Pacquiao drops to No. 2 in pound-for-pound list

MANILA, Philippines - For winning a close fight, on a night when almost everyone had hoped he’d score a knockout, Manny Pacquiao has been demoted to No. 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings of Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Yahoo! Sports.

Floyd Mayweather, the undefeated American, moved to the No. 1 spot following a 21-month layoff from December 2007 to September 2009, and three successive wins over Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Victor Ortiz.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, had gone undefeated for more than six years, winning 15 in a row. In the span of time since Mayweather announced his retirement, Pacquiao has won all his nine fights in convincing fashion.

The 32-year-old Filipino fought fighters almost twice his size, and demolished them, from Oscar dela Hoya to Miguel Cotto to Antonio Margarito. He also breezed past Ricky Hatton, Joshua Clottey and Shane Mosley.

Until last Sunday, when he fought Marquez, his fiercest rival inside the ring, for the third time.

Pacquiao had great difficulty against Marquez’s counter-punching style, and almost ran into trouble each time they engaged. But in the end, after 12 rounds, he ended up throwing and landing more punches as the official punch stats showed.

The judges awarded Pacquiao a majority decision, with one draw and two winning scores, and he held on to his WBO welterweight crown.

It was not the best performance for Pacquiao since he assumed the No. 1 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings a few years back. But he pulled off the victory, a very close one, and for that he’s being made to pay the price.

Mayweather, Pacquiao’s fiercest rival outside the ring, gets a free ride back on top, just because Pacquiao wasn’t impressive against Marquez.

Mayweather outfought the smaller version of Marquez in his comeback fight in September 2009, and was rocked by Mosley in the early rounds before scoring a lopsided win in 2010. Last September, he knocked out Ortiz in the fourth round, landing the telling blows when Ortiz wasn’t looking.

If these victories weren’t enough to make Mayweather pound-for-pound king once more, then Pacquiao’s close win over Marquez, a 10-1 underdog, was all that was needed to shake up boxing’s hierarchy.

Ring Magazine, known as the “Bible of Boxing,” had Pacquiao hanging on to the pound-for-pound title after Sunday’s hotly contested match in Las Vegas, as well as www.boxrec.com <http://www.boxrec.com/> , which continued to recognize the Filipino boxer as the best.

Perhaps the only way Pacquiao can regain the lofty status, in the eyes of the boxing experts from Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Yahoo! Sports, is if he beats Mayweather in the fight everybody wants to see.

Until that happens, don’t expect Pacquiao to be back as No. 1.