Neutral Corner P4P: Pacquiao still No.1
Manny Pacquiao throws a right at Shane Mosley during their WBO welterweight title fight. (May 7, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
1. Manny Pacquiao, welterweight, (53-3-2): The WBO welterweight champ is set to take on Juan Manuel Marquez for a third time in November. Could this be a prelude to a fight with Mayweather next May? See Mayweather entry below.
2. Sergio Martinez, middleweight, (47-2-2): Martinez rose to the top with dominating wins over Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams and Serhiy Dzinziruk. With Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Miguel Cotto not in the picture, Martinez will face European champion Darren Barker on October 1.
3. Floyd Mayweather, welterweight, (41-0): We finally have a Mayweather sighting. The undefeated welterweight will take on southpaw Victor Ortiz in September. Why is this significant? Pacquiao is also a southpaw. Don't be surprised if a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happens next May.
4. Nonito Donaire, bantamweight, (26-1): Donaire, the WBC and WBO champ, made himself a household name after a second-round knockout of Fernando Montiel.
5. Timothy Bradley, junior welterweight, (27-0): He’s the best fighter in what is arguably the best weight class in the world. We still don't have a reason why he turned down a guaranteed $1.4 million offer and fight Amir Khan on July 23. Khan is fighting Zab Judah instead, while Bradley doesn't have an opponent.
6. Juan Manuel Marquez, lightweight, (52-5-1): Marquez will get one more chance to topple Manny Pacquiao on November 12. If he does it, he moves up on this list. And we mean way up on this list.
7. Andre Ward, super middleweight, (23-0): Ward hasn’t broken a sweat in the ring in over four years, with easy wins over Arthur Abraham, Sakio Bika, Allan Green and Mikkel Kessler. He’ll face Carl Froch in Showtime’s Super Six final sometime this fall. An easy win in the fight will vault him up on this list.
8. Wladimir Klischko, heavyweight, (55-3): The current IBF and WBO champ will move up with a win over David Haye on July 2. It’s tough for a heavyweight to get a high ranking on a pound-for-pound list, especially when the competition is lacking.
9. Giovani Segura, flyweight, (27-1-1): Segura is the best flyweight in the world and will face Eddy Zuniga on Saturday.
10. Miguel Cotto, junior middleweight, (36-2): All the talk of Cotto being on the decline notwithstanding, the Puerto Rican native still has only two losses. Cotto will face Antonio Margarito on December 3. Barring a loss, it looks like Cotto is on a collision course with Chavez Jr. next May.
Follow Marcus on Twitter: @marchenrysports
