A Roman Empire Upon Us: Pound for Pound Update
Oct 20, 2015 • 7:39 AM ET
By Cliff Rold
Ring Magazine, Sports Illustrated and ESPN, and this author’s fellows at TBRB had no problem crowning him upon the retirement of Floyd Mayweather. Why the wait here?
That can be answered with another question: with a fight looming against the most dangerous puncher he’d faced yet, what was the hurry? The results are in. Roman Gonzalez last Saturday faced down a determined Brian Viloria. The best the former Olympian and two-division titlist could do with an edge in speed and his own considerable knockout power was keep it about even for four rounds.
At 28 years old, Roman Gonzalez is in the flush of his prime. He is the best fighter in any weight class in the world right now.
What of the rest of the top ten?
Andre Ward’s return to the ring in June makes a case for his return but where? His run from Mikkel Kessler to Chad Dawson from 2009-12 put his overall resume on even footing with anyone but 2012 was three years ago. Do we assume he’s just as good as ever against elite competition after long bouts of inactivity?
One name who moves out of the top ten, for now, is Welterweight Timothy Bradley. While he was well ahead, the late struggle with Jesse Vargas hints at a decline that also seemed to be there in the Chaves fight. He can be reevaluated after his coming fight with Brandon Rios. For now, his recent form is less impressive than the men just behind him (Juan Francisco Estrada and Terrence Crawford) and the new number ten.
Last ratings update: May 20, 2015
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
