June featured high drama in the boxing world with the controversial decision of the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley fight. In addition, a late replacement fighter scored a career-defining victory and another tough Cuban boxer continued his run towards the top of his division. On the downside, an emerging young fighter suffered a vicious one-punch knockout. Read below for all of the changes to the SNB Rankings.
Maintained: Manny Pacquiao Count me squarely in the camp that believes that Pacquiao won a convincing decision over Timothy Bradley. Although there were a number of close rounds in the fight, Pacquiao's superior power shots and his overall volume of connected punches were enough to win the majority of the toss-up frames in question. He was a victim of bad judging. Although it was not his best performance, he fought very well and looked comfortable in the ring. He keeps his position as an SNB Elite Fighter.
Maintained: Timothy Bradley It's not a crime to lose an 8-4 decision to one of the top-two fighters in the sport. That Bradley won the official decision is another topic. Nevertheless, Bradley was not embarrassed by Pacquiao and he showed, especially in the last third of the fight, that he belonged in the same ring as the Filipino master. He remains an SNB Elite Fighter.
Elevated: Josesito Lopez Stepping in for Andre Berto, who had failed a drug test, Lopez was a late replacement to face Victor Ortiz. A tough scrapper who had previously lost a few razor-thin decisions, Lopez moved up to welterweight to give Ortiz hell through nine rounds. Lopez broke Ortiz's jaw in two places and Ortiz did not answer the bell in the 10th round. Lopez recently retained the services of influential boxing adviser Al Haymon, so expect to see a lot more of him on U.S. premium television. He enters the SNB Rankings on the Bubbling Under list.
Elevated: Erislandy Lara After a rather lifeless performance against Carlos Molina last year, Lara dropped out of the SNB Rankings. Since that fight, he bested Paul Williams (but lost the decision in a robbery), blew out Ronald Hearns and battered Freddy Hernandez. Lara, like Lopez, has also signed with Haymon and hopefully he can get bigger fights in the junior middleweight division – he has been avoided by many. He re-enters the Rankings on the Bubbling Under list.
Demoted: Mike Jones Jones was cruising to a boring decision win over Randall Bailey on the Pacquiao-Bradley undercard, when Bailey dropped him with a right hand in the 10th round. In the 11th, Bailey landed an uppercut for the ages and Jones' title shot was demolished. Jones will now need to regroup and rebuild momentum in his career. He exits the Bubbling Under list and the SNB Rankings.
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