ranking the best fighters in the world

Flyweight 34 2 3 (22) Last Year s Ranking: 27 Status Report: We predicted in this analysis last year that Naito would suffer a drop and for once we were right. (No, we re not psychic; the guy s 36 years old.) His loss to Koki Kameda (L 12) was a huge blow to his standing, and a win over journeyman Liempetch Sor Veeraphol (KO 5) at junior bantam wasn t going to help much. Future: He d love a rematch with Kameda, but he shouldn t count on it. Kameda has bigger fish to fry.

Cruiserweight 31 1 (23) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: American fans know Huck only as the guy who lost to Steve Cunningham a couple years ago, but since then he s won 11 in a row, including stoppage wins over Americans Adam Richards (KO 3), Brian Minto (KO 9), and Matt Godfrey (KO 5), all in 2010. In December, he scraped by undefeated Denis Lebedev. This guy can fight. Future: It sure would be nice to crown a RING champion at cruiserweight, which a rematch with Cunningham would get us. And now that Cunningham is based in Germany, maybe it ll happen.

WBA Flyweight Titleholder 19 2 0 (11) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: Daiki isn t as flashy as his brother Koki, but he had at least as good a year, beating Denkaosan Kaovichit in their rematch (W 12), Rosendo Vega (W 10), the big one over Takefumi Sakata (W 12) and close decision over Silvio Olteanu (SD 12). If he keeps this up, maybe he gets another promotion next year. Who knows, maybe he and Koki can be the new Klitschkos. Future: He has many good options in and around his weight.

IBF Junior Featherweight Titleholder 33 1 (12) Last Year s Ranking: 62 Status Report: Molitor stayed busy over the last year, earning a slight bump by beating Jose Saez (W 8), Takalani Ndlovu, (W 12) and Jason Booth (W 12). Good for him. What happens when he gets in with a top guy again? Does he freeze, like he did against Caballero? Future: Scheduled to face Ndlovu again in Montreal on March 19.

Junior Middleweight 37 0 (23) Last Year s Ranking: 77 Status Report: It s amazing what a little activity and American exposure can do for you. Last year Dzindziruk was on the verge of dropping off this list altogether for lack of activity, and, not coincidentally, lack of interest. And who could blame us? He didn t fight at all in 2009. He finally showed up at a casino in California of all places, and we ll be damned if he didn t box the bejesus out of Daniel Dawson (KO 10). This guy can fight after all. Future: American promoter Gary Shaw is trying hard to get Dzindziruk on television. Let s hope he succeeds. Dzindziruk is the real deal, but only if he fights more than once a year.

Super Middleweight 31 2 0 (25) Last Year s Ranking: 13 Status: How the mighty have fallen. Abraham got his head handed to him by Carl Froch (L 12). That came after getting thoroughly outboxed by Andre Dirrell and then clubbing Dirrell when he was down, resulting in an embarrassing disqualification loss ( L DQ 11). Also, cripes, how about throwing a punch once in a while, Artie? Future: A one sided decision loss to Andre Ward.

Lightweight 27 3 (22) Last Year s Ranking: 77 Status Report: Katsidis turned in his typically gutsy performance in a losing effort against Juan Manuel Marquez (KO by 9) in November. Still, Katsidis is tremendously improved over the fighter who lost to Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz in 2008. Too bad for him exciting rarely beats great. Future: As long as his skin and spirit hold up, Katsidis will make a living bleeding all over the place and knocking second tier guys into next week. There are worse ways to make a buck.

WBA Middleweight Titleholder 34 2 1 (14) Last Year s Ranking: 81 Status Report: Fans of Sturm will lament his relatively low placement here; they shouldn

Junior Welterweight 28 2 1 (22) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: Give Ortiz this: He has worked fairly hard rehabilitating his image after the quit job against Marcos Maidana, beating Antonio Diaz (KO 7), Hector Alatorre (KO 10), Nate Campbell (W 10) and Vivian Harris (KO 3), and drawing against Lamont Peterson in December (D 10). Future: After a very odd performance against Peterson, it s hard to know where to go next with Ortiz. The kid knows how to fight, we re just not sure he wants to.

Junior Welterweight 28 1 1 (14) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: Only a special fighter like Tim Bradley could make Peterson seem as impotent as Bradley did in their meeting last December. Sure, Bradley won by a combined 32 points. That says more about Bradley than it does about Peterson, who beat Damian Fuller (KO 7) next time out and drew with Victor Ortiz (D 10) in December. Peterson can fight, and we predict he ll land quite a bit higher on this list next year. So long as he stays away from a rematch with Bradley. Future: How about a rematch with Ortiz?