RING Ratings Update: Vazquez and Lopez slip in rankings

Juan Manuel Lopez and Israel Vazquez slip in the ratings after struggling to win on Saturday night.

Juan Manuel Lopez (in orange trunks) narrowly escaped a disastrous ending to his spirited 12-round battle with Rogers Mtagwa in New York City on Saturday. Lopez, who was out on his feet in the 12th round, won a unanimous decision but his struggle with the unrated Mtagwa dropped him from No. 2 to No. 3 in THE RING's 122-pound ratings. Photo / Ed Mulholland-Fightwireimages.com


The past weekend was a busy one for RING-rated fighters and most of the action took place in the junior featherweight division, where fan attention was focused on the former ruler of the 122-pound weight class and a young up-and-comer thought by many to be his Heir Apparent.

Former junior featherweight champ Israel Vazquez and streaking 122-pound titleholder Juan Manuel Lopez struggled to win fights against supposedly safe opponents Saturday in Los Angeles and New York City.

Both favorites were in danger of being stopped late in their fights.

Vazquez (44-4, 32 knockouts) suffered an severe gash over his swollen left eye in the seventh round of his battle with Angel Priolo at downtown L.A.’s Nokia Theater. Vazquez’s bleeding inch-long cut was watched very closely by the ringside physician before the Mexican warrior surged in the ninth round to stop Priolo, dropping the Colombian journeyman three times.

Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs) was repeatedly rocked down the stretch of his 12-round bout with Rogers Mtagwa, and was reeling on wobbly legs for most of the final round. The budding Puerto Rican star held on to win a unanimous decision on the strength of the points lead he gained by out-boxing the unheralded fringe contender over the first half of the Fight of the Year candidate at Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theatre.

Vazquez’s victory, in his first fight following three eye surgeries and 19 months of inactivity, further confirmed his unquestionable spirit, and Lopez’s ability to survive Mtagwa’s late-rounds rally proved the 23-year-old southpaw possesses heart and guile to match his talent and power.

Still, the trouble they had with their unrated opponents caused them to slip in THE RING’s ratings.

Vazquez, who is unranked in the divisional ratings due to his inactivity, dropped from his No. 6 spot in THE RING’s pound-for-pound list to No. 9.

Lopez dropped one place, from No. 2 to No. 3, in the junior featherweight ratings.

“Vazquez did not look like a Top-10 pound-for-pound fighter in his comeback KO of Priolo, but we are giving him the benefit of the doubt and keeping him in the pound-for-pound ratings for the time being due the rust factor,” said RING magazine editor Nigel Collins. “Rafael Marquez, who lost to Vazquez in his last significant bout, is also demoted, as he has not accomplished very much of late. Moreover, we felt it was important to give credit to the fighters who have been active.”

Marquez was dropped from No. 7 to No. 10 in the pound-for-pound ratings. His and Vazquez’s demotion advanced Celestino Caballero from No. 10 to No. 8.

Caballero, a talked-about future opponent for Lopez, is also THE RING’s No. 1-rated junior featherweight. Had Lopez not slipped in the ratings, their potential bout would have been for vacant THE RING 122-pound title that Vazquez abdicated during his medically imposed hiatus from the sport.

Now Lopez’s No. 2 spot belongs to Thailand’s Poonsawat Kratingaenggym (39-1, 28 KOs), who advanced from No. 3. The Thai veteran holds victories over Ireland’s Bernard Dunne, who he stopped in three rounds last month to earn a title, countryman Somsak Sithchatchawal and Ricardo Cordoba.

Toshiaki Nishioka (35-4-3, 22 KOs) advanced right behind Lopez, from No. 5 to No. 4, after dispatching Ivan Hernandez after three rounds Saturday in Japan. The 33-year-old southpaw, who knocked out former 118-pound titleholder Jhonny Gonzalez in May, broke the jaw of Hernandez, a former 115-pound beltholder.

Rounding out the weekend’s action in the busy 122-pound division, THE RING’s No. 7-rated contender Ricardo Cordoba (35-2-2, 22 KOs) held his place with a 10th-round stoppage of Eddy Julio. It was the 25-year-old southpaw’s first fight since his fight-of-the-year-candidate loss to Dunne in April.

Cordoba is an example of the depth and talent of the often overlooked 122-pound division. Before his 11th-round stoppage to Dunne, the Panamanian’s only loss was a split decision to Kratingaenggym in Thailand. Among Cordoba’s many impressive victories is a one-sided 12-round decision over countryman Caballero (when he was only 20).

There was plenty of action in other weight classes, including the continued rise of a young heavyweight hopeful and a tremendous upset in the junior lightweight division.

Those details and more are in the RING Ratings Update:

POUND-FOR-POUND:

Vazquez (No. 6 last week) and Rafael Marquez (No. 7 last week) dropped to No. 9 and No. 10, respectively. This pushed up Nonito Donaire (No. 8 last week), Miguel Cotto (No. 9 last week) and Celestino Caballero (No. 10 last week) two positions each.

HEAVYWEIGHTS:

Denis Boystov (No. 8 last week), fresh off a KO of Jason Gavern, traded places with David Haye (No. 7 last week) due to Boystov's greater activity.

JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHTS:

Juan Carlos Salgado crashed the 130-pound division with a first-round KO of Jorge Linares (No. 7 last week). Salgado took over the No. 7 position, while Linares fell to No. 8. Linares' demotion pushed out Nicky Cook (No. 8 last week).

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHTS:

Lopez’s life-and-death struggle with unranked Mtagwa dropped him one place to No. 3. Kratingaenggym (No. 3 last week) advanced to No. 2. Also, Nishioka (No. 5 last week) advanced to No. 4 due to his KO of Ivan Hernandez and the fact he is fighting better opposition than Steve Molitor, who slipped from No. 4 to No. 5.

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHTS:

Daiki Kameda (No. 7 last weeks) dipped to No. 8 following his loss to Denkaosan Kaowichit in an alphabet title challenge at flyweight.