PACQUIAO LEADING CONTENDER FOR RING FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 20 Dec 2006
The respected Editor-on-Chief of the prestigious Ring Magazine, Nigel Collins, says Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao is “a leading candidate for the Ring’s Fighter of the Year award” but that Ring will not finalize matters for a week or so.
The editor of the Ring which is regarded as the “Bible of boxing” in a note to Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today said that while Pacquiao is No. 2 in the magazine’s pound-for-pound rankings behind “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, the Filipino southpaw “will probably take over top spot if things keep going in the current direction.”
Collins sent us the latest issue (March 2007) of Ring Magazine along with his note which has, in the words of Collins himself, “a great image of Manny on the cover. It's the first time he’s been on the cover of The Ring solo.” In his two previous cover appearances Pacquiao was with other boxers.
In his column “Ringside,” Collins states that although Mayweather and Pacquiao are unquestionably two of the sport’s finest practiotioners, “when it comes to providing entertainment ‘Pac-Man’ is so far ahead of ‘Pretty Boy’, they’re not even in the same league.” Collins concedes that this skews things in an “uncomfortable way” adding that “if the best fighter in the world (Mayweather) is a bore to watch, why should we care about him, or, more importantly, pay $50 to watch him fight on pay-per-view?”
The Ring editor-in-chief suggests that perhaps a happier alternative would be what he would call the “dollar-for-dollar” ratings which is a listing of the fighters, regardless of weight class, who give boxing consumers the " biggest bang for their bucks." Comparing the fighters in his newly minted category, Collins says that when it comes to which group he’d rather watch, “ its no contest; the dollar-for-dollar dudes come out on top every time.”
Pacquiao who Collins describes as a “once in a lifetime phenomenon” is No. 1 with Jorge Arce, the charismatic kamikaze at No. 2. The list also includes Jose Luis Castillo, Rafael Marquez, Israel Vasquez, Vic Darchinyan, Shane Mosley, Marco Antonio Barrera, Antonio Margarito and Jorge Barrios in the top ten. Mayweather is not even mentioned in the list although Collins emphasizes that Ring has no intention of dropping the pound-for-pound ratings in favor of dollar-for-dollar rankings. However, he says the new method is an alternative way of “looking at the men who make boxing so special.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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