RING RATINGS ANALYSIS THROUGH FIGHTS NOVEMBER 2, 2024
with a near-shutout over Raven Chapman, who remained at No. 5, but not for long. Spain’s Jennifer Miranda broke in and took Chapman’s spot after a victory over Teresa Almengor in the last weekend of action for this period. JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT: Segolene Lefebvre cemented her position at No. 2 with a win over Juliana Basualdo that failed to earn her enough praise to move past Yamileth Mercado. The big winner of this period was Mikiah Kreps, who defeated one of women’s boxing’s toughest road warriors in Venezuela’s Mayerlin Rivas to break in at No. 5. BANTAMWEIGHT: Division champion Dina Thorslund defended her belts with a near- shutout decision win over Terumi Nuki, but the real action took place at the bottom of the list. Shurretta Metcalf was originally dropped from the ratings when her No. 5 position was grabbed by Florencia Juarez after defeating Mariana Ramirez. Metcalf faced No. 4-rated Miyo Yoshida a week later and managed to get the told-you-so upset (“managed” being key, as some felt the decision was wrong). Metcalf returned to the top 5 in Yoshida’s position, relegating the Japanese fighter to No. 5 and dropping Juarez back out of the picture, at least for now. FLYWEIGHT: An elite division deserves an elite champ, and it got one. Gabriela Alaniz was able to sneak in a few crushing blows and win a round or two, but once Gabriela “Sweet Poison” Fundora found her range, she was as deadly as we expected her to be. She’s the new Ring champ, with Alaniz dropping to No. 1. STRAWWEIGHT: All rise to salute the great Seniesa Estrada as she exits the game undefeated with a 26-0 resume and a Ring inaugural belt in her hands. With the championship now vacant, the search is on for the next big little woman in the division, and Argentina’s Sol Cudos is one of those. With Jessica Basulto out of the picture due to inactivity, Cudos rode her demolishing fifth-round stoppage over Johana Zuñiga to a debut as our new No. 5 in the division.
divisions are alarmingly shallow. With Marshall being our super middleweight champ and not having any
Delfine Persoon, but at least the inactive Baumgardner renewed her credentials as one of the
game’s great champions with a solid performance. The still- formidable Persoon remains at No. 1.
meaningful fights at 160, she was removed and the entire lineup was rearranged to allow
FEATHERWEIGHT: We had to navigate a bit of a controversy here. Germany’s Nina Meinke was
Canada’s Melinda Watpool to become our new No. 1.
bleeding profusely from a cut on her forehead that could or should have caused the bout to be stopped, but it was allowed to continue while Meinke held Daniela Bermudez at every opportunity she had. Scorecards were 114-114 on one side, and then 118-110 and 119-109 for Meinke, which immediately raised questions about home cooking. Still, Meinke got enough support to move into the No. 2 position. Skye Nicolson reaffirmed her No. 1 position
Mapule Ngubane’s defeat at the hands of Australia’s Desley Robinson brought the winner to the No. 2 position as well. JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT: Notorious weight-surfer Terri Harper finally settled for the 135-pound division, a more suitable place for her terrific reach and overall power. With “Belter” gone from the top of our 154-pound ratings, it was time for Canada’s Mary Spencer to return to our No. 5 position as everyone moved one notch up the ladder. WELTERWEIGHT: With Taylor-Serrano II yet to happen at publication time, the megafight of the year so far pitted two future Hall of Famers in a bad-blood grudge match that delivered everything it promised. It was a classic duel between power and speed, and Mikaela Mayer’s footwork and hand speed finally won the day against Sandy Ryan. It may have been a close affair that warrants a rematch, but for the time being, Mayer swapped places with Ryan in the 2 and 3 positions, with Natasha Jonas remaining at No. 1 in what is the tightest and most talent- laden 1-2-3 in women’s boxing right now. LIGHTWEIGHT: Another great war for pride and country resulted in a new addition to this division when Terri Harper dropped back below 135 pounds to defeat Rhiannon Dixon in a barnburner. Unrated before the bout, Harper came in at No. 3, with Dixon falling to No. 4 and Germany’s Beke Bas dropping out to make room for the new entrant. JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT: The cuts-induced no-contest was a terrible ending for what was shaping up as a demolition win for Ring champion Alycia Baumgardner against
POUND FOR POUND LIST 1 CLARESSA SHIELDS U.S. • 15-0-0 (3 KOs) 2 KATIE TAYLOR Ireland • 23-1-0 (6 KOs) 3 CHANTELLE CAMERON U.K. • 20-1-0 (8 KOs) 4 AMANDA SERRANO 5 DINA THORSLUND 6 GABRIELA FUNDORA U.S. • 15-0-0 (7 KOs) 7 YOKASTA VALLE 8 ALYCIA BAUMGARDNER U.S. • 15-1-0 (7 KOs) 9 NATASHA JONAS U.K. • 15-2-1 (9 KOs) 10 MIKAELA MAYER U.S. • 20-2-0 (5 KOs)
Puerto Rico • 47-2-1 (31 KOs)
Denmark • 23-0-0 (9 KOs)
Costa Rica • 32-3-0 (10 KOs)
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