ranking the best fighters in the world

Junior Bantamweight 13 1 0 (8) Last Year s Ranking: 51 Status Report: Nashiro takes a bit of a tumble, his reward for giving a rematch to Hugo Cazares. Not the best move he has ever made (L 12). Cazares won by a wide margin, pretty much invalidating the good will Nashiro gained with his draw against Cazares in 2009. Nashiro s only other appearance of the year was a win over 6 6 (4) neophyte Iwan Key (KO 3). Future: Tomas Rojas on Feb. 5 on Osaka. Another year like this and Nashiro will find himself a 14 time WBA champion. Go Nobuo!

WBA Junior Featherweight Titleholder 17 1 1 (8) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: Talk about a jump in class. The three guys Lee beat before taking down the very formidable Poonsawat Kraetingdaenggym (W 12) had a combined record of 34 13 6 (17). But apparently Big M Or Boonchuay (KO 3), Kazunori Takayama (W 10) and Hisashi Amagasa (W 10) prepared Lee for one of the year s bigger upsets. Good for them. Especially Big M Or Boonchuay, just because it s so much fun to say. Future: Akifumi Shimoda on Jan. 31 in Tokyo.

Cruiserweight 32 0 0 (17) Last Year s Ranking: 55 Status Report: In his first fight in a year, Erdei beat one Samson Anyang (W 8) in December. Another month sitting on his behind would have resulted in his omission from this analysis altogether. As it is, he suffers a severe but entirely deserved 16 place tumble. In his last fight of importance, Erdei beat Giacobbe Fragomeni (W 12) to claim an alphabet strap. Future: We re hopeful that Erdei s recent alliance with American promoter Lou DiBella means Erdei will go to work frequently and primarily in America so we can figure out once and for all whether he s as good as his record suggests.

Junior Featherweight 41 2 (29) Last Year s Ranking: 36 Status Report: This is a hell of a long way to topple for the once mighty Kratingaenggym, but he did lose to upstart Ryol Li Lee (L 12), and not by a little. And it wasn t as though anyone had heard much of Lee before; he didn t make this analysis last year and had beaten no one of consequence before relieving Kratingaenggym of his alphabet strap. We agree it s a bit harsh, but if we re not hard on these guys, how will they ever learn? Future: The best thing he could do is get Lee back in the ring, and we mean now.

WBC Junior Flyweight Titleholder 30 4 2 (12) Last Year s Ranking: 91 Status Report: Nino shockingly lost a majority decision to journeyman Gilberto Keb Baas in November (L 12), but did beat tough Rodel Mayol (Tech Draw 3 and W 12), and the useful Ronald Barrera (KO 6). Future: Needs to set the record straight against Keb Baas. Talk about having an off night.

Junior Flyweight 32 2 2 (21) Last Year s Ranking: 56 Status Report: You probably thought Solis was going to disappear after his KO loss to Brian Viloria in April 2009. Nope. After four straight wins

Junior Welterweight 28 5 (5) Last Year s Ranking: 47 Status Report: If you thought we were going to abandon Malignaggi just because he got his head handed to him by Amir Khan (KO by 11), forget it. It was a terrible style matchup for Malignaggi, who needs a little guy to come forward. Which brings us to Malignaggi s virtuoso win over Juan Diaz (W 12) in their rematch, and the first one (L 12) was pretty damn good too. Those are why he s here. His stoppage win over Michael Lozada (KO 6) is the boxing equivalent of raining frogs. Future: Malignaggi has changed promoters and locales, moving to California from his beloved New York. Let

Featherweight 41 2 0 (34) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: Few of us can forget how easily Juan Manuel Lopez annihilated Ponce de Leon in 2008, but the Mexican slugger has come back admirably. In the last year, he beat Orlando Cruz (KO 3), Cornelius Lock (W 10), Antonio Escalante (KO 3) and Sergio Medina (KO 7). He might be caught between styles a bit, but he s still all puncher and is a threat to pancake a guy at any moment. His punch keeps him in any fight and gets him on this list. Future: There are many entertaining possibilities at featherweight. Pick one.

Bantamweight 20 2 0 (12) Last Year s Ranking: 73 Status Report: It s not often that a guy who s gone 2 2 in his last three fights slides just six spots from last year, but here it s warranted. Cermeno beat Alejandro Valdez (KO 11) and Hugo Berrio (KO 1), but lost two squeakers (L 12 twice) to the very good Anselmo Moreno, who appears on this list at No. 39. A judge glances at a round card girl or turns his head to pick his ear, maybe those fights are wins for Cermeno. Oh, like that stuff never happens. Now who s being na

WBA Lightweight Titleholder 28 3 2 (22) Last Year s Ranking: Unranked Status Report: One sure way to get on this list is to beat two pretty good undefeated guys back to back, and that s what Acosta did in stopping Urbano Antillon (KO 9) and Paulus Moses (KO 6). As far as we can tell, Acosta is a full level below Michael Katsidis and two levels below Juan Manuel Marquez, but we think he can hold his own and then some with any other lightweight in the world. That includes upstarts Brandon Rios, John Murray and Anthony Peterson. Especially Anthony Peterson. Future: Brandon Rios on Feb. 26 in Las Vegas.