By Cliff Rold
With the significant results for the year tallied, and the anticipation for 2010 already building, this marks the final look at the top fighters in the sport for this year.
Not much has changed since Manny Pacquiao’s Welterweight win over Miguel Cotto provided the last shake up, but there has been enough in December to merit some shifts in the ratings. While others move, only one departs.
Exiting the top ten is Cotto. It is no insult to Cotto. The Puerto Rican star has faced a tougher field of comp over the last few years than almost anyone in the sport and deserves full credit for it, but the reality is he has also taken full punishment in the ring. Resume does not, in this case, overcome the combination of the performances of another and two brutal stoppage losses in Cotto’s last four fights.
The focal point remains the top two slots. The clock is ticking and the world will know soon enough whether Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather comes together on March 13, 2010 or not. If the answer is no, it will only mean postponing the inevitable…and probably milking a few extra dollars as the want to see them do battle grows to rabid levels.
Until they lock horns, it’s highly unlikely anyone climbs higher than third. In a sport which manages to field a top ten in seventeen weight classes, that’s not so bad.