WBC rankings: examining and explaining the changes for September 2024

Throughout the month, we keep track of the rankings put forth by the IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO. Those rankings can be found here.

Starting this month, we’ll more closely examine:

• Who rose in the rankings
• Who dropped
• Who’s new
• Who’s out

Let’s begin with the WBC’s latest rankings, which were released on September 19, 2024:

HEAVYWEIGHT

Aslanbek Makhmudov

Last month: #9

This month: off

Reason: Makhmudov lost to Guido Vianello in August.

Repercussions: Everyone formerly below Makhmudov moved up one slot, including Luis Ortiz (now #10), Otto Wallin (#11), Deontay Wilder (#12), Andy Ruiz (#13) and Jared Anderson (#14).

Guido Vianello

Last month: #34

This month: #15

Reason: Defeated Makhmudov in August

CRUISERWEIGHT

Mairis Briedis

Last month: #4

This month: off

Reason: Briedis has retired

Repercussions: Three fighters formerly below Briedis moved up one slot, including Brandon Glanton (now #4), Arsen Goulamirian (#5) and Richard Riakporhe (#6).

Cheavon Clarke

Last month: #14

This month: #7

Reason: Defeated Efetobor Apochi in August.

Repercussions: With Clarke departing the #14 slot, that moved Joe Smith up from #15 to #14 and brought in Mike Perez at #15.

Yves Ngabu

Last month: #10

This month: #8

Possible reason: No clue. Ngabu last fought in June.

Repercussions: Two fighters were pushed down a lot: Ilunga Makabu (now #9) and Mchunu (now #10).

Jack Massey

Last month: #13

This month: off

Reason: Massey will be fighting for the IBF title in October against Jai Opetaia. Sanctioning bodies don’t tend to keep fighters ranked when they’re competing for belts from other organizations.

Mateusz Masternak

Last month: #18

This month: #13

Possible reason: No clue why Masternak leapfrogged the other cruiserweights ahead of him to take this spot. He last fought in April.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Albert Ramirez

Last month: #4

This month: #2

Reason: Defeated Adam Deines in August

Repercussions: Two fighters were pushed down a slot: Callum Smith (now #3) and Anthony Yarde (#4).

Imam Khataev

Last month: #14

This month: #12

Reason: Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna in early September.

Repercussions: Strangely, Jesse Hart went from #12 to #14 while Yunior Menendez remained at #13.

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT

Diego Pacheco

Last month: #4

This month: #3

Reason: Pacheco defeated Maciej Sulecki in August.

Repercussions: Because of Pacheco and Edgar Berlanga (see below), Kevin Lele Sadjo was dropped from the #3 slot down to #6, even though Osleys Iglesias retained the #5 slot. Also, Erik Bazinyan was pushed from #6 to #7.

Edgar Berlanga

Last month: #8

This month: #4

Reason: The WBC apparently rewarded Berlanga for his September loss to Canelo Alvarez.

Sergiy Derevyanchenko

Last month: #7

This month: #10

Reason: Lost to Christian Mbilli in August.

Repercussions: Luka Plantic (now #8) and Lester Martinez (#9) each moved up one slot.

Vladimir Shishkin

Last month: #11

This month: off

Reason: Shishkin will be fighting for the IBF title in October against William Scull. Sanctioning bodies don’t tend to keep fighters ranked when they’re competing for belts from other organizations.

Repercussions: Bektemir Melikuziev was moved up from #13 to #11. Strangely, Demetrius Andrade remained in the #12 slot. With the #13 spot open, Ali Akhmedov entered the ratings, moving up from #16.

Serhat Guler

Last month: #14

This month: out of the top 15 (now #24)

Reason: Guler lost in September to Martin Ezequiel Bulacio.

Repercussions: Shakeel Phinn (previously #18) was moved into this spot.

William Scull

Last month: #15

This month: off

Reason: Scull will be fighting for the IBF title in October against Vladimir Shishkin. Sanctioning bodies don’t tend to keep fighters ranked when they’re competing for belts from other organizations.

Repercussions: Ihovsany Rafael Garcia was moved up from #19 to #15.

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Maciej Sulecki

Last month: #6

This month: out of the top 15, instead ranked at super middleweight at #18

Reason: Sulecki lost to super middleweight Diego Pacheco in August

Repercussions: Two fighters moved up one slot: Austin Williams (now #6) and Etinosa Oliha (#7), and without winning or losing a fight, Tyler Denny was moved from #10 to #8, bypassing the person in the #9 slot (see below).

