It’s time for another round of rankings updates following this weekend’s boxing action. The big news is at light heavyweight, where Sergey Kovalev stopped Jean Pascal in an exciting fight in Montreal, earning yet another standout win.
Meanwhile, lineal champion Adonis Stevenson is fighting Sakio Bika next, a tough customer, but a blown up super middleweight. This comes after fighting no hoper Dmitry Sukhotsky, and having a tougher than expected outing against game but outclassed Andrzej Fonfara. All of that said, should Sergey Kovalev be installed as our light heavyweight division champion?
[checklist]
- Updated welterweight division rankings
- Updated light heavyweight division rankings
- Updated heavyweight division rankings
Per our championship policies, Stevenson is not yet eligible to be stripped of his championship. Fonfara, while outmatched, was a top 10 fighter in the division. That technically would give Stevenson until this November, a full 18 months, to face another top 10 fighter before being stripped.
However, we also emphasize that opposed to being stupidly rigid, our championships and rankings are built to be flexible. Sometimes, you have to make common sense calls, even when it falls outside of the realm of your stated rules.
Therefore, here’s our ruling:
If Adonis Stevenson defeats Sakio Bika, or maintains his championship with a draw, and does not fight Sergey Kovalev in his next fight, he is stripped of our World Championship. Sergey Kovalev will be automatically installed as Champion in this instance.
Elsewhere with our rankings, Vyacheslav Glazkov got a decision against Steve Cunningham, but it appeared clear that Cunningham should have won the fight. We take that into consideration. And at welterweight, Andre Berto scored a big win by stopping Josesito Lopez. Is it enough to get him back into the top 10 of the division after an extended absence?
What are your thoughts? Feel free to chime in with the comments below. Should Sergey Kovalev be the division’s true champion?
