RING MAGAZINE?S LATEST RATINGS OPEN TO QUESTION
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 05 May 2010
Ring Magazine which prides itself on being the ?Bible of Boxing? somehow appears to have bent if not broken its commandments.
While Ring which is owned by Golden Boy Promotions Oscar De La Hoya continues to list ?Fighter of the Decade? and the acknowledged ?Hero of Asia? Manny Pacquiao as the pound-for-pound king it has, by some strange twist, has elevated Floyd Mayweather Jr to No. 1 welterweight overtaking Pacquiao who was formally number 1 with the slot reserved for welterweight champion vacant.
Of course the credibility and integrity of Ring Magazine has been clearly eroded and questioned by boxing writers in the US itself after De La Hoya who is a promoter and handles fighters under the Golden Boy Promotions banner bought the magazine.
In the latest ratings released on May 4, Ring Magazine moved Mayweather, presumably because of his unanimous twelve round decision over Shane Mosley from No. 3 which he occupied previously, behind Pacquiao and Mosley who was No.2 to No.1 while dropping Pacquiao, for no apparent reason, from No.1 to No.2.
In its preamble about its ratings the Ring states that ?championship vacancies can be filled by winning a box-off between the Ring?s number one and number two contenders or in certain instances a box-off between our number one and number three contenders.?
Even though the questionable rating change is not a championship change, applying the same principle it seems there was no basis for Mayweather being elevated to No. 1 over Pacquiao who, in his last fight in November scored an impressive 12th round TKO over WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, a young and tough champion.
While Mayweather did look impressive after the second round when he was on the verge of being knocked out, he handily beat an ageing 38 year old who visibly tired after two rounds and hadn?t fought in 15 months.
The Ring Ratings are compiled by the magazine?s editorial board headed by Nigel Collins with the participation of the Ring Ratings Panel of boxing journalists from around the world.
A cursory glance at the panel of boxing journalists reveals no Asians in the roster, not even Japan?s Joe Koizumi who was elevated to the Boxing ?Hall of Fame.? While Asian Boxing News is represented in the panel it is a Thailand-based internet site headed by American Scott Mallon. The panel itself is heavily loaded with American boxing writers.
It is interesting to note that the Boxing Writers Association of America not so long ago voted Pacquiao the ?Fighter of the Year? for 2009 as well as the ?Fighter of the Decade? by an overwhelming 2 to 1 margin over Mayweather.
Andre Berto who hasn?t fought and called off a fight with Mosley because of the devastating earthquake in Haiti jumped from No. 6 to No. 3 while Mosley after that dismaying performance dropped only two rungs from 2 to 4 while Cotto dropped from 4 to 5 even without a fight.
Juan Manuel Marquez who is promoted by Golden Boy was ranked No. 3 in the pound-for-pound list despite being beaten by both Pacquiao and Mayweather with Mosley dropped to No. 5 and Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? listed at No. 4.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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