MANILA, Philippines ? After losing the top spot to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last May, Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao regained his status as the number one pound-for-pound boxer in Yahoo! Sports’ ranking.
According to Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole, the congressman from Sarangani province received 21 of 36 first place votes for a total of 345 points based on their polling this August.
He was 15 points ahead of his closest rival, Mayweather. The unbeaten American garnered 15 of 36 first-place votes for a total of 330 points.
Iole said the botched negotiations between Pacquiao and Mayweather may have influenced the votes.
He said voters were dismayed with Mayweather?s decision to ignore the potential super fight against Pacquiao.
?Mayweather let pass an opportunity to fight Pacquiao on Nov. 13, with one of his advisors denying negotiations had ever taken place despite the fact that promoter Bob Arum and HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg insisted they had,? said Iole in his report.
?Voters clearly were unhappy with Mayweather?s choice and one left him off of his ballot entirely as a result,? he added.
Aside from the Yahoo! ranking, Pacquiao is also at the top spot in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list.
Last May, the outspoken Mayweather snatched the number one ranking from Pacquiao with his brilliant performance against top welterweight Shane Mosley.
Rounding off Yahoo! Sports? pound-for-pound list are:
No. 3 — Paul Williams (230 points) No. 4 — Juan Manuel Marquez (194 points) No. 5 — Chad Dawson (168 points) No. 6 — Sergio Martinez (143 points) No. 7 — Timothy Bradley (83 points) No. 8 — Wladimir Klitschko (82 points) No. 9 — Juan Manuel Lopez (64 points) No. 10 — Andre Ward (61 points)