Yoenli Hernandez

Last month: #12

This month: #9

Reason: Hernandez defeated Jose Sanchez Charles in September.

Repercussions: Bilal Jkitou went from #9 to #10, while four fighters moved up one slot: Troy Usley (now #12), Kyrone Davis (#13), Terrell Gausha (#14) and Julian Williams #15).

JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT

Erickson Lubin

Last month: #7

This month: #11

Possible reason: Uncertain. Lubin hasn’t fought since his September 2023 win over Jesus Ramos (currently #5 on this list). Ramos since fought in May, defeating Johan Gonzalez.

Repercussions: Three fighters moved up one spot: Abass Baraou (now #7), Yoenis Tellez (#8) and Callum Walsh (#9).

Ermal Hadribeaj

Last month: #12

This month: #10

Reason: Hadribeaj defeated Younes Zarraa in September.

Repercussions: With this, and with Lubin arriving at #11, Josh Kelly dropped one spot to #12.

Brandon Adams

Last month: #17

This month: #14

Reason: Adams defeated Francisco Daniel Veron in August.

Repercussions: Takeshi Inoue was dropped one slot (now #15) and Jorge Garcia was moved out of the top 15 to #16.

WELTERWEIGHT

Jin Sasaki

Last month: #5

This month: #4

Reason: Sasaki defeated Qamil Balla in September.

Repercussions: Raul Curiel was dropped one slot to #5.

Roman Villa

Last month: #9

This month: off

Reason: Villa was knocked out by Ricardo Salas Rodriguez in September

Repercussions: Five fighters moved up one slot into the #9-13 spots: Alexis Rocha, Giovani Santillan, Thulani Mbenge, David Avanesyan and David Papot.

Karen Chukhadzhian

Last month: #15

This month: off

Reason: Chukhadzhian has been named the IBF’s mandatory challenger.

Repercussions: Paddy Donovan moved up from #16 into the vacant #14 spot, while Aram Amirkhanyan went from #19 to #15.

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT

Jose Angel Rosa

Last month: #14

This month: #11

Reason: Rosa defeated Jovanni Straffon in August.

Repercussions: Three fighters were pushed down one slot: Pierce O’Leary (now #12), Regis Prograis (#13) and Michel Rivera (#14).

LIGHTWEIGHT

Isaac Cruz Jr.

Last month: off

This month: #4

Reason: With Cruz losing his WBA junior welterweight title in August, the WBC is now willing to rank him.

Repercussions: Several fighters each moved down a spot. From #5 to #10, we now have: Edwin De Los Santos, Mark Chamberlain, Andy Cruz, Zaur Abdullaev, Frank Martin and Gustavo Lemos. Meanwhile, Antonio Perez was dropped for some reason from #10 to #12, while Sam Noakes remained static at #11. 

Claudio Daneff

Last month: #12

This month: out of the top 15 (now #21)

Reason: Daneff lost to Khariton Agrba in September up at junior welterweight. But with Perez arriving at #12, the fighters below Daneff remained in the same positions.

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHT

Mauricio Lara

Last month: #14

This month: #13

Possible reason: Lara defeated a 11-12-1 opponent named Pedro Alejandro Delgado in August.

Repercussions: Albert Bell went from #13 to #14.

FEATHERWEIGHT

Stephen Fulton

Last month: #7

This month: #4

Reason: Fulton won a close fight with Carlos Castro in September.

Repercussions: Pushed down one slot were Nathaniel Collins (now #5) and Castro (#6).

Joet Gonzalez

Last month: #6

This month: off

Possible reason: Gonzalez hasn’t fought in a year.

Repercussions: With Gonzalez gone from #6 and Fulton leaving the #7 slot, two fighters moved up one slot: Ruben Villa (now #7) and Reiya Abe (#8).

Victor Morales

Last month: #10

This month: #14

Possible reason: Morales hasn’t fought in a year.

Repercussions: With the other movements mentioned above, three fighters moved up two slots to occupy #9-11: Keisuke Matsumoto, Mirco Cuello and Tomoki Kameda.

Lerato Dlamini

Last month: #14

This month: out of the top 15 (now #16)

Reason: Dlamini lost a split decision to Kameda.

