Boxing Rankings Shakeup: Will Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Keep His No. 2 Ranking?

After trashing previously undefeated Ukrainian Sergiy “Razor” Dzinziruk to win the WBC Diamond belt, boxing critics and fans expect the Argentinian slugger Sergio Martinez to take the No.1 spot in the upcoming pound-for-pound ranking, which the prestigious Ring Magazine is releasing to the public in less than 24 hours.

But Martinez said he believes Manny Pacquiao would still occupy the top spot in the new Ring ranking which is still being updated as of press time.

Popular sportswriter Ronnie Nathanielsz wrote in his Philboxing column, "Well known boxing writer Lem Satterfield of boxingscene.com quoted Martinez as conceding that Pacquiao is still No.1. Martinez said "Personally, right now, I feel that I'm No. 2 ahead of Mayweather. I feel that Manny Pacquiao is No. 1."

However, Martinez told Satterfield: "But the thing is that if Pacquiao doesn't have a great performance against Mosley, and if he doesn't beat Mosley the way that I beat Dzinziruk, then I'm right there." The Argentine added, "If that doesn't happen, then I should take the No. 1 spot. And, of course, if Mosley beats Pacquiao, then, of course, I'm definitely the No. 1 guy.

Martinez said he feels he's "No.2 ahead of Floyd Mayweather, Jr." If Martinez's statement is to be given credence by the Ring's evaluators, the next big question is, how will Ring rearrange the rankings if Mayweather's No.2 spot is taken over by Martinez?

If Ring follows Martinez's line, the new ranking would have Manny Pacquiao still holding the No.1 spot followed by Martinez, Nonito Donaire for the third spot, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez for the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

There seems to be no problem on the first three spots as it was just a mere exchange of positions between Mayweather and Martinez. The sad outcome however brings Mayweather to fourth place, unless Donaire is downgraded to No. 4 to allow the undefeated boxer to just move down by only one slot.

The next question is, will Donaire accept the downgrade with his sweet smile? Of course he doesn't have much choice because it's Ring's prerogative. But his fans will definitely object to the downgrade because of Donaire's recent sterling performance over Fernando Montiel.

Still. Mayweather will most likely object to his two-rank downgrade and will definitely cite his undefeated pro career.

There seems to be no problem at all on the rankings for the sixth-to-10th slots as they are fairly ranked according to their recent outings, but the first five slots appear to be problematic at this time.

Nathanielsz, who also writes for Inquirer.net said, "Editor-in-Chief Nigel Collins informed the Inquirer early Wednesday 'We just updated The Ring ratings, including pound-for-pound. The results will be posted, along with some quotes, tomorrow (March 16) on ringtv.com.' That would be March 17, Thursday Manila Time."

Collins said “pound-for-pound ratings are subjective with more weight given to opinion, potential and results from all divisions in which the fighter has competed.”