By Cliff Rold
A lot can happen in just a couple of months.
At the last update, Andre Ward was coming off his best win in years, Roman Gonzalez was coming off a controversial first defeat. They stood atop the list with longtime bantamweight titlist Shinsuke Yamanaka crashing the top ten on the eve of his defense against Luis Nery.
Since then, Ward has retired, Gonzalez was knocked out for the first clear loss of his career, and Yamanaka was stopped in his first defeat only for Nery to test positive for PEDs after the fight.
That leaves a possible three openings to be filled. The man right behind Ward and Gonzalez in the last list, Terence Crawford, made himself a rare four-belted undisputed champion at Jr. welterweight in violent, sudden fashion. Gonzalez’s loss came on a card with a case in this top ten for multiple fighters. Despite the loss, should Gonzalez remain considering most thought he won his first fight with Srisaket Sor Rungvisai? What about the victor? Does his win force a place for him considering Gonzalez started the year at number one?
And what about Naoya Inoue and Juan Francisco Estrada? Estrada picked up a solid win over Carlos Cuadras while Inoue, a two-division titlist, passed the eye test in his US debut?
A week later, Gennady Golovkin, previously 6th, was left with a draw many thought a competitive win, retaining his claims to the middleweight crown in his biggest fight to date? Does Golovkin move up? What about Canelo Alvarez?
Are there really any right answers? One thing is certain: with the retirement of Ward, there is no absolute choice for the top spot. Let the debate begin by clicking on the latest:
