IN a strange twist, Humberto Soto, not Juan Manuel Marquez, is turning out to be the fighter who possesses the skills to beat Manny Pacquiao.
This came out in a survey conducted by the popular Mexican boxing web site box-latino.com, which has been ongoing the last couple of weeks.
As of yesterday, the survey shows Soto garnering a 55.4-percent approval out of the 15,946 respondents.
In second place is Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero, the current World Boxing Association (WBA) super-featherweight champion.
Valero has scored 22 knockouts in as many wins and has been fighting in Japan, Venezuela and Panama the last three years under Japanese promoter Akihiko Honda.
The 25-year-old Valero, however, is banned to fight in the United States since he underwent head surgery after suffering injuries because of a motorcycle accident in February 2001.
?I agree with the survey. I also believe Soto has the skills to give Manny a real tough fight,? said Rex ?Wakee? Salud, touted as a close confidante of Pacquiao, told the BusinessMirror.
The 34-year-old Marquez (47-3-1, 35 knockouts), holder of the World Boxing Council (WBC) 130-lb crown, surprisingly garnered a measly 2.5-percent approval mark.
Experts have been labeling the 34-year-old Marquez as a fighter who has a decent chance of beating Pacquiao, widely considered as the best fighter in the 130-lb division.
Marquez won the WBC belt by decisioning Mexican icon Marco Antonio Barrera in March at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao also dealt Barrera a resounding 12-round defeat earlier this month, also in Las Vegas.
Marquez will defend his WBC crown against former American Olympian Rocky Juarez on November 3 at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona. Juarez twice bowed to Barrera via 12-round verdicts.
Marquez is believed to be the top marquee challenger for Pacquiao because of his spectacular recovery from three first-round knockdowns in their initial encounter in May of 2004. In that fight, Marquez remarkably came back by salvaging a 12-round split draw.
Another fighter included in the survey is Joan Guzman of the Dominican Republic. He is the undefeated holder of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-featherweight tiara.
The 31-year-old Guzman (27-0, 17 knockouts), just like Marquez, has been the least favored Pacquiao foe with a paltry 0.5 percent in that same Mexican survey.
The 27-year-old Soto (43-5-2, 27 knockouts) will battle Guzman in a 12-round WBO title match on November 17 at the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
?The problem is Soto is not a popular fighter and is not expected to create quite a stir should he get the chance to battle Pacquiao next,? added Salud in the same interview.
If ever, one way of selling a Pacquiao-Soto match is the fact that the Mexican dealt Pacquiao?s younger brother Bobby a humiliating eighth-round knockout loss last June at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Pacquiao?s American promoters Top Rank Inc. and Golden Boy Promotions are eyeing a March date for the Filipino boxing sensation who is currently trying to complete a crash course in business at the Notre Dame University in General Santos City.
