Ring Ratings Update: Golovkin advances in pound-for-pound ratings

Feb

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

There was nowhere for Gennady Golovkin, THE RING’s No. 1-rated middleweight, to advance in the magazine’s 160-pound rankings after he scored his 19^th consecutive stoppage against courageous Martin Murray this past Saturday, but the undefeated WBA beltholder moved up a notch in the pound-for-pound top 10.

Golovkin (32-0, 29 knockouts), who made the 13^th defense of his WBA title, switches places with former middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs), moving up to No. 9, while Alvarez drops to No. 10.

Numerous RING-rated fighters were in action in recent weeks, which sparked some changes in the magazine’s divisional rankings.

Super middleweight: No. 2-rated Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28 KOs) beat unrated Paul Smith on points to retain his WBO title. No change.

Middleweight: No. 1-rated Golovkin broke down No. 6-rated Murray (29-2-1, 12 KOs) to an 11^th-round stoppage. Murray will drop one spot, trading places with Andy Lee (34-2, 24 KOs).

Lightweight: Kevin Mitchell (39-2, 29 KOs) looked sharp stopping No. 8-rated Daniel Estrada in eight rounds on Jan. 31. The British standout took the No. 8 spot from the former title challenger from Mexico to get back into the rankings.

Junior featherweight: No. 4-rated Genesis Servania (26-0 11 KOs) won a 12-round unanimous decision over unrated Juan Luis Hernandez on Feb. 7. No change.

Junior bantamweight: No. 6-rated Arthur Villanueva (27-0, 14 KOs) won a 10-round unanimous decision over former world titleholder Julio Cesar Miranda on Feb. 7. No change.

Strawweight: No. 1-rated Hekkie Budler (28-1, 9 KOs) retained his WBA title with a points win over unrated Jesus Silvestre. No. 7-rated Oswaldo Novoa (14-5-2, 9 KOs) and unrated Mario Andrade fought to a 10-round draw. Budler remains at No. 1, while Novoa dropd from No. 7 to No. 10.

No. 4-rated Wanheng Menayothin (37-0, 12 KOs) retained his WBC title with a 12-round unanimous decision over previous unbeaten JeffreyGalero on Feb. 5. A discussion was had with panelists and it was been decided that Menayothin will switch places with 19-year-old Japanese phenom Kosei Tanaka (4-0, 2 KOs) based on what the Thai veteran has achieved so far. Menayothin moved to No. 3; Tanaka moved down No. 4.

Chuck Giampa is THE RING Ratings Chairman. He can be emailed at [email protected]