Gonzalez takes Mayweather’s P4P spot; Pacquiao drops to eighth

MANILA, Philippines – Following Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s retirement over the weekend, The Ring Magazine has named Nicaraguan boxer Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez the new pound-for-pound best boxer.

Gonzalez, who is scheduled to defend his WBC flyweight title against Filipino-American fighter Brian Viloria on October 17, has been hailed by the boxing magazine’s ratings panel and editorial board as the no.1 ranked boxer in the world today after Mayweather capped off his 19-year prizefighting career with a lopsided win over Ander Berto on Sunday, September 13 (Manila time).

The 28-year-old puncher from Managua, Nicaragua looked nothing short of spectacular in his previous 9 bouts as he savagely defeated Edgar Sosa, Valentin Leon, Rocky Fuentes, Akira Yaegashi, Juan Purisima, Juan Kantun, Oscar Blanquet, Francisco Rodriguez Jr. and Ronald Barrera.

Gonzalez was followed by former super middleweight champion Andre Ward at no. 2 and unified light heavyweight kingpin Sergey Kovalev at No.3.

WBA welterweight champion Gennady Golovkin is seated at no. 4, while featherweight titleholder Guillermo Rigondeaux occupies the fifth spot in the rankings.

Meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao has downgraded his standing from 6 to 8 after yielding to Mayweather via unanimous decision this past May.

Ahead of Pacquiao in the pound-for-pound rankings are Wladimir Klitschko (6th) and Terence Crawford (7th).

To complete the cast, Shinsuke Yamanaka and Kell Brook made it to the list at 9th and 10th places respectively.

Timothy Bradley and Canelo Alvarez are nowhere to be found in the Top 10, but The Ring’s Michael Rosenthal defended that Brook’s decision wins over Shawn Porter earned him a spot in the pound-for-pound list.

“We considered a number of other fighters for No. 10, including Tim Bradley, Canelo Alvarez, Naoya Inoue and Estrada, but decided upon Brook because of his recent dominance – including a clear decision over Shawn Porter – against good opposition,” he said. – Rappler.com