The RING Magazine has decided to put both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the No. 2 spot of the top pound-for-pound list, leaving the No. 1 rank vacant.
Despite Mayweather’s unanimous decision win over Miguel Cotto, editors of The RING said the unbeaten American didn’t do enough to overtake Pacquiao in the widely accepted pound-for-pound rankings.
“The editors decided that Mayweather did enough against Cotto to pull even with Pacquiao but not ahead of him. Thus, we decided to leave the No. 1 position vacant, meaning Pacquiao and Mayweather are now tied at No. 2,” said RING editor Michael Rosenthal.
Rosenthal said Pacquiao can break the deadlock if he pulls off an exceptional performance against Timothy Bradley this coming June 9. The Pacquiao vs Bradley fight will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
If the Pacquiao and Mayweather’s ratings remain the same even after the Bradley fight, the RING staff will have to wait for the super-fight to materialize.
“Pacquiao and Mayweather could decide who is No. 1 by fighting one another. We think everyone would agree that that is the best way to determine such things,” said Rosenthal.
It was earlier reported that Mayweather topped the pound-for-pound poll conducted by the RING. Mayweather received 5.5 first-place votes, while Pacquiao got 3.5. The result, however, was not officially released pending consensus among the RING editors.
