Pacquiao tops Bleacher Report’s P4P ranking
06/22/2011
GMANews
Manny Pacquiao, with 2011 now on its halfway mark, remains the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter, according to the rankings released by bleacher report.com columnist Bill Jackson.
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The Filipino ring icon has pummeled his last 15 opponents since suffering a unanimous decision loss against Mexican Erik Morales on March 19, 2005. Former welterweight champion and future Hall of Famer Sugar Shane Mosley is the latest to taste Pacquiao’s wrath.
A third installment of his long-time, rivalry with Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez is up next for the eight-time world champion, in a bout Jackson considers as ‘a fight for (Pacquiao’s) legacy.’
And granting the 32-year-old Pacquiao (53-3, 38 KOs) gets past the ageing Marquez, Jackson said there’s no other sensible opponent for the fighting Congressman of Sarangani than unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“It is hard to envision what is left for him (Pacquiao) other than a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr," said Jackson.
But given the animosity that had grown between the camps of Pacquiao and Mayweather – in the light of the accusations made by Floyd Jr. that the Filipino is using performance enhancing drugs – Jackson said that he has ‘given up on ever seeing (the) fight’.
“Everything aside, Pacquiao is very clearly the best fighter in the world."
Middleweight king and 2010 Fighter of the Year Sergio Martinez is second on Jackson’s list, followed by Mayweather Jr. at third.
Initially, the 34-year-old American wasn’t’ included in Jackson’s list, but then again, chose to put him at No. 3 after the undefeated fighter decided to come out of a 16-month retirement and face welterweight champion Victor Ortiz.
“With a contract recently signed to face welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz in September, he is officially relevant for the time being," said Jackson.
“Most are connecting the dots that Ortiz is a powerful southpaw and could be getting Mayweather ready for the ever-expiring bout with Manny Pacquiao, but I refuse to buy into any of that. Yes, it would be nice, but let's all just stop talking about that bout for a while and try to enjoy what we get."
Mexican Marquez’s decision to fight again as a lightweight, after a failed bid in the welterweight division, has worked in his favor where he scored convincing wins against former world champions Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis to earn the No. 4 ranking in Jackson’s pound-for-pound list.
Another Filipino fighter, Nonito Donaire Jr., rounds up the Top 5 choices, thanks mainly to his sensational, one-punch knockout victory over tough Mexican Fernando Montiel to unify the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight titles.
Although Donaire’s contractual dispute with promoter Top Rank has momentarily put his career on hold, Jackson said the ‘Filipino Flash’ is “clearly one of the most talented boxers around."
“A bout with the winner of Showtime's bantamweight tournament would please all boxing fans. Hopefully, it gets put together at the end of the year," said Jackson.
Completing the list are Timothy Bradley (sixth), Giovanni Segura (seventh), Wladimir Klitschko (eighth), Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (ninth), Andre Ward (10th), Bernard Hopkins (11th), Miguel Cotto (12th), Yuriokis Gamboa (13th), Amir Khan (14th), Carl Froch (15th), Paul Williams (16th), Lucian Bute (17th), Tomasz Adamek (18th), Vitali Klitschko (19th), David Haye (20th), Juan Manuel Lopez (21st), Fernando Montiel (22nd), Chris John (23rd), Victor Ortiz (24th) and Devon Alexander (25th). – JVP, GMA News
The Filipino ring icon has pummeled his last 15 opponents since suffering a unanimous decision loss against Mexican Erik Morales on March 19, 2005. Former welterweight champion and future Hall of Famer Sugar Shane Mosley is the latest to taste Pacquiao’s wrath.
A third installment of his long-time, rivalry with Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez is up next for the eight-time world champion, in a bout Jackson considers as ‘a fight for (Pacquiao’s) legacy.’
And granting the 32-year-old Pacquiao (53-3, 38 KOs) gets past the ageing Marquez, Jackson said there’s no other sensible opponent for the fighting Congressman of Sarangani than unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“It is hard to envision what is left for him (Pacquiao) other than a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr," said Jackson.
But given the animosity that had grown between the camps of Pacquiao and Mayweather – in the light of the accusations made by Floyd Jr. that the Filipino is using performance enhancing drugs – Jackson said that he has ‘given up on ever seeing (the) fight’.
“Everything aside, Pacquiao is very clearly the best fighter in the world."
Middleweight king and 2010 Fighter of the Year Sergio Martinez is second on Jackson’s list, followed by Mayweather Jr. at third.
Initially, the 34-year-old American wasn’t’ included in Jackson’s list, but then again, chose to put him at No. 3 after the undefeated fighter decided to come out of a 16-month retirement and face welterweight champion Victor Ortiz.
“With a contract recently signed to face welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz in September, he is officially relevant for the time being," said Jackson.
“Most are connecting the dots that Ortiz is a powerful southpaw and could be getting Mayweather ready for the ever-expiring bout with Manny Pacquiao, but I refuse to buy into any of that. Yes, it would be nice, but let's all just stop talking about that bout for a while and try to enjoy what we get."
Mexican Marquez’s decision to fight again as a lightweight, after a failed bid in the welterweight division, has worked in his favor where he scored convincing wins against former world champions Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis to earn the No. 4 ranking in Jackson’s pound-for-pound list.
Another Filipino fighter, Nonito Donaire Jr., rounds up the Top 5 choices, thanks mainly to his sensational, one-punch knockout victory over tough Mexican Fernando Montiel to unify the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight titles.
Although Donaire’s contractual dispute with promoter Top Rank has momentarily put his career on hold, Jackson said the ‘Filipino Flash’ is “clearly one of the most talented boxers around."
“A bout with the winner of Showtime's bantamweight tournament would please all boxing fans. Hopefully, it gets put together at the end of the year," said Jackson.
Completing the list are Timothy Bradley (sixth), Giovanni Segura (seventh), Wladimir Klitschko (eighth), Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (ninth), Andre Ward (10th), Bernard Hopkins (11th), Miguel Cotto (12th), Yuriokis Gamboa (13th), Amir Khan (14th), Carl Froch (15th), Paul Williams (16th), Lucian Bute (17th), Tomasz Adamek (18th), Vitali Klitschko (19th), David Haye (20th), Juan Manuel Lopez (21st), Fernando Montiel (22nd), Chris John (23rd), Victor Ortiz (24th) and Devon Alexander (25th). – JVP, GMA News
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