Analyzing The Ring’s New 154-lb Rankings: Surprises, Oddities, And A Flawed Top Pick

The Ring’s new updated top 10, 154-lb rankings are out with a few surprises and oddities. Terence Crawford is #1 in their rankings, which doesn’t make any sense. He’s moving up to 168 to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship. That right there should be an automatic loss.

Crawford’s #1: Why It Fails

WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. is now #2 on the list. That pretty much makes him #1 if you remove Crawford from the list entirely due to him abandoning the 154-lb division to chase a payday.

When a fighter moves up to a higher division for financial reasons, they should be stripped of their title or rankings. In Crawford’s case, he hasn’t committed to returning to the 154-lb division. That alone is reason enough to banish him from the Ring’s top 10.

Placing Xander Zayas ahead of Yoenis Tellez is a weird call, considering he’s nowhere near as talented as the Cuban fighter. Tellez would be a nightmare for Zayas. All the tricks that Xander used to defeat Jorge Garcia, holding excessively and moving, wouldn’t be effective against Tellez.

The Ring’s Updated 154-lb rankings

1. Terence Crawford
2. Vergil Ortiz Jr.
3. Sebastian Fundora
4. Israil Madrimov
5. Bakhram Murtazaliev
6. Serhii Bohachuk
7. Erickson Lubin
8. Xander Zayas
9. Jesus Ramos
10. Yoenis Tellez

Why Zayas Doesn’t Belong

So, Crawford needs to be off the last. That would be a good start. Demote Zayas off the list entirely, because he’s not beating any of the other fighters. There are no words to describe how awful Xander looked in his fight last Saturday against Jorge Garcia.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. wouldn’t beat Sebastian Fundora, Bakhram Murtaliev, or a healthy Israil Madrimov. He needs to be pushed down around the mid-point on the list.

Redoing The Ring’s List

1. Sebastian Fundora
2. Bakrham Murtazaliev
3. Israil Madrimov
4. Serhii Bohachuk
5. Vergil Ortiz Jr.
6. Yoenis Tellez
7. Erickson Lubin
8. Jesus Ramos
9. Charles Conwell
10. Josh Kelly