Women’s Ratings Update: A look back at three weeks of major changes
Three very active weeks have passed in the women’s boxing front, and a few relevant changes were made across all divisions.
In the junior middleweight division, Slovenia’s Ema Kozin defeated Hannah Rankin and in the process broke into the ratings at No. 4, driving Rankin out. But since Kozin has been fighting at 154 for her last three fights now, she herself has to be driven out of the middleweight ratings, where she occupied the No. 2 position even after losing to Claressa Shields more than a year ago. South Africa’s Mapule Ngubane was tabbed to enter at No. 5 as the rest of the fighters moved up to fill Kozin’s void.
In the junior welterweight division, a major upset occurred when former two-division titlist Erica Farias was stopped by Karla Zamora in devastating fashion, prompting the panel to consider Farias to be dropped from the divisional top 5.
“I’m shocked at Farias and her performance,” said Cynthia Conte, co-host of Best Women’s Boxing Show on BlueWirePods. “I don’t what happened to that killer instinct and that champion’s hunger she had in the ring when she defeated Sandy Ryan.”
Farias’ departure left a vacancy in that division, and since Mikaela Mayer has been inactive at 130 for over a year and has a fight scheduled at welterweight, a decision was made to rate her at 140 for the time being, since her last fight against Silvia Bortot took place at this weight. She may be rated at 147 after her bout against Ring champion Natasha Jonas if she shows her intent to remain at that weight, but Mayer cannot be rated at a weight in which she has never fought.
As for the junior lightweight division, the departure of Mayer, rated No. 1 at that weight, left a void that was promptly filled by one of the best fighters in the history of that division, who also happened to score a win during those days. Belgium’s Delfine Persoon defeated Agustina Rojas, and with that win she was promoted to No. 1 to fill the void left by Mayer.
The new position at No. 5 was occupied by Canada’s Leila Beaudoin.
In the 122-pound division, former featherweight titlist Erika Cruz-Hernandez had to work hard to wrestle a title away from Venezuela’s Mayerlin Rivas. Mexico’s Cruz-Hernandez was then promoted to No. 4 in the division but at the same time she pushed out of the 126 weight class. Australia’s Skye Nicholson was brought in at No. 5 there to fill that vacancy.
In the 115-pound weight class, the eternal Irma Garcia claimed a belt and regained lost ground, re-entering the ratings at No. 5 at the expense of Japan’s Mizuki Hiruta.
Diego M. Morilla writes for The Ring since 2013. He has also written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
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