Super Bantamweight Division Rankings

Top 10 Super Bantamweight Contenders

1. Carl Frampton – The UK scene at 122 lbs is busy right now, and while you’ll still find your fair share for either Team Frampton or Team Quigg, it’s clear that Frampton has by far the superior credentials. That includes two wins over Kiko Martinez, the most recent of which gave him a divisional title strap, and his last outing, an impressive turn in the spotlight against Chris Avalos. Makes his US debut in the summer.
2. Scott Quigg – Quigg hasn’t fought the same level of opposition as Frampton has. Most impressive win is still likely his stoppage of Rendall Munroe in their rematch. He has a title strap around his waist and he’s been staying active, so we’ll see if we can finally get that UK showdown set up or not. Faces Martinez next.
3. Nonito Donaire – Donaire wisely moved back down to 122 lbs, as he was clearly outsized and undergunned facing the big boys of featherweight.  He has one win back in the division out of the way, with a second fight lined up for the summer before hopefully a real A-list type affair.
4. Kiko Martinez – After losing the big step-ups of his career, Martinez got a shot at the rising Jhonatan Romero and pulled off a great upset, bringing home a title in the process. Tons of heart and will, and some great body punching, will make him a threat for the division. Followed that with a win over Jeffrey Mathebula, and defeated Hozumi Hasegawa. Couldn’t get past old foe Frampton though. Has a chance to unseat Quigg next.
5. Yoandris Salinas – Salinas got denied in his title bid against Scott Quigg, but only narrowly, coming up on the wrong end of a majority draw. The Cuban is clearly loaded with skill, but we’ll see how well that continues to translate or not against the top of this division.
6. Chris Avalos – A few years ago, Avalos lost a close bout against Jhonatan Romero via Split Decision. After Romero’s recent stoppage loss to Martinez, it’s Avalos who found himself ahead in the division on the strength of his dominant showing over Drian Francisco. Had a winning streak and some momentum, but that was derailed by Frampton. No real shame in that, was just out of his depth.
7. Jhonatan Romero – Romero has strung together three wins since he suffered the first loss of his career, a knockout defeat via the hands of Kiko Martinez. He has a few other decent victories on his ledger though, including against Avalos, Efrain Esquivias and Alejandro Lopez, so hopefully he returns to top level action soon.
8. Hugo Ruiz: The power-punching Ruiz has four straight wins since a setback to Koki Kameda via Split Decision at bantamweight in December 2012.
9. Hugo Cazares – Had a 5-fight winning streak stopped against Frampton this April. Still has put together an impressive 13-2-1 stretch over the past six years.
10. Andres Guitierrez – The young unbeaten Mexican was supposed to get the first real test of his career last fall against veteran Hugo Ruiz. That didn’t come through, so we lost our chance to see what he’s really made of. He’s also bouncing around in weight right now, so could end up at Featherweight.

Other Names in the Mix: Jeffrey Mathebula, Luis Rosa, Edivaldo Ortega, Victor Terrrazas, Alejandro Lopez, Cristian Mijares, Fernando Montiel, Kid Galahad, Retsuri Lee, Rico Ramos, Akifumi Shimoda, Ricardo Cordoba, Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym, Zsolt Bedak