Boxing Rankings (Dec. 5, 2022): Juan Francisco Estrada, Tyson Fury, more

Rankings go up on Mondays.

Ranked fights this week:

• Middleweight: (10) Felix Cash vs Celso Neves, Dec. 10
• Junior Welterweight: (8) Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin, Dec. 10
• Featherweight: (7) Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez, Dec. 10
• Junior Bantamweight: (8) Kosei Tanaka vs Yanga Sigqibo, Dec. 11

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Notes: Fury did as everyone figured Fury would do, totally dominating a way over-matched Derek Chisora at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The referee could have stopped that fight in the second or third round; instead, it dragged on until the 10th with Fury relaxing and going more intermittent on battering his buddy.

The big question now is whether it’s Oleksandr Usyk or Joe Joyce next for the LINEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! champ, but I think we’ll know pretty soon which way that goes.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Artur Beterbiev vs (8) Anthony Yarde, Jan. 28 ... (10) Jean Pascal vs Michael Eifert, Feb. 9

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Upcoming Fights: (10) Christian Mbilli vs Vaughn Alexander, Dec. 17 ... (2) David Benavidez vs (3) Caleb Plant, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (10) Felix Cash vs Celso Neves, Dec. 10 ... (4) Chris Eubank Jr vs Liam Smith, Jan. 21 ... (1) Gennadiy Golovkin vs Esquiva Falcao, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (5) Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr [middleweight], Jan. 21 ... (1) Jermell Charlo vs (4) Tim Tszyu, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (2) Terence Crawford vs (9) David Avanesyan, Dec. 10 ... (4) Jaron Ennis vs Karen Chukhadzhian, Jan. 7

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Upcoming Fights: (8) Teofimo Lopez vs Sandor Martin, Dec. 10 ... (1) Josh Taylor vs (2) Jack Catterall, Feb. 4 ... (7) Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis, TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (10) Michel Rivera vs Frank Martin, Dec. 17 ... (3) Gervonta Davis vs Hector Luis Garcia, Jan. 7

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Upcoming Fights: (4) Hector Luis Garcia vs Gervonta Davis [lightweight], Jan. 7

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Josh Warrington vs Luis Alberto Lopez, Dec. 10

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Takuma Inoue vs Jake Bornea, Dec. 13

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Upcoming Fights: (1) Naoya Inoue vs (8) Paul Butler, Dec. 13

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Notes: Juan Francisco Estrada’s rubber match with over Chocolatito Gonzalez wasn’t dominant, and wound up close on the cards in the end, but I thought he earned this one. Their second fight in 2021 I thought Gonzalez deserved, but it’s not like he dominated and got robbed-robbed.

So Choc takes a small dip from the loss, down to No. 4, with IBF titlist Fernando Martinez up to No. 3. Would I pick Chocolatito over Martinez if they fought next? Yeah, probably. But Martinez’s two wins over Jerwin Ancajas this year stack up very well to the official wins Gonzalez has had since his losses to Srisaket back in 2017. There is more to trying to evaluate boxing in this way than just the wins, of course — a fighter losing to a good opponent can mean a lot more than beating a bunch of lesser opponents — but I think Martinez’s wins over Anacajas deserve legitimate respect, too. But I could have left them where they are, too. In the end, I gave a razor thin decision to Martinez’s wins over Ancajas deserving that No. 3 spot at the moment.

Gonzalez also didn’t sound anywhere near 100 percent sure he’d fight again, so this may be irrelevant arguing with myself anyway.

On the winning side, Estrada obviously cements his claim to the No. 1 spot in the division.

Upcoming Fights: (8) Kosei Tanaka vs Yanga Sigqibo, Dec. 11 ... (2) Kazuto Ioka vs (5) Joshua Franco, Dec. 31

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Notes: If there were anyone reasonable to raise above Julio Cesar Martinez this week, I’d probably have done it. But Artem Dalakian and the rest of the lads here haven’t exactly been tearing it up, either. Martinez looked extremely one-dimensional against Samuel Carmona, who fought most of their fight with one useful hand. I had it close for Carmona, which I shouldn’t have; not because I look back and think I was wrong, but because it’s ridiculous that Martinez couldn’t do anything with a one-handed opponent.

That said, I also don’t bring Carmona in here or anything, because he wouldn’t have been fighting the same way down the stretch. As weird as it may sound, it may have been better for Martinez if Carmona had never hurt the hand and stayed confident, taking more risks than he did in reality down the stretch. Martinez may have found Carmona in the pocket more, and the later the fight got, maybe Carmona’s reflexes and angles wouldn’t have been as sharp. We’ll never know, I don’t think, because I doubt that’s a guy Martinez wants to see again.

Upcoming Fights: TBA

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Upcoming Fights: (7) Masamichi Yabuki vs Ronald Chacon, Jan. 28

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Upcoming Fights: (3) Masataka Taniguchi vs Melvin Jerusalem, Jan. 6 ... (4) Ginjiro Shigeoka vs (9) Daniel Valladares, Jan. 6

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Upcoming Fights: TBA