The Yahoo! Sports monthly rankings underwent big changes in October despite the fact that none of the top-ranked fighters were in action.
Manny Pacquiao, who faces Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas in what is expected to be a high-paced bout, supplanted Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the top spot. Mayweather had a one-point edge over Pacquiao in September, but Pacquiao climbed past him by five points in October.
Three fewer voters participated in the voting in October than did in September and that appeared to help Pacquiao. Pacquiao received 13 of the 25 first-place votes from the elite panel of boxing writers, with Mayweather picking up the other first-place 12 votes.
The difference turned out to be that all of those who did not vote for Pacquiao as No. 1 had him as No. 2. However, Mayweather had nine second-place votes, two third-place votes and one fourth.
That dropped him from the top spot and into second place.
Bernard Hopkins, who last fought on Oct. 18, 2008, when he routed Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City, N.J., also tumbled. Though Hopkins hasn’t fought in more than a year, he was ruled eligible to be voted upon since he has a Dec. 2 fight scheduled against Enrique Ornelas.
But some voters expressed disappointment with Hopkins’ choice of a tune-up opponent as well as his planned 2010 fight against Roy Jones Jr. and either dropped him totally from their top 10 or dropped him in the list.
Hopkins, who was in a tie with Shane Mosley for fourth in September, is now seventh. The other change in the rankings saw Juan Manuel Lopez, who had been No. 9, falling out of the top 10 despite a decision victory over Rogers Mtgawa on Oct. 10. Lopez struggled down the stretch and had to hang on in the final round to win.
Voters opted to dump him because of that and put in former middleweight champion Arthur Abraham in ninth place. Abraham knocked out Jermain Taylor in the 12th round of their opening round match in the Super Six tournament on Oct. 17.
1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 238 (13 of 25 first-place votes) Record: 49-3-2 (37 KOs) Title: Ring Magazine super lightweight championLast outing: TKO2 over Ricky Hatton on May 2Previous ranking: 2Up next: vs. No. 6 Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14Analysis: A Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in 2010 could be the richest bout ever
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Points: 233 (15 of 28 first-place votes) Record: 40-0 (25 KOs) Title: No titleLast outing: W12 over No. 6 Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19Previous ranking: 1Up next: Nothing scheduledAnalysis: Was brilliant in one-sided beatdown
3. Paul Williams
Points: 165Record: 37-1 (27 KOs) Title: Interim WBO junior middleweight championLast outing: W12 over Winky Wright on April 11Previous ranking: 3Up next: Dec. 5 vs. TBAAnalysis: Can he fight and compete in three divisions simultaneously?
4. Shane Mosley
Points: 148Record: 46-5 (39 KOs) Title: WBA welterweight championLast outing: TKO9 over Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24Previous ranking: T4Up next: Welterweight unification fight with Andre Berto in JanuaryAnalysis: On outside looking in on Pacquiao, Mayweather sweepstakes
5. Juan Manuel Marquez
Points: 131Record: 50-5-1 (37 KOs) Title: WBA, WBO, Ring lightweight championLast outing: L12 to No. 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 19Previous ranking: 6Up next: Nothing scheduledAnalysis: Had nothing to offer against Mayweather
6. Miguel Cotto
Points: 129Record: 34-1 (27 KOs) Title: WBO welterweight championLast outing: W12 over Joshua Clottey on June 13Previous ranking: 7Up next: vs. No. 1 Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 in Las VegasAnalysis: Showed much moxie fighting for 10 rounds with deep gash above eye
7. Bernard Hopkins
Points: 115Record: 49-5-1 (32 KOs) Title: Ring light heavyweight championLast outing: W12 over Kelly Pavlik on Oct. 18Previous ranking: T4Up next: vs. Enrique Ornelas on Dec. 2 in PhiladelphiaAnalysis: Needs a win to set up pay-per-view bout in 2009 with Roy Jones Jr.
8. Chad Dawson
Points: 57Record: 28-0 (17 KOs) Title: IBF light heavyweight championLast outing: W12 over Antonio Tarver on May 9Previous ranking: 8Up next: Rematch with Glen Johnson on Nov. 7 in Hartford, Conn. Analysis: Hopes to make statement with clear win over veteran Johnson
9. Arthur Abraham
Points: 43Record: 31-0 (25 KOs) Title: NoneLast outing: TKO12 Jermain Taylor on Oct. 17Previous ranking: NRUp next: vs. Andre Dirrell on Jan. 23 at TBAAnalysis: Could become star in Super Six tournament
10. Wladimir Klitschko
Points: 33Record: 53-3 (47 KOs) Titles: IBF, WBO heavyweight championLast outing: TKO9 over Ruslan Chagaev on June 20Previous ranking: 10Up next: Nothing scheduledAnalysis: Recovering from surgery and won’t fight until early 2010
Also receiving votes: Ivan Calderon 27; Juan Manuel Lopez 19; Israel Vazquez 16; Rafael Marquez 9; Vitali Klitschko 6; Nonito Donaire 4; Chris John 4; Celestino Caballero 3; Timothy Bradley 2; Hozumi Hasegawa 1.
Voting panel: Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News; Paul Upham, Seconds Out; Michael Katz, Gaming Today; Keith Idec, Herald News, New Jersey; Santos Perez, Miami Herald; Kieran Mulvaney, Reuters; Scott Fyfe, Sunday Post, Scotland; Gunnar Meinhardt, Die Welt; Michael Rosenthal, RingTV; Scott Mallon, Asian Boxing News; Marty Mulcahey, MaxBoxing; Dougie Fisher, RingTV; Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports; Raul Alzaga, Primera Hora; T.K. Stewart, BoxingScene; Andrew Eisele, About.com; Tim Smith, New York Daily News; David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press; Dave Cokin, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Thomas Hauser, Seconds Out; Lee Groves, MaxBoxing; Ron Borges, Boston Herald; Thomas Gerbasi, BoxingScene; Steve Cofield, Yahoo! Sports.
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