Ever since suffering that brutal defeat, Haney has appeared utterly ruined. He barely got through an agonizing twelve-round track meet of a fight with Jose Ramirez, before morphing into an absolute parasite in his bout with Brian Norman Jr. Throughout that match, Haney constantly clung to Norman, stifling blows and turning the contest into an ugly, grueling affair. Although his constant holding clearly warranted point deductions or even a disqualification, the referee chose to look the other way. These two lackluster showings made it obvious that the punishment inflicted by Ryan left lasting damage. Haney simply isn’t the competitor he once was.
In the meantime, Ryan secured the WBC crown, overcame Mario Barrios, and absolutely demolished Benn. Conversely, Haney is merely occupying the number-one position with his championship strap while performing like someone terrified of getting hit.
The reasoning of the ranking committee totally crumbles when examining Teofimo Lopez at the third position. Teofimo bested Rolando “Rolly” Romero, the very opponent who defeated Ryan. If direct match results are the metric, then Teofimo should be ranked higher than Ryan. If such results are irrelevant, then keeping Haney at the pinnacle cannot be defended. The electors are applying a unique set of rules to shield Haney while disregarding those same principles for everyone else.
Excluding Richardson Hitchins and Liam Paro from the top ten altogether renders the rankings even more ridiculous. Both contenders have done more than enough to replace declining fighters on the list. Meanwhile, Eimantas Stanionis remains parked at the sixth spot, even though Jaron Ennis thoroughly outclassed him and he hasn’t shown anything new to retain that position.
Furthermore, Rolly somehow holds onto the tenth slot. His victory over Ryan is seemingly significant enough to boost Teofimo’s standing, but it somehow yields no benefits for Rolly’s own ranking.
The voting body for The Ring has put forward an absolute farce. They have positioned a tedious Haney at the very top, left Teofimo trailing behind a fighter whose victor he conquered, kept Stanionis coasting on old glory, and shut out two genuinely deserving top-ten contenders. This is far from a credible rating structure. It is nothing more than blatant favoritism.
