13 April 2021

Light Heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. barely repels the challenge of Maxim Vlasov, a former contender bumped out last October. Smith, who took a majority decision, stunned him several times but was outboxed in several rounds. One of the chairs argued that Vlasov was robbed and the Robbery Clause (see Charter tab) should be applied to rectify it, but that was not supported. Members did however, believe that it was a very close fight and several had Vlasov winning, though wouldn’t go so far as to say the decision against him was “egregious” (which is the standard). Most wanted to see him ranked at #3, right behind Smith, which is where he lands. No contender is bumped out as a result of Vlasov’s return to the rankings because Sergey Kovalev exits as per the charter’s failed drug test/PED clause.

Jaron “Boots” Ennis does what no one has done before, and that is knock out Sergey Lipinets. Lipinets, #9, drops out of the rankings. Ennis moves from #10 to #7, though many members (including this one) argued that he should advance over Danny Garcia to #5. The chairs proposed Conor Benn enter in with Lipinets’ exit but were outvoted by too many members who wanted Jamal James in instead. James is now ranked #10. Benn is on the brink.

Last week, Jr. Bantamweight Donnie Nietes, who hadn’t fought since New Year’s Eve in 2018, was proposed to return at #3, but that was rejected in favor #4. This week, Jerwin Ancajas bumps him down to #5. Ancajas advances over him with an entertaining win over Jonathan Javier Rodriguez.

We hope you are impressed with our new website. Please let us know in the Feedback tab. Special thanks to one of our founding members and Tech Stewart Howe, who devotes his valuable time and considerable skill to this reform-minded initiative free of charge. Back in the summer of 2012, Howe’s love for boxing moved him to join the initiative out of the gate. Without him, we wouldn’t have made it past the gate. We’d still be trying to climb that gate.

A resounding thank you to Stewart and to all of our fans and followers who see what he sees –boxing’s need for identifiable and singular divisional champions and rankings that aren’t compromised by competing interests.