The Philippines was left without a world boxing champion once more when Manny Pacquiao yielded his International Boxing Federation (IBF) superbantamweight title yesterday and paved the way for leading available contender Jose Luis Valbuena to face Israel Vasquez for the vacant throne.
Pacquiao gained recognition from the prestigious monthly publication Ring Magazine as the consensus world featherweight champion for his November knockout win over Marco Antonio Barrera but the feat was ignored by the global alphabet soup governing bodies which recognize their own titleholders. In effect, he is the uncrowned champion with no belt from the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA) or the IBF.
