Mayweather Strengthens Hold, Haye Returns: Boxing Rankings For May 8

Not a ton of movement this week, but a return and some small steps, plus a decision on what to do with Floyd Mayweather following his win over Miguel Cotto last week at 154 pounds. Let's start with Floyd.

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Welterweight and Junior Middleweight

I've chosen to keep Floyd Mayweather (43-0, 26 KO) as the No. 1 welterweight right now, and not move him up to junior middleweight. He's headed to the hoosegow soon anyway, so nothing is really going to change for him, and chances are he won't be fighting long term at 154 pounds. Whatever spin they want to throw out with the PR people about fighting Miguel Cotto at his weight, unlike that scum Pacquiao, that was really more about out-negotiating Top Rank for Cotto's services.

Mayweather's team had no issue going up to a full 154 for that fight, probably because they saw no disadvantages for them. Pacquiao stated after he fought Antonio Margarito at 150 that he didn't want to fight over 147 anymore. Mayweather won the Cotto prize with a better offer that suited Cotto. But Mayweather is no junior middleweight, and if he has his druthers going forward, he'll be fighting at 147.

Similarly, I can't see a good reason to drop Cotto from the top spot at 154. He fought the best boxer on the planet, fought him well, and hung in for 12 full in a good fight. Canelo Alvarez's win over washed-up Shane Mosley was emphatic and decisive, but it was still just washed-up Shane Mosley. In a perfect world, we'd be seeing Cotto vs Canelo this fall, but this world is far from perfect, and Golden Boy likely won't want to risk young Canelo, the future Mayweather opponent, on Cotto right now. If they can put together two legitimate superstars with zeroes in the L column in 2013 or even 2014, they've got a blockbuster on their hands. Cotto is a big danger to Canelo's "0" right now.

Heavyweight

With Alexander Dimitrenko losing big (but bravely) to Kubrat Pulev on Saturday in Germany, Pulev (16-0, 8 KO) moves up from No. 10 to No. 8, leapfrogging Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora. And that leaves an opening, so everyone welcome back Mr. David Haye, who will end his pretend retirement and get back in the ring on July 14 against Dereck Chisora.

Here's the thing about re-inserting Haye: He was not inactive for one (1) year, and he was not removed because he sucks too much or anything. He was out because I chose to go along with his phony exit from the sport, which was never really officially announced or anything, it was just a license lapsing. Haye (25-2, 23 KO) comes back in at No. 3, exactly where he was when he left. So our 1-4 is again Wladimir, Vitali, Haye, and Adamek. Just like old times.

The other option was Robert Helenius, who is on the shelf right now with an injury that could totally derail his career.

Cruiserweight

Marco Huck hangs on at No. 1 with his draw against Ola Afolabi in a fight that went overlooked from the weekend (as did a few others), while Afolabi moves up from No. 7 to No. 5. That fight was Ola's to lose, and frankly, he lost it by badly fading down the stretch.

Junior Welterweight

I haven't made a decision yet, but when the fight is inevitably fully called off and all that, I'll be flipping Amir Khan back to No. 2 and dropping Lamont Peterson to at least No. 3. It's an odd situation so I'm going to think about it for another week.

Ranked Fighters in Action This Week

Cruiserweight: No. 7 Alexander Alekseev (23-2, 20 KO) vs Firat Arslan (32-5-1, 21 KO)

Middleweight: No. 6 Gennady Golovkin (23-0, 20 KO) vs Makoto Fuchigami (19-6, 10 KO)

Flyweight: No. 2 Brian Viloria (30-3, 17 KO) vs Omar Nino (31-4-2, 13 KO)

Flyweight: No. 9 Julio Cesar Miranda (37-6-1, 29 KO) vs Rodel Mayol (30-5-2, 22 KO)