Bad Left Hook Boxing Rankings (Sept. 24, 2019): Joseph Diaz Jr stays in contention despite tougher fight than expected

Rankings will be posted Tuesdays at Noon ET.

This week’s ranked fights:

• Super Middleweight: (2) David Benavidez vs (4) Anthony Dirrell, Sept. 28
• Welterweight: (2) Errol Spence Jr vs (4) Shawn Porter, Sept. 28

Another week with just a couple ranked fights, but these are both legitimately significant for the divisions.

Upcoming Fights: (9) Joseph Parker vs Dereck Chisora, Oct. 26 ... (7) Kubrat Pulev vs Mark De Mori, Nov. 9 ... (2) Deontay Wilder vs (6) Luis Ortiz, Nov. 23 ... (3) Andy Ruiz Jr vs (4) Anthony Joshua, Dec. 7 ... (1) Tyson Fury vs (2) Deontay Wilder, Feb. 22

Notes: Lerena fought this weekend in his native South Africa, stopping the mighty Sefer Seferi in the third round to retain the IBO title, which is a belt that matters to people if by “people” you mean Eddie Hearn when he’s trying to claim Anthony Joshua holds more belts than anyone cares about.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyrone Spong, Oct. 12 [heavyweight] ... (2) Mairis Briedis vs (4) Yuniel Dorticos, Dec. 14

Upcoming Fights: (3) Dmitry Bivol vs TBA, Oct. 12 ... (1) Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs (2) Artur Beterbiev, Oct. 18 ... (4) Sergey Kovalev vs Canelo Alvarez, Nov. 2

Upcoming Fights: (2) David Benavidez vs (4) Anthony Dirrell, Sept. 28 ... (1) Callum Smith vs (9) John Ryder, TBA ... (6) Billy Joe Saunders vs TBA, Nov. 9 ... (10) Rocky Fielding vs Abdallah Paziwapazi, Nov. 15

Upcoming Fights: (2) Gennadiy Golovkin vs (5) Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Oct. 5 ... (1) Canelo Alvarez vs Sergey Kovalev [light heavyweight], Nov. 2 ... (3) Daniel Jacobs vs TBA [super middleweight], Dec. 13

Upcoming Fights: (1) Julian Williams vs (2) Jarrett Hurd, TBA

Upcoming Fights: (2) Errol Spence Jr vs (4) Shawn Porter, Sept. 28 ... (10) Kudratillo Abdukakhorov vs Luis Collazo, Oct. 18 ... (1) Terence Crawford vs TBA, Dec. 14

Upcoming Fights: (1) Regis Prograis vs (2) Josh Taylor, Oct. 26 ... (10) Jack Catterall vs TBA, Nov. 22 ... (4) Maurice Hooker vs TBA, Dec. 13

Upcoming Fights: (4) Robert Easter Jr vs Adrian Granados [junior welterweight], Oct. 26 ... (9) Devin Haney vs TBA, Nov. 9 ... (2) Richard Commey vs (8) Teofimo Lopez, Dec. 14

Notes: I didn’t watch live, but I did watch later on Sunday evening, as Joseph Diaz Jr struggled a bit to a majority decision win in Mexico over also-ran Jesus Cuadro. It’ snot good, obviously, but I thought myself that Diaz did just enough to win, and it wasn’t a performance that greatly worried me or changed my mind about who he is, either. He had a hand injury early on, which sapped some of his effectiveness, and it also in some ways felt like a guy who fought down to the level of his competition in a stay-busy fight. Diaz wants Tevin Farmer — he might get him, he might not, but that’s what he wants. There wasn’t anything particularly good to say about Diaz’s performance on Saturday, but it’s the type of thing that happens sometimes, and it doesn’t necessarily spell doom for him. It wasn’t his best night, but he won and moves on.

Upcoming Fights: (1) Miguel Berchelt vs Jason Sosa, Nov. 2 ... (5) Jamel Herring vs Lamont Roach Jr, Nov. 9 ... (4) Andrew Cancio vs Rene Alvarado, Nov. 23

Upcoming Fights: (2) Josh Warrington vs Sofiane Takoucht, Oct. 12 ... (7) Shakur Stevenson vs Joet Gonzalez, Oct. 26 ... (8) Can Xu vs Manny Robles III, Nov. 23 ... (4) Oscar Valdez vs TBA [super featherweight], Nov. 30 ... (5) Carl Frampton vs Isaac Dogboe, Nov. 30

Upcoming Fights: (6) Isaac Dogboe vs Carl Frampton [featherweight], Nov. 30

Upcoming Fights: (1) Naoya Inoue vs (3) Nonito Donaire, Nov. 7 ... (6) Nordine Oubaali vs (9) Takuma Inoue, Nov. 7 ... (5) Zolani Tete vs John Riel Casimero, Nov. 23

Upcoming Fights: (5) Jerwin Ancajas vs Jonathan Rodriguez, Nov. 2 ... (1) Juan Francisco Estrada vs (7) Kal Yafai, Dec. 13

Upcoming Fights: (6) Andrew Selby vs TBA, Nov. 22 ... (8) Muhammad Waseem vs TBA, Nov. 22 ... (4) Julio Cesar Martinez vs (5) Charlie Edwards, TBA

Upcoming Fights: (2) Hiroto Kyoguchi vs Tetsuya Hisada, Oct. 1 ... (8) Milan Melindo vs Junto Nakatani [super flyweight], Oct. 5

Upcoming Fights: (1) Wanheng Menayothin vs (3) Simpiwe Konkco, Oct. 25