After another impressive win to become the undisputed featherweight champion, Amanda Serrano, who has won titles in seven different weight divisions, solidified her 3rd place behind Claressa Shields and Katie Taylor in the latest Sportzshala rankings. The victory will also be the start of a long-awaited rematch between Serrano and Taylor, which will take place on May 20 in Ireland.
Serrano won 98-92, 98-92, 97-93, but Saturday’s fight against Erica Cruz was close, interesting.
“She is the Mexican champion and we knew it,” Serrano said of Cruz after the fight. “And I said it from the very beginning: I knew she wouldn’t let me just take my belt. She worked hard for this. I worked hard for mine and this is what we expected.
On the same card at Madison Square Garden in New York, 4th-place Alicia Baumgardner knocked down Elhem Mekhaled twice to win a unanimous decision to become the undisputed junior lightweight champion. However, this victory was not enough to overtake Serrano in third place in our rankings.
“Alicia Baumgardner may have looked tired towards the end of her fight, but she gutted the win and knocked down a good fighter in Mekhaled – twice,” Sportzshala journalist Michael Rothstein said of Baumgardner’s promotion up his list. “She and Shantel Cameron are very close to each other in the second tier of elite fighters, but the way she handled her last performance gives her a slight advantage over Cameron.”
The win also puts Baumgardner in a bright future with potential cross-division fights.
“Now we want big fights, we want mega fights,” Baumgardner said. “This fight showed me that, you know, there are levels to this and I want to keep going up. We want Katie Taylor, we want these mega fights. We want these big fights. This is the only way to find out where I am and how I can improve. And I want it.”
Here is the current top 10.
Note: Results until February 8th.
1. CLARESSA SHIELDSPrevious ranking: No. 1
WRITE DOWN: 13-0, 2 KOs
SEPARATION: Undisputed Middleweight Champion
LAST STAND: W(UD10) Savannah Marshall Oct 15
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
2. Cathy TAYLOR
Previous ranking: No. 2
Previous ranking: No. 2WRITE DOWN: 22-0, 6 KOs
SEPARATION: Undisputed Lightweight Champion
LAST STAND: W (UD10) Karen Elizabeth Carabajal Oct. 29
NEXT FIGHT: May 20 vs. Amanda Serrano
3. AMANDA SERRANOPrevious ranking: No. 3
WRITE DOWN: 44-2-1, 30 KOs
SEPARATION: Undisputed Featherweight Champion
LAST STAND: W (UD10) Erica Cruz Feb 4
NEXT FIGHT: May 20 vs. Kathy Taylor
4. ALICIA BAUMGARDNERPrevious ranking: No. 4
WRITE DOWN: 14-1, 7 KOs
SEPARATION: Undisputed Junior Lightweight Champion
LAST STAND: W (UD10) Elhem Mekhaled Feb. 4
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
5. JESSICA MCCASKILLPrevious ranking: No. 5
WRITE DOWN: 12-3, 5 KOs
SEPARATION: Undisputed welterweight champion
LAST STAND: L (TKO3) Shantel Cameron, November 5
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
6. MICHAELA MAYERPrevious ranking: No. 7
Previous ranking: No. 7WRITE DOWN: 17-1, 5 KOs
SEPARATION: Junior Lightweight
LAST STAND: L (SD10) Alicia Baumgardner, Oct. 15
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
7. Shantel CameronPrevious ranking: No. 5
Previous ranking: No. 5WRITE DOWN: 17-0, 8 KOs
SEPARATION: Unified Junior Welterweight Champion
LAST STAND: W (UD10) Jessica McCaskill Nov 5
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
8. SENESS ROADPrevious ranking: No. 8
WRITE DOWN: 23-0, 9 KOs
SEPARATION: minimum weight champion
LAST STAND: W(UD10) Jazmin Gala Villarino, November 12
NEXT FIGHT: March 25 vs. Tina Ruprecht
9. FRANCHON CREW-DESURNEPrevious ranking: No. 9
WRITE DOWN: 8-1, 2 KOs
SEPARATION: Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion
LAST STAND: W (UD10) Elin Cederroos April 30
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
10. NATASHA JONASPrevious ranking: No. 10
WRITE DOWN: 13-2-1, 8 KOs
SEPARATION: Unified junior middleweight champion
LAST STAND: W (UD10) Marie-Eve Dicker, Nov. 12
NEXT FIGHT: to be specified
Formula
The ranking is based on a descending point system, with the first-place vote receiving 10 points, the second-place vote receiving nine points, and so on.
Others who received votes: Delphine Persun (12), Savannah Marshall (9), Christina Hammer (4), Kali Reis (3), Hyun Choi (3), Jocasta Valle (1), Terry Harper (1)
How our experts voted
Michael Rothstein: 1. shields, 2. taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. Stage, 5. baumgardner, 6. cameron, 7. McCaskill, 8. Mayer, 9. Jonas, 10. Valle
Timothy Bradley Jr.: 1. shields, 2. taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. baumgardner, 5. Stage, 6. Mayer, 7. Jonas, 8. Human, 9. marshall, 10. Cameron
Nick Parkinson: 1. taylor, 2. shields, 3. Serrano, 4. baumgardner, 5. cameron, 6. marshall, 7. Mayer, 8. McCaskill, 9. Stage, 10. Harper
Michelle Joy Phelps: 1. shields, 2. taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. McCaskill, 5. baumgardner, 6. Crews-Dezurn, 7. cameron, 8. Flight, 9. Jonas, 10. Mayer
Salvador Rodriguez: 1. shields, 2. taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. baumgardner, 5. Crews-Dezurn, 6. McCaskill, 7. Jonas, 8. Stage, 9. Mayer, 10. Cameron
Bernardo Pilat: 1. shields, 2. Serrano, 3. taylor, 4. baumgardner, 5. McCaskill, 6. Mayer, 7. Human, 8. Stage, 9. marshall, 10. Cameron
Charlie Moynihan: 1. taylor, 2. shields, 3. Serrano, 4. baumgardner, 5. Mayer, 6. Human, 7. Hammer, 8. Choi, 9. cameron, 10. McCaskill
Kel Dansby: 1. shields, 2. taylor, 3. Serrano, 4. boomgarder, 5. cameron, 6. Crews-Dezurn, 7. McCaskill, 8. Stage, 9. Mayer, 10. Jonas
Sportzshala Expert Poll
First place: Shields (6), Taylor (2)
Second place: Taylor (5), Shields (2), Serrano (1)
Third place: Serrano (7), Taylor (1)
Fourth place: Baumgardner (6), McCaskill (1), Bandstand (1)
Fifth place: Baumgardner (2), Cameron (2), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Bandstand (1), Crews-Dezurn (1)
Sixth place: Mayer (2), Crews-Dezurn (2), McCaskill (1), Cameron (1), Marshall (1), Persoon (1)
Seventh place: McCaskill (2), Jonas (2), Mayer (1), Cameron (1), Persoon (1), Hammer (1)
Eighth place: Bandstand (3), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Persoon (1), Choi (1), Flight (1)
Ninth place: Mayer (2), Jonas (2), Marshall (2), Cameron (1), Bandstand (1)
10th place: Cameron (3), Vallee (1), McCaskill (1), Mayer (1), Jonas (1), Harper (1)
Source: www.espn.com
