Who won the Bantamweight Fight Last Night?

After a massive week for the bantamweight division, we have two new champions as Ryosuke Nishida defeats  Emmanuel Rodriguez to take the WBO title, and Yoshiki Takei takes the IBF title from Moloney. Takuma Inoue climbs to the top of the rankings with a second defense of his WBA title as well. So, here is a look at the new Bantamweight Boxing Rankings, but first, let’s take a look at some honorable mentions.

What is a Bantamweight in Boxing?

Bantamweight is a weight class of boxers that consists of boxers weighing 115 pounds (52.2 kg) to 118 pounds (53.5 kg).

The following are the Best Bantamweight Boxers in the World.

Honorable Mention

• Reymart Gaballo
• Gary Antonio Russell
• Sho Ishida
• Daigo Higa
• Juan Martinez Ayala

Top 10 Bantamweight Boxers – World Rankings

10. Paul Butler

Paul Butler is a professional boxer from England, who has a record of 34 wins and 3 losses. 

Butler is the former IBF bantamweight champion and has held multiple regional titles in different weight classes. He also held the WBO interim Bantamweight title before losing his most recent fight. 

Butler fought Naoya Inoue, with the undisputed  Bantamweight title on the line, he lost the fight, and there is no official announcement about who he will fight next.

In his most recent fight, Butler defeated Nabil Ahmed with a 2nd round Knockout, and will be facing Norbelto Jimenez on May 11th for the vacant IBO Bantamweight World Title.

9. Nonito Donaire

At #9 on the Bantamweight Boxing Rankings is Nonito Donaire. Donaire is a Filipino-American professional boxer with a record of 42 wins and 8 losses. 

Donaire has held multiple titles in four different weight classes. These include the  IBF and IBO flyweight titles, WBA interim super-flyweight titles, WBC and WBO bantamweight titles, the WBO super bantamweight titles, and the WBA (Undisputed) featherweight titles. Donaire is also the former WBC Bantamweight champion. 

In his most recent fight, Donaire fought Alexandro Santiago. He lost via Unanimous Decision, and there is no announcement about his next fight.

8. Alejandro Santiago

Alejandro Santiago is a professional boxer from Mexico, and he has a record of 28 wins, 3 losses, and 5 draws. 

He is the former WBC bantamweight world champion and has previously held the WBC International title as well. He won the WBC title last year after defeating Nonito Donaire,

Recently, he was set to make his first title defense against Japanese Sensation Junto Nakatani, however, he lost the fight via Knockout in the 6th round.

7. Vincent Astrolabio

Vincent Astrolabio is a professional boxer from the Philippines. He has a professional record of 19 wins and 4 losses. 

Astrolabio is the former WBO Inter-Continental Bantamweight champion and has also held the WBC International Bantamweight title, which he won after defeating Guillermo Rigondeaux. 

Astrolabio fought Jason Moloney for the Vacant WBO bantamweight title, however, he came short and couldn’t win. In his most recent fight, Astrolabio defeated Nawaphon Kaikanha via TKO, and there is no official announcement about his next fight.

6. Jason Moloney

Jason Moloney is an Australian Professional boxer, with a record of 27 wins and only 2 defeats. 

Moloney is the current WBO Bantamweight champion and has held multiple regional titles as well, including the  WBC Silver, WBO International, and WBA Oceania bantamweight titles.

Moloney made his first title defense against Saul Sanchez, winning the fight via Majority Decision and in his most recent fight, Moloney lost the world title to Yoshiki Takei. While he had a huge 12th round, he was unable to finish Takei and lost via Unanimous Decision.

5. Yoshiki Takei

Title(s):

• WBO Bantamweight World Champion

Next up, we have another Japanese boxer, Yoshiki Takei, who has an undefeated  professional record with 9 wins. 

As of last weekend, Takei is the new WBO bantamweight world champion, and he won the title after defeating former champ Jason Moloney. He gave an excellent performance, unboxing Moloney for most of the fight, and surviving a high-paced last round to win by Unanimous decision.

4. Emmanuel Rodriguez

Coming in at Number 4, we have Emmanuel Rodriguez from Puerto Rico, with a professional record of 22 wins, 3 losses, and 1 no-contest.

Rodriguez is a former two-time IBF bantamweight champion. He won the title after defeating Paul Butler in 2018 and defended it once before losing it to Naoya Inoue. He became the IBF champion for the second time after defeating Melvin Lopez with a dominant Unanimous Decision win after scoring three knockdowns in his most recent fight. 

In his most recent fight, he lost the title to Ryosuke Nishida via Unanimous Decision.

3. Ryosuke Nishida

Title(s):

• IBF Bantamweight World Champion

Ryosuke Nishida is a professional boxer from Japan, with an undefeated record of 9 wins and no losses

Nishida is the former WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion, with three successful title defenses under his belt, and as of last week, he is the new IBF bantamweight world champion. 

He won the title after defeating Emmanuel Rodriguez via Unanimous decision. He dropped Rodriguez with an excellent body shot in the 4th, fighting on to a UD win.

2. Junto Nakatani

Title(s):

• WBC Bantamweight World Champion

Next up, we have Junto Nakatani from Japan, and he holds an undefeated boxing record of 27 wins and no losses. 

Nakatani is a three-division world champion. Before moving up to bantamweight, He had won the WBO title at both flyweight, and Junior bantamweight.

Recently, he faced off against Alejandro Santiago, with the WBC Bantamweight title on the line, and won the fight via TKO in the 6th round. As of now, there is no official announcement about his next fight.

1. Takuma Inoue

Title(s):

• WBA Bantamweight Super Champion

At number 1 on the Bantamweight Boxing Rankings, we have Takuma Inoue, a Japanese boxer with a record of 19 wins and only 1 loss.

He is the current WBA Bantamweight world champion and previously held the WBC Interim Bantamweight title as well. Additionally, he held the WBO Asia Pacific and Japanese titles as well.

Inoue won the WBA title after defeating Liborio Solís. Inoue took some time to get into rhythm, and taking advantage, Solis landed some good shots in the first couple of rounds. However, Inoue picked up the pace, and won most of the remaining fight to get the unanimous decision win.

Takuma Inoue next made his first successful title defense, defeating Jerwin Ancajas via Knockout in the 9th round.

Recently, Inoue made his second successful title defense, defeating Shō Ishida via Unanimous Decision. Inoue got dropped early in the fight but was able to come back with a dominant performance.

How would you rank these Contenders and Champions on the Bantamweight Boxing Rankings? Rank below to be added in the Power Rankings

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