Updated North American Welterweight Rankings 12/9/2012

Since the last update (7/26/2012) to the welterweight rankings Jose Palacios enters the top five again after his victory with Chris Kwiatkowski at the Friday Night Fights 2012 season finale. Former number five Scotty Leffler drops of the rankings, while former number two Kwiatkowski drops two spots down to number four and Artem Sharoshkin drops a spot to number five. 

1. Michael Mananquil (23-4)
Mananquil followed up his victory
over Luis Bio with a win at K-1 Los Angeles over Scotty Leffler. Although
Mananquil is known for his technical style he showed that he can bang when
needed to. In a fight that was not stop action from start to finish, Mananquil
strayed from his technical style and traded leather with Leffler for three
rounds, proving he can win with technique or win by slugging it out if needed
to.




2. Malaipet Sasiprapa (139-28-5)
Malaipet lost his re-match to Chike
Lindsay this past June, but will be looking to bounce back against Jose
Figueroa when they meet December 15 in Mexico. Malaipet is a stiff test for
anyone he steps in the ring with and has shown that with minimal training is
still a game opponent. Not to mention he truly embodies the spirit of fight
anyone anytime. He stepped up on two days notice and agreed to face Ky
Hollenbeck this past August, although the fight ended up not happening.

 

3. Jose Palacios (6-4) (@JEPalacios)
Jose Palacios enters the rankings
again after his win over Chris Kwiatkowski at the Friday Night Fights season
finale. Palacios was crisp with his leg kicks and although known as a great
counter fighter he took the center of the ring and pushed the pace. Palacios
next bout is currently unknown, but there are many possibilities for him in
both the super lightweight and welterweight divisions.




4. Chris Kwiatkowski (8-3-1)
Kwiatkowski dropped a decision to
Jose Palacios in his last outing. Kwiatkowski is more than likely coming to the
end of his career soon so expect him to take as many high profile fights as
possible before he hangs up the gloves. He is currently rumored to be fighting
Kevin Ross at Lion Fight 8, but nothing has been made official by Lion Fight.




5. Artem Sharoshkin (4-2-1) (@ArtemSharoshkin)
Sharoshkin won a 4-man tournament
back in August by defeating Jose Davidson by decision and Chris Culley by (T)KO
in one night. Most recently he dropped a decision to Yinghua Tie at WCK “Matter
of Pride” in October. The young Russian born fighter has great boxing and his
aggressive style makes him a fan favorite. His next fight is currently unknown,
but he should continue to improve with age and be a forced to be reckoned with
for years.

Rankings qualification
– Muay Thai and Kickboxing bouts are all taken into consideration for
the rankings. These rankings are not only based on Muay Thai Fights as
many fighters compete in both full rules Muay Thai and Kickboxing bouts.
Fighters are not to be inactive for any period longer than 12 months or
they will be dropped from the rankings unless a fight is schedule
within a month from the date they become ineligible. Fighter’s that
compete in two weight classes will be assigned a weight class that they
compete in regularly or hold a major title in. Fighters that permanently
reside in North America are eligible for the rankings.

*If
you are currently ranked in a weight class and would like to switch
weight classes please notify Rankings@MuayThaiAuthority.com. Switching
weight classes does not guarantee you will be ranked in the new weight
class.