Andy Cruz’s victory over Hironori Mishiro in an elimination bout last month has landed him in the No. 1 slot at lightweight in the IBF’s latest rankings update, which was released on July 7.
Cruz, who won Olympic gold in 2021, moved to 6-0 (3 KOs) as a pro with his fifth-round stoppage of Mishiro on the undercard of Richardson Hitchins-George Kambosos Jnr at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Cruz is also rated No. 1 by the WBC (behind the winner of the Shakur Stevenson-William Zepeda title fight on July 12); No. 2 by the WBA (the title belongs to Gervonta “Tank” Davis); and No. 7 by the WBO (the title is vacant and will go to the winner of the November 22 bout between Abdullah Mason and Sam Noakes).
Previously, the IBF’s first and second slots were vacant, followed by Cruz at No. 3. Now Cruz is first, the second spot remains empty, and Floyd Schofield has advanced all the way from No. 8 up to No. 3.
Schofield is coming off a big first-round TKO of Tevin Farmer on June 28. Although Farmer was unranked by the IBF, he was coming off a trio of decision losses, one to Raymond Muratalla (who’s since become the IBF titleholder) and two to Zepeda.
The IBF’s titleholders and No. 1 contenders in each weight class are:
Heavyweight: Daniel Dubois has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant. Dubois is scheduled for a rematch with WBA/WBC/WBO/lineal champ Oleksandr Usyk on July 19 for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Cruiserweight: Jai Opetaia has the world title; Huseyin Cinkara is the No. 1 contender.
Light heavyweight: Dmitry Bivol has the IBF, WBA and WBO world titles. He was previously the undisputed champion before vacating the WBC belt. Bivol remains the lineal champ. He is expected to fight Artur Beterbiev (No. 1 for the WBA, WBC and WBO) in their rubber match next, though there’s no date yet for that bout.
Michael Eifert is the IBF’s No. 1 contender.
Super middleweight: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is the undisputed champion with all four world titles; he is scheduled to defend against Terence Crawford (unranked at 168lbs, the WBA titleholder at 154lbs) on September 13.
The IBF’s No. 1 slot is vacant.
Middleweight: Janibek Alimkhanuly has the IBF and WBO world titles; the IBF’s No. 1 slot is vacant.
Junior middleweight: Bakhram Murtazaliev has the world title; Erickson Lubin is his No. 1 contender.
Welterweight: The world title, which previously belonged to Jaron “Boots” Ennis, is now vacant; Lewis Crocker is the No. 1 contender, and it is expected that his rematch with Paddy Donovan will be for the IBF belt.
Junior welterweight: Richardson Hitchins has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.
Lightweight: Raymond Muratalla has the world title; Andy Cruz is his No. 1 contender.
Junior lightweight: Eduardo Nunez has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.
Featherweight: Angelo Leo has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.
Junior featherweight: Naoya Inoue is the undisputed champion with all four world titles; Inoue and WBA interim titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev are expected to fight on September 14.
The IBF’s No. 1 slot is vacant.
Bantamweight: Junto Nakatani has the IBF and WBC world titles; the IBF’s No. 1 slot is vacant
Junior bantamweight: Willibaldo Garcia has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.
Flyweight: Masamichi Yabuki has the world title; Felix Alvarado is his No. 1 contender.
Junior flyweight: Thanongsak Simsri has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant.
Minimumweight: Pedro Taduran has the world title; the No. 1 slot is vacant
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
