Five from SA among Ring's top ten

[Mofo2]

Five South Africans are among the top ten in the world in their divisions on the latest Ring Magazine rankings lists.

But none of the six SA boxers who hold “world†titles is rated No 1 by the magazine.

The highest ranked SA boxers on the magazine’s lists are strawweight Nkosinathi Joyi and junior featherweight Jeffrey Mathebula, who are both in third position behind the champions.

Moruti Mthalane is fourth in the flyweight division, Tommy Oosthuizen fifth among the super-middleweights and Hekkie Budler seventh on the strawweight list.

Mthalane is the IBF champion and Oosthuizen and Budler hold IBO titles.

IBO champions Chris van Heerden (welterweight), Simphiwe Vetyeka (featherweight) and Gideon Buthelezi (junior flyweight) are not among the top ten in their divisions on the Ring’s list.

Joyi, who is scheduled to challenge Budler for his IBO title at Emperors Palace in June, is higher on the magazine’s list of strawweights than the champion is.

IBO titles are regarded in many countries as less prestigious than those of the leading organisations, the WBA, WBC and IBF.