Women’s Monthly Boxing Ratings

April 30th, 2024

**Serrano Vs Cruz:** Amanda Serrano and Erika Cruz - the best two featherweights in the world - go to war, for supremacy at 126lb. February 4, 2023.

Boxing is filled with a confusing array of “world title” belt holders, in which vacant titles are often decided via mediocre match-ups. When there are multiple world titlists in every division, it makes it difficult for fans to know who the best fighters are. BoxRec provides a useful reference point, but its ratings use a computer-based algorithm, so are therefore open to oddities.

Our authoritative, monthly, divisional rankings (the first long-standing, independent, non-computerized monthly rankings in women’s boxing, which began on April 6th, 2019), compiled by knowledgeable analysts, aim to provide a degree of much needed clarity. We use our ratings to identify who the top contenders in a weight class are, and as is tradition in prize fighting history, a box-off between these contenders crowns a new Lineal World Champion. Champions will only lose their Championship if they are defeated in the ring, retire or move weight divisions. In contrast to the various sanctioning bodies, our Lineal Champions will not be “stripped,” and there will only ever be one Lineal World Champion per weight division.

Divisional Ratings

Lineal Welterweight Champion: Jessica McCaskill. [Photo Credit: Jenny Alvarez @shotbyjenny] — Lineal Welterweight Champion: **Jessica McCaskill. [**Photo Credit: Jenny Alvarez @shotbyjenny]

Lineal Lightweight and Junior Welterweight World Champion, **Katie Taylor**

Pound-Pound Top 10

UPDATES

Boxers are ranked according to ability and accomplishments in their respective weight classes. Fighters may be removed if they have been inactive for over 18 months and still have no fights scheduled.

Lineal Boxing Champion’s long-standing, independent, non-computerised, monthly divisional ratings, began on April 6th, 2019 – at this time, no such ratings existed in women’s professional boxing.

The international panel that produces the ratings, consists of ten boxing analysts, from nine different countries.

Flyweight

Gabriela Alaniz defeated Marlen Esparza on April 27th via 10-round split-decision, to become The Woman who beat The Woman, taking the Lineal Championship crown. There was controversy at the weigh-in as Esparza failed to make the 112lb limit and instead tipped the scales at 114lb. Alaniz (111 1/4lb) agreed to still fight. The WBA/WBO/WBC/Ring belts became vacant due to Esparza missing weight and were only on the line for Alaniz.

Hypothetically, after Esparza had missed weight, if the fight had been rescheduled for the following month, with both fighters then successfully making weight for the new date, it may have made sense to keep recognising Esparza as the reigning Lineal Champion, and not strip her.

In the perfect world, both fighters should always weigh within their division’s official weight class range for a fight to be classed as a championship fight.

But this is boxing.

A notable flyweight weigh-in fiasco was on June 29, 1938, when flyweight king, Benny Lynch, lost his title on the scales when he failed to make the 112lb limit, meaning Lynch/Jurich was regarded as a non-title bout - there were no reports that Jurich would be champion if he beat the 118lb Lynch. As it happened, Lynch won by 12th-round KO and then in September 1938 Peter Kane beat Jurich to win the vacant crown (and vacant Ring belt).

Regarding whether a contender should be able to win the true divisional championship from a champion who has failed to make weight, boxing historian,Cliff Rold commented (April 27th, 2024, on X/social media):

“Historical precedent says answer should be yes on Ring and/or lineal. See Pacquiao-Singsurat, Casa-Corrales.”

Manny Pacquiao was one pound over the flyweight limit when he lost by third-round TKO to Boonsai Singsurat; a fight in which Pacquiao is widely accepted as having lost the lineal crown (including on Lineal Boxing Champion’s list of flyweight champions). His WBC belt had become vacant after missing weight; heading into the fight the agreement was that a victory for Singsurat would win him the WBC belt, but a victory for Pacquiao and the WBC belt would remain vacant.

More recently, Shakur Stevenson lost his sanctioning body titles and his Ring belt on the scales when he was unable to make 130lb in his championship fight against Robson Conceicao. Robson lost, but in the event he had been victorious, he would have won the vacant sanctioning body belts and vacant Ring belt, too.

Ultimately, an element of subjectivity is necessary when assessing issues of missed weight and lineal championship abdications; the circumstances of each individual case should be considered before making a decision.

Alaniz is now the 112lb Lineal Champion. Esparza drops to the position of #1 contender, meaning Kenia Enriquez falls to #2. Lourdes Juarez enters at #5.

Junior featherweight

Ellie Scotney (#2) defeated Segolene Lefebvre (#1) via 10-round unanimous decision on April 13th, to fill the Lineal Championship vacancy at 122lb. Incidentally, this fight, a #1 Vs #3 match-up in The Ring ratings, was also for the vacant Ring belt.

Segolene falls to #2, with Erika Cruz moving to #1. Yamileth Mercado and Mayerlin Rivas rise to #3 and #4 respectively. Mayeli Flores enters the ratings at #5.

Lightweight

Beatriz Ferreira moves to #1, after defeating Lescano by round-6 technical decision for the vacant IBF belt on April 27. Caroline Dubois - who turned down an ordered fight with Beatriz Ferreira for the vacant IBF lightweight title - is at #2. Erica Farias and Lescano exit the ratings. Dixon, after outpointing Karen Carabajal on April 13th to win the vacant WBO belt, moves to #4. Jessica Camara enters at #5, following her win over 21-0-1 Hyun Choi on April 27th.

P4P Ratings

Esparza exits, Gabriela enters at #10, Thorslund rises to #8 and Plata rises to #9.

Women’s Championship Policy

Women’s Championship Policy 2021

Ratings Panel

David Avila: 2019 Inductee IWBHF. Journalist at The Sweet Science. California, USA. @AvilaBoxing

Daniel Yanofsky: Boxing journalist for The Sporting News. New York, USA. @DanYanofsky

Ireneusz Fryszkowski: Boxing Journalist. Poland. @RingBlogpl

Julian Haramoure: Boxing journalist, including articles for Argentina Amateur Deporte and ElRoundFinal.com. Argentina. @JulianFunky

Yuriko Miyata: Boxing journalist, including articles for The Ring and ThePrizeFighters.com. Japan. @Yuriyuri0803

GM Ross: Boxing journalist. Host of Pugilistically Inclined podcast. Canada. @CanadianBoxiana

Blanca Gutierrez: Creator of Beautiful Brawlers. 2019 Inductee IWBHF. 2018 Inductee WCBHOF. USA. @bbrawlersboxing

Inaky Arzate: Boxing journalist, including articles for TUDN. Mexico. @inaky_arzate

Benjamin Thomas Watt: BoxRec editor and boxing judge. New Zealand. @Bennyaha

Adam McMeeking: Member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and Editor of LinealBoxingChampion.com. United Kingdom. @TripleJabBoxing