By Allan Fox: In a very controversial move, Ring Magazine has elevated light heavyweight champion Andre “SOG” Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) to the No.1 spot in their pound-for-pound ratings. The previous No.1, former WBC super flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, has been demoted to No.4 in the Ring ratings following his 12 round majority decision loss last Saturday night to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Removing Roman Gonzalez from the No.1 pound for pound spot was a must, but putting Ward at the No.1 spot doesn’t make a lot of sense. Having Ward at No.1 in the ratings is a very questionable move, because he’s coming off of controversial 12 round unanimous decision win over Sergery Kovalev last November.
Ward wasn’t given the No.1 pound for pound ratings at that time by Ring Magazine due in part to the controversy surrounding the fight. The win by Ward was viewed by many boxing fans as a gift decision that he did not deserve. Ward spent much of the grabbing Kovalev and grappling with him for long periods of time while the referee just stood and watched. The referee was there in body, but he didn’t do much in terms of forcing the action.
Kovalev is at the No.2 spot in the Ring’s ratings while middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is at No3. Golovkin likely would have been moved to No.1 in the Ring’s ratings if his win over Daniel Jacobs last Saturday had been more decisive.
Here are the NEW pound-for-pound top 10 ratings:
1. Andre Ward
2. Sergey Kovalev
3. Gennady Golovkin
4. Roman Gonzalez
5. Terence Crawford
6. Vasyl Lomachenko
7. Guillermo Rigondeaux
8. Canelo Alvarez
9. Shinsuke Yamanaka
10. Naoya Inoue
You can argue that Lomachenko should have been moved to the No.1 spot due to his recent wins looking a lot more decisive than Ward’s unimpressive victory over Kovalev last November. Lomachenko has been dominating his opponents lately. His victories over Roman “Rocky” Martinez and Nicholas Walters were both very impressive.
Ward still has a lot to prove in a rematch against Kovalev. Until Ward shows that he can beat Kovalev without controversy and without wrestling him in a boring match, I don’t think he rates the No.1 pound for pound list. The two fighters still haven’t agreed on a rematch as of yet, and it’s unclear when the match will take place. Ward wants a better deal than the previous contract figures, but it’s unclear whether he’s going to get that deal.