Men's Ratings/Champions: October 2019

P4P #1:

Vasyl Lomachenko (Ring, TBRB, BN, ESPN)

Heavyweight: Current Lineage

Wladimir Klitschko defeated Ruslan Chagaev via TKO9, June 20, 2009 - Klitschko and Chagaev were the #1 and #3 Heavyweights in The Ring Magazine rankings at the time of this bout. Wladimir had stated that he would never fight the #2 contender, which was his brother, Vitali Klitschko. Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko via UD12, November 28, 2015.

Cruiserweight: Current Lineage

Oleksandr Usyk defeated Murat Gassiev via UD12, July 21, 2018 - Usyk and Gassiev were the top two Cruiserweights in the TBRB rankings at the time of this bout.

Light Heavyweight: Current Lineage

Jean Pascal defeated Chad Dawson via 11th round technical decision, August 14, 2010 - Pascal and Dawson were the top two Light Heavyweights in The Ring rankings at the time of this bout. Pascal - Bernard Hopkins - Chad Dawson – Stevenson – Gvozdyk. Artur Beterbiev defeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk via 10th round TKO, October 18, 2019.

Super Middleweight: Vacant

*LinealBoxingChampion.com did not recognise George Groves Vs Callum Smith as for the vacant Lineal Championship at it was not a true #1 Vs #2 or #1 Vs #3 match-up. At the time of the bout, Boxing News, The Ring, TBRB, BoxRec and Boxing Monthly all had Groves and Gilberto Ramirez rated at #1 and #2 respectively. In August 2018, Callum Smith was rated at #4 by BoxRec, #3 by Boxing Monthly, #8 by the TBRB, #3 by The Ring, and #6 by Boxing News.

Middleweight: Current Lineage

Bernard Hopkins defeated Felix Trinidad via 12th round TKO, September 29, 2001 - Hopkins and Trinidad were the top two Middleweights in The Ring rankings at the time of this bout. Hopkins - Jermain Taylor - Kelly Pavlik - Sergio Martinez - Miguel Cotto. Saul Alvarez defeated Cotto via UD12, November 21, 2015.

Junior Welterweight: Vacant

*At the time of Mikey Garcia Vs Sergey Lipinets, March 10, 2018, Garcia and Lipinets were ranked as the top two Junior Welterweights by the TBRB. However, Lipinets was only rated at #8 by BoxRec and #7 by The Ring - therefore LinealBoxingChampion.com does not recognise Garica/Lipinets as a bout that was for the Lineal Championship.

Junior Featherweight: Current Lineage

Nonito Donaire defeated Toshiaki Nishioka via 9th round TKO, October 13, 2012 - Donaire and Nishioka were the top two Junior Featherweights in the TBRB rankings at the time of this bout. Rigondeaux defeated Donaire via UD12, April 13, 2013.

Junior Bantamweight: Current Lineage

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai defeated Juan Francisco Estrada via UD12, February 24, 2018 - Rungvisai and Estrada were the top two Junior Bantamweights in the TBRB rankings at the time of this bout. Estrada defeated Rungvisai via UD12, April 26, 2019.

Filling a Lineal Championship Vacancy - Policy Change:

In the 19th century, boxing record books such as Boxiana and Pugilistica (in Britain), and newspapers such as the Police Gazette (in America), documented the world champions and shaped public opinion as to who the leading contenders were. The Ring’s ratings and journalism largely led the way through much of the 20th century, and now in 2019, various boxing websites produce independent ratings to help keep fans informed, offering clarity amidst the ever growing assortment of ABC belts.  The Lineal Championship continues in this traditional path. Boxing’s knowledgeable press unscramble the plethora of ABC Champions, deciphering who the top boxers are in each division, and when they fight, a true World Champion is crowned. Call the winner of such a match-up, “The Lineal Champion”, or the “true” champion - call him what you want, but the fight fraternity, generally consider the victor to be The Man to beat.

Selecting the two most deserving contenders for a vacant Lineal World Championship isn't, and hasn't always been straightforward. Ideally, we all want crystal clear #1 and #2 contenders where fans and analysts all agree. In reality, there is usually always a degree of disagreement. An elimination tournament can clarify matters, but such tournaments are rare, and even when they take place, often don't include the top contenders at the beginning, which immediately leaves them open to criticism. When George Groves fought Callum Smith (with The Ring's belt up for grabs) in The World Boxing Super Series final last year, Groves was No.1 across all independent ratings, but there was also a clear #2, and it wasn't Smith. Gilberto Ramirez was #2 with TBRB, Ring, BoxRec, Boxing News and Boxing Monthly. At highest, Smith was rated #3 by Ring and Boxing Monthly, but he was down at #8 with TBRB and #6 with Boxing News.

If you only refer to one set of ratings, it is possible to adhere to a strict #1 Vs #2 policy, but will those ratings be fully reflective of how the boxing community views things? When Mikey Garcia defeated Sergey Lipinets in February 2018 Wikipedia states that this was for the vacant Lineal Championship at 140lbs - on the basis that the TBRB had them ranked at #1 and #2. This seems reasonable, until you recall that The Ring had Lipinets at #8, Boxing News had him at #7 and ESPN had him at #5 (December 2017). It seems fair to say that the boxing world did not see Garcia/Lipinets as #1 Vs #2, or even #1 Vs #3 - by general consensus it was viewed more like a #1 Vs #5 match-up.

We do not recognise Smith/Groves or Garcia/Lipinets as Lineal Championship fights.

A small amount of flexibility has always been needed, when filling a Lineal Championship vacancy, but there does need to be some sort of consensus among the boxing fraternity, a majority, so our Championship Policy's standard is being raised, slightly. The five sites we refer to for ratings remain the same: The Ring, Boxing Monthly, TBRB, ESPN and Boxing News.

The new criteria:

- Each fighter must have at least three top 2 positions.
- The two fighters must share at least three #1 positions.

The previous Policy specified that each fighter must have a minimum of two top 2 positions, which meant a boxer could be eligible for fighting for a vacant Lineal Crown even if the majority of the sites didn't think he was in the top 2.

Under the new Policy, when a fight to fill a Championship vacancy takes place, the majority of the sites will consider the #1 man to be fighting during the contest. And the majority will consider both men to be at a minimum, top 2 rated fighters. When a fight meets our criteria, a true Lineal Champion will be crowned.