Monday, April 25, 2011

April Rankings Movement (Ortiz, Narvaez, Berto, Lopez)

April has been an outstanding month for boxing.  The month featured several fight-of-the-year candidates as well as some significant upsets.  As a result, numerous changes have been made to the Saturday Night Boxing rankings.  For the first time since the rankings began, a fighter was removed from the "SNB 10 Boxers on the Rise" list, even though the boxer did not suffer a defeat.  Ultimately, when a fighter's stock stabilizes, he is no longer effectively "on the rise."  Read below for all of April's rankings movement. 

Elevated:  Omar Narvaez joins the "Fighters on the Cusp" list after scoring a resounding victory over previously unbeaten Cesar Seda.  Narvaez, from Argentina, has never been defeated in his 36-fight career and has made 19 title defenses in the flyweight and super flyweight divisions.

Elevated:  Hernan Marquez debuts on the SNB rankings list after his savage TKO victory over Luis Concepcion.  Marquez, now a flyweight titleholder, joins the "SNB 10 Boxers on the Rise" list.

Elevated:  Victor Ortiz replaces Andre Berto on the "SNB 10 Boxers on the Rise" list.  Ortiz's impressive victory over Berto makes him one of the hottest names in boxing. 

Demoted:  Juan Manuel Lopez leaves the "Fighters on the Cusp" list after his TKO loss to Orlando Salido.  Before, the Salido fight, he was one, big victory away from becoming an elite fighter; now he must regroup.

Demoted:  Marcos Maidana exits the "SNB 10 Boxers on the Rise" list.  It's fairly clear after the Erik Morales fight that Maidana, while a tremendous action fighter, has significant technical flaws which prevent him from reaching the top of the sport.  He may still win an outright title at junior welterweight but the performance against Morales has curtailed his career's upward trajectory.

Demoted:  Andre Berto also leaves the "SNB 10 Boxers on the Rise" list.  Although he put forth a spirited showing against Ortiz, Berto now finds himself a few additional steps away from elite status.  The loss shouldn't derail his career too much, but it was a decisive defeat. 



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