RING RATINGS UPDATE:Fighters moving up in weight hold position

The decisions of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley and Timothy Bradley to move up in weight for their next fights raised questions about their current status.

A member of the Ratings Advisory Panel suggested we consider dropping Mayweather from the welterweight ratings (where he is No. 2) because he is scheduled to fight Miguel Cotto at junior middleweight on May 5.

The panel member pointed out that Marco Huck was dropped for the same reason.

The Editorial Board decided against dropping Mayweather because it is clear that he is a welterweight who took the fight with Cotto only because of economics. A member of the Mayweather camp said he expects the fighter to come in below 154 pounds when he meets Cotto.

And even if he beats Cotto, Mayweather would likely move back down to his natural weight. The only fight that would make sense for him at 154 is Canelo Alvarez.

The same can’t be said of Huck. He also moved up in weight – from cruiserweight to heavyweight – with big paydays in mind. However, if he beats Alexander Povetkin on Feb. 25, he will almost certainly remain a heavyweight in hopes of realizing his ultimate goal: meeting one of the Klitschko brothers.

In other words, his intention clearly was to fight as a heavyweight going forward.

The Editorial Board also decided to keep Bradley (rated No. 1) in the 140-pound ratings for reasons similar to that of Mayweather: Bradley moved up to 147 for the lucrative opportunity of fighting Manny Pacquiao on June 9.

And, given that Pacquiao is a small welterweight, it's likely that both he and Bradley will come in somewhere between 140 and 147 for their matchup.

Bradley could decide to remain at welterweight should he beat Pacquiao but, according to advisor Cameron Dunkin, “there’s a very good chance that Tim will fight at 140 pounds again.”

Mosley? His situation is similar to that of Mayweather and Bradley: The No. 10-rated welterweight is moving up to junior middleweight to face Alvarez on the Mayweather-Cotto card because of the payday but could very well fight again at 147.

A compelling factor works against Mosley, though: He hasn’t won a fight in three years. He barely remained in the ratings at all after his horrible performance against Pacquiao last May.

However, in the end, the Editorial Board couldn’t find an obvious replacement for the future hall of famer, who can argue that he lost only to the Nos. 1 and 2 fighters pound for pound in the world the past few years.

Thus, Mosley retains his position for now.



RING RATINGS UPDATE

Junior welterweight: Lucas Matthysse (No. 4 last week) retains his position after stopping unrated Angel Martinez in six round Friday in Argentina.

Lightweight: Kevin Mitchell (No. 5 last week) retains his position after easily outpointing overmatched Felix Lora in a 10-round junior welterweight bout on Friday.

Junior featherweight: Masaaki Serie (No. 9 last week) retains his position after outpointing Yasutaka Ishimoto on Monday.

Junior bantamweight: Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. (unrated last week) outpointed Rodriguo Guerrero (No. 10 last week) to win the IBF title. Sanchez takes Guerrero’s position in the ratings.

Junior flyweight: Johnriel Casimero stopped Luis Lazarte (No. 4 last week) in 10 rounds in Lazarte’s native Buenos Aires, which sparked a riot. Afterward, Lazarte, 40, said he planned to retire.

Thus, Lazarte leaves the ratings. Casimero enters at No. 10.


nutverysad

 

gilberto keb bass is still number 1 at light fly even though number 8 Adrian Hernandez beat him in his last fight.they have some dumb decisions