Repercussions: Omar Trinidad, previously #15, went up through the vacant slots to #12. Two other fighters moved into the top 15: Cristobal Lorente went from #17 to #13 and Luca Rigoldi went from #16 to #15.

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT

TJ Doheny

Last month: #7

This month: #15

Reason: Doheny lost to Naoye Inoue in September.

Repercussions: John Riel Casimero went from #8 to #7.

Toshiki Shimomachi

Last month: #10

This month: #8

Reason: Shimomachi defeated Ryuya Tsugawa in September.

Repercussions: Three fighters moved into the #10-12 spots: Jose Israel Ramirez, Dennis McCann and Fadhili Majiha.

Kazuki Nakajima

Last month: #15

This month: #13

Reason: Nakajima defeated Shingo Wake in August

BANTAMWEIGHT

Seiya Tsutsumi

Last month: #10

This month: off

Reason: Tsutsumi will be fighting Takuma Inoue for the WBA title in October.

Repercussions: Three fighters moved into the #10-12 slots: Charlie Edwards, Landi Ngxeke and Saul Sanchez.

Daigo Higa

Last month: off

This month #13

Reason: Having lost his WBO title fight in September to Yoshiki Takei, Higa is able to be ranked by the WBC again.

Other random movements: Riku Masuda went from #16 to #14 despite his last fight being in July, which pushed Victor Reyes (now #15) and Paul Butler (#16).

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT

Ricardo Malajika

Last month: #7

This month: #5

Reason: Malajika defeated Yanga Sigqibo in August.

Repercussions: Dropped one slot each were Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (now #6) and Argi Cortes (#7).

Phumelele Cafu

Last month: #12

This month: off

Reason: Cafu will fight Kosei Tanaka for the WBO title in October.

Kenbun Torres

Last month: #17

This month: #12

Reason: Torres defeated KJ Cataraja by split decision in August.

Yanga Sigqibo

Last month: #14

This month: off

Reason: Sigqibo lost to Malajika in August.

KJ Cataraja

Last month: #15

This month: out of the top 15, now #16

Reason: Cataraja lost a split decision to Torres in August.

Other random movements: Amid all of the above, Rene Calixto Bibiano went from #16 to #13, John “Scrappy” Ramirez went from #18 to #14 and Willibaldo Garcia went from #13 to #15.

FLYWEIGHT

Thananchai Charunphak

Last month: #7

This month: off

Reason: Charunphak will challenge Seigo Yuri Akui in October for the WBA title.

Repercussions: Three fighters moved into the #7-9 spots: Felix Alvarado, Galal Yafai and Yankiel Rivera.

Tobias Reyes

Last month: #14

This month: #10

Reason: Reyes defeated Jackson Zapata in September.

Repercussions: With #14 open, Jay Harris moved up one spot, which allowed Juan Carlos Camacho to step in at #15.

JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT

Shokichi Iwata, Jairo Noriega and Masamichi Yabuki

Last month: #3, #6 and #5, respectively

This month: off

Reason: Iwata and Jairo Noriega will fight for the vacant WBO belt in October, while Yabuki will challenge Sivenathi Nontshinga for the IBF title in October.

Repercussions: These three vacancies pushed everyone up in the rankings. #3-15 now are Erick Rosa, Thanongsak Simsri, Erik Badillo, Regie Suganob, Junior Zarate, Ivan Garcia, Toshiki Kawamitsu, Elwin Soto, Christian Arenta, Kyosuke Takami, Jayson Vayson, Azael Villar and Adrian Curiel.

MINIMUMWEIGHT

Daniel Valladares

Last month: #7

This month: #10

Possible reasons: Perhaps this is because Valladares hasn’t fought at 105 since his October 2023 loss to Ginjiro Shigeoka, with two appearances since coming at flyweight. Given other movements listed below, that pushed four fighters into the #11-14 spots: Yuni Takada, Wilfredo Mendez, Vic Saludar and Jake Amparo.

Siyakholwa Kuse

Last month: #9

This month: #7

Reason: Kuse defeated Malakhi Sobolo in August.

Alex Winwood

Last month: off

This month: #8

Reason: With Winwood’s majority decision loss in September to WBA titleholder Thammanoon

Niyomtrong, the WBC has opted to rank Winwood again.

Repercussions: Goki Kobayashi was pushed from #8 to #9.

Garen Diagan

Last month: #14

This month: off

Possible reason: Diagan hasn’t fought since an August 2023 loss to Oscar Collazo.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.