Rankings: Teofimo fails to impress, Buatsi and Yarde size each other up

The next update will come on Monday, March 4.

Ranked fights before the next update:

Light Heavyweight: (8) Ali Izmailov vs Britton Norwood, Feb. 20
Lightweight: (6) Andy Cruz vs Brayan Zamarripa, Feb. 24
Super Featherweight: (2) O’Shaquie Foster vs Abraham Nova, Feb. 16
Featherweight: (1) Luis Alberto Lopez vs Reiya Abe, Mar. 2
Featherweight: (10) Otabek Kholmatov vs Raymond Ford, Mar. 2
Bantamweight: (1) Alexandro Santiago vs Junto Nakatani, Feb. 24
Super Flyweight: (5) Kosei Tanaka vs Christian Bacasegua, Feb. 24
Flyweight: (8) David Jimenez vs Pablo Macario, Feb. 23
Junior Flyweight: (4) Adrian Curiel vs (8) Sivenathi Nontshinga, Feb. 16
Junior Flyweight: (2) Jonathan Gonzalez vs Rene Santiago, Mar. 2
Women’s P4P: (4) Amanda Serrano vs Nina Meinke, Mar. 2

Upcoming Fights: (3) Zhilei Zhang vs (5) Joseph Parker, Mar. 8 … (4) Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou, Mar. 8 … (1) Oleksandry Usyk vs (2) Tyson Fury, May 18

Upcoming Fights: (1) Jai Opetaia vs Mairis Briedis, May 18 … (2) Chris Billam-Smith vs (3) Richard Riakporhe, TBA

Notes: Joshua Buatsi and Anthony Yarde switch spots, as Buatsi scored a good win over Dan Azeez, while Yarde just did a stay-busy. I’m not confident that Buatsi beats Yarde or the other way around, and I thought Yarde looked technically improved after tinkering with his training team. He’s always had the physical gifts, and though 32 is a late age to be changing things up, he’s younger as a fighter than his age in some ways.

The good news is that with Beterbiev vs Bivol locked in, Buatsi and Yarde sound sincerely interested in facing one another next. It’s the biggest and best possible fight for either man next, and it’s a real risk on both sides. If they really do it, you have to admire both men for bucking the general trend and not just waiting, protecting their spot.

Upcoming Fights: (8) Ali Izmailov vs Britton Norwood, Feb. 20

Upcoming Fights: (10) Kevin Lele Sadjo vs Giovanni De Carolis, Mar. 9 … (8) Diego Pacheco vs Shawn McCalman, Apr. 6

Notes: Ammo Williams and Hamzah Sheeraz both won, Sheeraz more impressively against a more impressive opponent, which also knocks Liam Williams out of his No. 10 slot. That spot now falls to Shane Mosley Jr. It is quite a division! Erislandy Lara or Michael Zerafa will be here on April 1, but until then, here we are.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Upcoming Fights: (2) Tim Tszyu vs Keith Thurman, Mar. 30 … (4) Sebastian Fundora vs Serhii Bohachuk, Mar. 30

Notes: We give fighters 15 months to either fight or have something scheduled before they’re declared inactive. Eimantas Stanionis has been given an exception because his 2023 got lost largely due to circumstances beyond his control (Vergil Ortiz Jr’s health issues). But on April 16, it’ll be two years since he last fought. And I’m giving him until then to at least get something scheduled. I think that’s pretty lenient and generous, and I also hope he gets something scheduled, because he’s a good fighter I like watching.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

Notes: That makes four of five fights where Teofimo Lopez just has not looked that great. I’ll get more into what I think of Teofimo right now on this week’s podcast (so tune in!), but flat out, I did not see a guy last Thursday who would beat Subriel Matias. So Matias is up a spot, and Teofimo is down a spot. Granted, Matias is a totally different fight from Ortiz or Sandor Martin, so maybe you see it differently still. I think it’s a debate, this is the side I’m on.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Devin Haney vs (7) Ryan Garcia, Apr. 20

Notes: Nobody’s buying this Shakur Stevenson retirement crap.

Upcoming Fights: (6) Andy Cruz vs Brayan Zamarripa, Feb. 24 … (4) William Zepeda vs (7) Maxi Hughes, Mar. 16 … (10) Raymond Muratalla vs Agustin Quintana, Mar. 29 … (1) Vasiliy Lomachenko vs (9) George Kambosos Jr, May 11