PACQUIAO?S RING RATINGS: #1 POUND-FOR-POUND, #2 LIGHTWEIGHT, AND #5 WELTERWEIGHT
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 03 Feb 2009
Manny Pacquiao maybe rated number one pound-for-pound fighter by the authoritative Ring Magazine and its 2008 Fighter of the Year, but he is ranked lesser in the lightweight and welterweight divisions. The Pacman ranks number 5 in the welterweight division and number 2 among the lightweights.
Pacquiao?s being ranked in two weight divisions could be attributed to his being the WBC lightweight champion by virtue of his win over David Diaz, and his upset victory over Golden Boy Oscar de la Hoya in a welterweight fight. De la Hoya happens to be The Ring Magazine?s owner now.
Pacquiao?s next scheduled fight is with Ricky Hatton who happens to be The Ring light-welterweight champion and number 9 pound-for-pound. Hatton sports a record of 45-1-0 (32 KOs) and has stayed in the light-welterweight list for 302 consecutive weeks.
The welterweight title is still vacant with Shane Mosley now rated no. 1 contender with his impressive win over Antonio Margarito. Second in rank is Miguel Cotto and Margarito slips to no. 3. At no.4 is Joshua Clottey of Ghana and Pacquiao is no. 5.
Rounding off the top ten welterweights are: 6. Carlos Quintana of Puerto Rico, 7. Andre Berto of USA, 8. Luis Collazo of USA, 9. Zab Judah of USA, and 10. Isaac Hlatswayo of South Africa.
Juan Manuel Marquez is the Ring Magazine champion in the lightweight category. He acquired this by virtue of his 11th round stoppage of Joel Casamayor. He was also elevated to the number two in the pound-for-pound list.
The lightweight contenders are: 1. Nate Campbell of USA, 2. Pacquiao of the Philippines, 3. Juan Diaz of USA, 4. Casamayor of Cuba, 5. David Diaz of USA, 6. Julio Diaz of Mexico, 7. Antonio Pitalua of Mexico, 8. Michael Katsidis of Australia, 9. Ali Funeka of South Africa, and 10. Yuri Romanov of Belarus.
The Ring Magazine was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the authenticity of the competitiveness of professional wrestling was in doubt, The Ring budged to just a being a boxing publication.
In 2002, The Ring wanted to revive the legitimacy of world champions by declaring their own champions in every division. It was observed that the boxing sanctioning bodies diluted the titles because of unworthy contenders fighting undeserving champions. Another disarray is the stripping of belts due to the refusal of champions to fight because of money matters.
International boxing experts and journalists began to believe in the authenticity of The Ring rankings. There are no sanction fees in title matches and a champion cannot be stripped of the title unless he loses, decides to move up in weight, or retires. Thus it lives up to its moniker as The Bible of Boxing.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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