Boxingtalk updates its rankings in the 154-pound division. Since the September 28, 2020 update, the division has lost some monentum as most of the top ten has remained inactive, and the #1 guy, Jermell Charlo has no fight even planned six months after his big win over Jeison Rosario. Charlo, of course remains in the #1 spot, with newly minted WBO champion Brian Castano appearing as the new #2 based his title-winning performance against Patric Teixeira. Other significant movers are #6 Tim Tszyu, #10 Brandon Adams, #13 Sebastian Fundora, #14 Charles Conwell and #16 Terrell Gausha. Here is our rundown of the division's top 50:
1. Jermell Charlo - Jermell Charlo became the indisputable world junior middleweight champion in the wake of unifying the IBF, WBC and WBA titles by knocking out the prior #1, Jeison Rosario. There are still plenty of great match-ups for Charlo and Boxingtalk would prefer to see four-belt unification vs. Brian Castano next. Erickson Lubin or Erislandy Lara are also possibilities because they are Charlo's PBC roster-mates (Note - Charlo KO'd Lubin in one round back in 2018).
2. Brian Castano - The Argentine boxer moves up from #7 with February's dominant win over Patrick Teixiera for the WBO title. He's is listed at 17-0-1, but had another three pro wins in the World Series of Boxing, including a five-round decision over current middleweight contender Sergey Derevyanchenko. The draw is against Erislandy Lara.
3. Jeison Rosario - We didn't drop Rosario too far despite the loss to Charlo. He's been inactive since then, so Castano moves into the #2 spot due to a dominant win over Patrick Teixiera. Against Charlo, Rosario was competitive for a while, winning at least three rounds, and with a prior win over Julian Williams, his position is somoewhat protected unless he loses again.
4. Erislandy Lara - Lara's last two opponents have been weak (Greg Vendetti, Ramon Alvarez) for a top contender. Before that, Lara had a draw with Brian Castano.
5. Julian Williams - Its now over a year of inactivity, and before that, it wasn't J-Rock's night vs. Jesion Rosario. He does have a prior win over Jarrett Hurd and we look forward to Williams staying in the mix with the top 154 pounders.
6. Tim Tszyu - The Australian heir-apparent jumps from #10 to #6 on the strength of a first-round destruction of Bowen Morgan, who entered the bout at 21-1. Now 17-0, Kostya's son could go as high as #3 if he is equally dominant against Dennis Hogan (who is rated at middleweight by Boxingtalk) at the end of March. Note: Tszyu dominated and stopped Hogan.
7. Jarrett Hurd - Hurd holds wins over Erislandy Lara (a 2018 split decision), Austin Trout and Tony Harrison, but he now has 14 months of inactivity with no fight announced. Time to get to work.
8. Tony Harrison - He was doing well in his rematch against Jermell Charlo (Dec. 19, 2019) until getting stopped in round eleven, and he holds a controversial win over Jermell in their first fight. However, he has not fought since the 2019 loss to Charlo, so he's on the verge of being penalized for inactivity. Note: Harrison fought to a draw vs. Bryant Perrella on April 17th.
9. Erickson Lubin - Lubin is comng off a very solid win over former Olympian Terrell Gausha. He's won five in a row since the disastrous 2017 loss to Jermell Charlo, so its safe to say trainer Kevin Cunningham has helped Lubin right the ship.
10. Brandon Adams - Boxingtalk has Adams rated as the #18 middleweight, but he dropped down to 154 and knocked out Serheii Bohachuk. We had the previously undefeated Bohachuk rated at #23, so a top ten spot for Adams is appropriate.
11. Sergio Garcia - The European champion, who comes from Spain, is 33-0. He's defended the European title three times. Next up: a tough fight vs. Dylan Charrat, who graded just below Boxingtalk's top 50.
12. Michel Soro - French contender's only loss since 2012 was a split decision to #7 Brian Castano. He's had five good wins since then, but no fights since 2019 puts him on an inactivity warning; he'll be dropped if he has nothing scheduled by the next update.
13. Sebastian Fundora - The 6'5" giant moves up from #20 on the strength of a quick win over Habib Ahmed.
14. Charles Conwell - the biggest mover in this ratings period, jumping up nineteen places based on two quality wins (Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev) since September 28th.
15. Israel Madrimov - Uzbekistan contender put a serious beating on Eric Walker in August, but didn't quite live up to the expectations that he was already championship level.
16. Terrell Gausha - Ex-Olympian has a draw vs. Austin Trout and losses to Erislandy Lara and Erickson Lubin. But he just got a nice win over Jamontay Clark, so Boxingtalk rewards him a with a rise from #24 to #16.
17. Patrick Teixera - He lost his WBO title and six spots in the Boxingtalk rankings when he lost to Brian Castano in a one-sided fashion. The Brazilian showed tremendous heart vs. Castano but also absorbed a lot of punishment.
18. Kell Brook - His loss to WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford in November costs him seven spots in the ranking. We'll monitor his plans to see if he fights at 147 or 154 next.
19. Magomed Kurbanov - Russian up-and-comer is 21-0 with three wins coming against quality opposition. He's scheduled to fight #22 Liam Smith in May. Note: Kurbanov defeated Smith by narrow decision.
20. Austin Trout - Ex-title holder is fighting father time, and had a 2019 draw vs. Terrell Gausha, a former Olympian. He won a February tune-up against low-level opposition and may be waiting for one last payday.
21. Jeff Horn - His last fight was an August 2020 loss to Tim Tszyu, but he came down from middleweight, so we will reclassify him in the proper division.
22. Liam Smith - Nicknamed "Beefy," he's a former WBO title holder who has two forgivable losses (Canelo Avarez and Jaime Munguia) and won three fights in 2019. He hasn't fought since then, but in May is scheduled for a tough fight vs. #19 Magomed Kurbanov for a likley top ten spot. Note: lost a close road decision to #19 Kurbanov in May.
23. Jack Culcay - Hasn't fought since last update. Culcay has done some good work at junior middleweight, including wins over previously unbeaten Dennis Hogan and Jama Saidi, but reports say he got a gift decision vs. Abass Baraou in August's all-German bout, so we are withholding full credit for the win.
24. Abass Baraou - Hasn't fought since last update. Now 9-1, his stock rose with the controversial loss to Culcay.
25. Souleymane Cissokho - Got a much-needed tune-up win in March to end a long period of inactivity. Born in Senegal, fights out of France and is managed by Anthony Joshua. He's undefeated but needs at least a gatekeeper fight to move up further.
26-40: 26. Bakram Murtazaliev; 27. Serhii Bohachuk; 28. Hassan Mwakinyo; 29. Carlos Adames; 30. Balasz Bacskai; 31. Chordale Booker; 32. Scott Fitzgerald; 33. Anthony Fowler; 34. Jorge Cota; 35. Kerman Lejarraga; 36. Carlos Ocampo; 37. Hironobu Matsunaka; 38. Alejandro Luis Silva; 39. Islam Edisultanov; 40. Zakaria Attou.
41-50: 41. Ted Cheeseman Note: defeated #42 James Metcalf for British title in late March; 42. James Metcalf; 43. Tursynbay Kulakhmet; 44. Sam Eggington; 45. Brandon Thysse; 46. Sadriddin Akhmedov; 47. Dmytro Mytrofanov; 48. Takeshi Inoue; 49. Haro Matevosyan; 50. Gabriel Maestre.
OTHERS: Madiyar Ashkeyev; Dylan Charrat, Kieron Conway, Hamzah Sheeraz.
MORE DIVISIONAL RANKINGS:
