbs)
Champion: Kostya Tszyu (WBC)
1. Zab Judah (IBF)
2. Ener Julio (WBO)
3. Antonio Diaz (IBA)
4. Hector Camacho, Jr.
5. Randall Bailey
6. John-John Molina
7. Sharmba Mitchell
8. Micky Ward
9. Diobelys Hurtado
10. Ray Oliveira

Active: Diaz
(Inactive list: Hurtado)

Lightweights (135 lbs)
Champion: Jose Luis Castillo(WBC)
1. Steve Johnston
2. Paul Spadafora (IBF)
3. Julien Lorcy
4. Arnulfo Castillo
5. Takanori Hatakeyama (WBA)
6. Cesar Bazan
7. Colin Dunne
8. Artur Grigorijan (WBO)
9. Fred Neal
10. Rick Yoshimura

Active: Hatakeyama, Yoshimura, Grigorijan, Lorcy 
(out: Alvarez-displaced)
(Inactive list: Johnston, Dunne)

Jr. Lightweights (130 lbs)
Champion: Floyd Mayweather (WBC)[CBZ Lineal]
1.  Acelino Freitas (WBO)
2.Joel Casamayor (WBA)
3. Jesus Chavez
4. Steve Forbes (IBF)
5. Jong Kwon Baek
6. John Brown
7. Tontcho Tontchev
8. Robert Garcia
9. Lakva Sim
10. Justin Juuko

Active: Chavez, Sim 
(out: Diego Corrales-imprisoned, and good riddance)

Featherweights (126 lbs)
Champion: Naseem Hamed (WBO)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Derrick Gainer (WBA)
2. Erik Morales
3. Guty Espadas
4. Mbulelo Botile (IBF)
5. Augie Sanchez
6. Johnny Tapia(IBA)
7. Juan Manuel Marquez
8. Cassius Baloyi (WBU)
9. Victor Polo
10. Fred Norwood

Active: Tapia, Gainer, Polo, Morales, Espadas, Sanchez
(Inactive list: Norwood)

Jr. Featherweights (122 lbs)
Champion: TITLE VACANT
1. Marco Antonio Barrera (WBO)
2. Manny Pacquiao
3. Bones Adams (WBA, IBA)
4. Lehlo Ledwaba (IBF)
5. Danny Romero
6. Carlos Contreras (WBU)
7. Willie Jorrin (WBC)
8. Oscar Larios
9. Michael Brodie
10. Yorber Ortega

Active: Contreras, Ledwaba, Pacquiao, Larios 
(out: Vazquez-displaced)


Bantamweights (118 lbs)
Champion: TITLE VACANT
1. Paul Ayala (WBA)
2. Veeraphol Sahaprom (WBC)
3. Adan Vargas
4. Johnny Bredahl (IBC)
5. Jorge Lacierva (IBA)
6. Jorge Julio
7. Tim Austin (IBF)
8. Mauricio Martinez (WBO)
9. Ricardo Barajas
10. Nicky Booth

Active: Sahaprom, Bredahl, Austin, Barajas, Booth 
(out: Castiglione-lost,
Garcia-displaced)


Jr. Bantamweights (115 lbs)
Champion: Masamori Tokuyama (WBC)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Samson Lukchaopormasak (WBF)
2. In-Joo Cho
3. Gerry Penalosa
4. Felix Machado (IBF)
5. Adonis Rivas (WBO)
6. Mauricio Pastrana (IBA)
7. Celes Kobayashi (WBA)
8. Hideki Todaka
9. Jose Lopez
10. Diego Morales

Active: Morales, Kobayashi 
(out: Gamez-lost & retired, Castillo-displaced)
(Inactive list: Rivas)


Flyweights (112 lbs)
Champion: Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (WBC)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Alejandro Montiel
2. Eric Morel (WBA)
3. Irene Pacheco (IBF)
4. Medgoen Lukchaopormasak
5. Malcolm Tuñacao 
6. Fernando Montiel (WBO)
7. Alexandre Mahmutov
8. David Guerault
9. Peter Culshaw (WBU)
10. Damaen Kelly (IBO)

Active: Wonjongkam, Tuñacao (out: Garcia-displaced)
(Inactive list: Lukchaopormasak)

Jr. Flyweights (108 lbs)
Champion: Yosam Choi (WBC)[CBZ Lineal]
1. Ricardo Lopez (IBF)
2. Hawk Makepula (WBU)
3. Rosendo Alvarez (WBA)
4. Pichit Chor Siriwat
5. Bebis Mendoza
6. Jorge Arce
7. Jake Matlala (WBU)
8. Jesus Martinez
9. Saman Sorjaturong
10. Fahlun Sakreein

Active: Matlala, Alvarez, Mendoza

Strawweights (105 lbs)
Champion: TITLE VACANT
1. Jose Aguirre (WBC)
2. Keitaro Hoshino (WBA)
3. Joma Gamboa
4. Hiroshi Nakajima
5. Nohel Arambulet
6. Zolani Petelo (IBF)
7. Wandee Chor Chareon
8. Yutaka Niida
9. Wolf Tokimitsu
10. Hiroshi Matsumoto

(Inactive list: Arambulet, Matsumoto)

Divisions
Heavyweights
Cruiserweights
Light Heavies
Super Middles
Middleweights
Jr. Middles
Welterweights
Jr. Welterweights
Lightweights
Jr. Lightweights
Featherweights
Jr. Featherweights
Bantamweights
Jr. Bantams
Flyweights
Jr. Flyweights
Strawweights
Ratings Archive

Lennox Lewis

Wladimir Klitschko

Rahman

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