New Ring Magazine rankings, Ryan Garcia #2 at lightweight

By Boxing News - 01/06/2021 - Comments

By Jeff Aronow: Ring Magazine has come out with their new updated rankings for the lightweight division, and surprisingly, Ryan Garcia is ranked #2 above Devin Haney at the #3 position.

You won’t get many arguments from fans about the unbeaten ‘King’ Ryan (21-0, 18 KOs) being ranked above WBC lightweight champion Haney (25-0, 15 KOs) in the updated Ring Magazine rankings.

Haney, 22, hasn’t distinguished himself since he was elevated to WBC 135-lb champion in 2019 by the World Boxing Council outside of the ring.

Ryan’s seventh-round KO win over Luke Campbell last weekend in Dallas, Texas, put him above what Haney has done as a pro. Haney’s recent lackluster win over 38-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa was boring to watch, and it wasn’t the type of performance that suggests that he belongs in the top at 135.

The real shocker for the list is the absence of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who holds the WBA ‘regular’ lightweight title. It doesn’t make sense for Tank Davis to not included on Ring Magazine’s list. He’s not only a world champion, but he’s perhaps the best fighter in the 135-lb division at this stage.

Image: New Ring Magazine rankings, Ryan Garcia #2 at lightweight

While it’s a fact that Tank (24-0, 23 KOs) holds the WBA super featherweight title, but he had his WBA 135-lb belt up for grabs for his last battle against Leo Santa Cruz.

It’s unclear if The Ring has a rule about fighters only receiving a top ranking based on one division rather than two, but that’s the only thing that makes sense. With Tank’s talent, he should be in the top three at 135.

Champion: Teofimo Lopez
1. Vasyl Lomachenko
2. Ryan Garcia
3. Devin Haney
4. Richard Commey
5. Robert Easter Jr
6. Luke Campbell
7. Javier Fortuna
8. Jorge Linares
9. George Kambosos Jr
10. Masayoshi Nakatani

Ring Magazine will have to make some adjustments in their rankings soon if Teofimo chooses to make excuses for why he doesn’t need to face the best at 135. He wants to face George Kambosos Jr next, and he’s already rejected talk of giving Lomachenko (14-2, 10 KOs) a rematch.

Also, Teofimo says that the other top fighters at 135 need to start fighting each other so that they can earn a fight against him. Teofimo is saying that he’s going to be fighting obscure opposition not the best guys.

Image: New Ring Magazine rankings, Ryan Garcia #2 at lightweight

If he’s going to milk his titles for a prolonged period of time, the Ring Magainze staff will need to ignore his championship status and pick a different fighter to place a the top of the list.

For someone to become the Ring Magazine champion, they’ll have to beat Teofimo. Even if he chooses to milk his title for the next couple of years, he’s going to stay Ring chmpion.

We’ve seen on many occasions in the past where a fighter will win the Ring title, and then take easy fights for two to three years, and wind up being surpassed young lions that are hungry.

At that point, Ring Magazine looks bad in having a champion that is no longer viewed as #1. With Teofimo, with the way he’s talking, he’s already letting boxing fans know that he’s not going to be taking any risks with his career before he moves up to 140.