Boxing News 2015: With Floyd Mayweather Gone, There’s A New Pound For Pound King

Sep 12, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Floyd Mayweather kneels after the final round against Andre Berto (not pictured) in their WBA/WBC welterweight title bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Mayweather won via unanimous decision. Reuters/Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

There is a new boxer at the top of the pound for pound rankings after Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired from the sport with Roman Gonzales of Nicaragua taking over the number one spot, according to the new list published by Ring Magazine.

Gonzales (43-0-0, 37 knockouts), who was previously ranked at No.2 behind Mayweather, is coming off a convincing second round technical knockout victory over Edgar Sosa in a fight last May when he retained his World Boxing Council flyweight title.

Mayweather finished off his career with wins over Manny Pacquiao last May and Andre Berto this September to protect his undefeated record at 49-0-0 (26 knockouts) before retiring from the sport. Mayweather expectedly became unranked after the retirement while Pacquiao dropped all the way to No. 8 after his loss to Mayweather and inactivity due to a shoulder injury he aggravated during the Mayweather fight.

The Ring Magazine’s pound for pound rankings is widely recognized in the sport as the most reliable list for the top fighters, regardless of the weight class of the boxers. According to the Ring’s ratings policy, it bases the rankings on fight results, performance and track record of the boxers.

Gonzales, who is from Barrio La Esperanza, Managua in Nicaragua, made his pro debut in 2005 and is currently on a nine-fight winning streak where he won via a knockout. This includes a 9th round TKO of Akira Yaegashi of Japan in 2014 when he won the WBC flyweight championship. He has since defended the flyweight belt twice over the last 10 months.

Here’s the complete list of Top 10 fighters in Ring Magazine’s pound for pound rankings:
1. Roman Gonzales (Nicaragua, flyweight) – 43-0-0 (37 KOs)
2. Andre Ward (USA, super middleweight) – 28-0-0 (15 KOs)
3. Sergey Kovalev (Russia, light heavyweight) – 28-0-1 (25 KOs)
4. Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan, middleweight) – 33-0-0 (30 KOs)
5. Guillermo Rigondeaux (Cuba, junior featherweight) – 15-0-0 (10 KOs)
6. Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine, heavyweight) - 64-3-0 (53 KOs)
7. Terence Crawford (USA, junior welterweight) – 26-0-0 (16 KOs)
8. Manny Pacquiao (Philippines, welterweight) - 57-6-2 (38 KOs)
9. Shinshuke Yamanaka (Japan, bantamweight) - 23-0-2 (17 KOs)
10. Kell Brook (UK, welterweight) - 35-0-0 (24 KOs)