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RING Ratings Update: Canelo-GGG changes nothing

Photo by Matt Heasley
Fighters Network
20
Sep

A draw generally doesn’t shake things up. And that’s the case with the RING Ratings after the Canelo-GGG fight.

Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez remained in the positions they held going into the fight in both the pound-for-pound Top 10 and in the middleweight ratings following their controversial split-decision draw Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Golovkin remains No. 2 pound for pound, the same for Canelo at No. 7. The Editorial Board didn’t feel GGG should supplant No. 1 Andre Ward, who is coming off a knockout of then-No. 2 Sergey Kovalev. And Canelo shouldn’t move up in spite of his strong performance because of consensus, which had Golovkin winning.

Canelo retains his RING middleweight title because of the draw, just as Golovkin keeps his sanctioning-body titles.



Remember: Canelo beat then-middleweight champ Miguel Cotto, who took the title from Sergio Martinez, who took it from Kelly Pavlik, who took it from Jermain Taylor, who took it from Bernard Hopkins, who was the first RING middleweight champ after the magazine’s titles were reinstituted.

Some believe Canelo should never have been recognized as RING champion because the Cotto fight took place at a catchweight of 155 pounds, five below the division limit. (For the record: Cotto-Martinez was fought at a catchweight of 159.) Canelo also defended the title against Amir Khan with the same 155-pound catchweight.

The RING has no policy in place to prohibit catchweights in championship fights. And the Editorial Board as a whole believes no such a policy should be instituted; if the champion and challenger agree to a catchweight below the division limit, it’s up to them.

And, finally, Canelo gave up his WBC title over a dispute with the sanctioning body but never relinquished his RING title.

Golovkin remains the No. 1-rated middleweight.

In other divisions:

SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS

Callum Smith (No. 5 last week) and Andre Dirrell (No. 4 last week) switch places after Smith outpointed Erik Skoglund as part of the World Boxing Super Series on Saturday in Liverpool.

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHTS

Viktor Postol (No. 1 last week) outpointed Jamshidbek Najmiddinov (unrated last week) in his comeback fight Saturday in Ukraine but had to survive a hard knockdown to do it. Thus, he switches places with Mikey Garcia (No. 2 last week).

FEATHERWEIGHTS

Jo Jo Diaz (No. 7 last week) held his position after outpointing late-replacement Rafael Rivera (unrated last week) on the Canelo-GGG card.

Also, Jesus Rojas (unrated last week) maintained his hot streak by stopping capable Claudio Marrero (unrated last week) on Friday in Las Vegas. Rojas enters at No. 10. That pushes out No. 9 Jorge Lara, who had been relatively inactive and had to pull out of the Diaz fight after injuring himself in a fall. Scott Quigg (No. 10 last week) moves up one notch.

JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHT

Diego De La Hoya (No. 6 last week) looked sharp in his one-sided decision over Randy Caballero (unrated last week) on the Canelo-GGG card. Also, Ryosuke Iwasa (unrated last week) stopped Yukinori Oguni (No. 8 last week) on Wednesday in Japan. As a result of those fights and general housekeeping, the new 122-pound Top 10 looks like this:

  1. Guillermo Rigondeaux
  2. Jessie Magdaleno
  3. Rey Vargas
  4. Diego De La Hoya
  5. Nonito Donaire
  6. Moises Flores
  7. Hugo Ruiz
  8. Daniel Roman
  9. Ryosuke Iwasa
  10. Julio Ceja

JUNIOR BANTAMWEIGHT

Jonas Sultan (unrated last week) outpointed fellow Filipino Johnriel Casimero (No. last week) on Saturday in Cebu City. As a result, Casimero drops out and Sultan enters at No. 10.

JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT

Kosei Tanaka (No. 2 last week) stopped Rangsan Chayanram (unrated last week) on Wednesday in Japan. Thus, he supplants Pedro Guevara (No. 1 last week) atop the list. Guevara hasn’t had a notable opponent since 2015, although he’s scheduled to face Ken Shiro on October 22.

Also, Milan Melindo (No. 4 last week) narrowly outpointed Hekkie Budler (No. 9 last week) on Saturday in the Philippines. Melindo and Ryoichi Taguchi (No. 3 last week) change places. Budler drops one notch.

 

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