Voters in the monthly Yahoo! Sports boxing poll faced a difficult decision when compiling their ballots for the June rankings: What to do with Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley and how to regard the outcome of their controversial June 9 bout.
Most of them simply chose to ignore the outcome, though it is clear that Pacquiao’s performance in his split-decision loss to Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden didn’t sit well with voters. Floyd Mayweather Jr., who on May 5 scored a wide unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto, increased his lead over Pacquiao in the race for the top spot in our poll. In voting taken for May’s poll shortly after Mayweather’s win, he received 29 of 39 first-place votes, or 74.4 percent of all votes cast. In June, in voting done shortly after Pacquiao-Bradley, Mayweather received 36 of 44 first-place votes, or 81.8 percent of all votes cast.
So, 7.4 percent of the voters opted to decrease support for Pacquiao in favor of Mayweather.
I am just one of the 46 overall voters on the panel (two failed to submit ballots in June) and my vote counts no more than anyone else’s. But I chose to drop Pacquiao from two to three on my ballot, with Mayweather and Andre Ward ahead of him.
I scored Pacquiao’s Nov. 12 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez a draw, 114-114. Though I believe Pacquiao deserved to win the fight with Bradley, let’s not forget that Pacquiao couldn’t put away a guy who fought on a foot with a torn ligament for 11 rounds. And worse, Bradley injured his right ankle in the fourth or fifth round.
So while Pacquiao looked better against Bradley than he did against Marquez, he’s now coming off two fights in which he was not at his best and couldn’t put away a clearly injured, and limited, fighter.
Ward is a low-key guy and doesn’t have the most exciting style, but he’s extremely effective and has been beating quality opposition by a wide margin. That has to count for something and so, in my poll, I pushed him past Pacquiao.
Eight of the 44 voters this month chose to keep Pacquiao first. He was also voted as low as seventh by one.
As for Bradley, I moved him to fifth. I felt that though he lost, he performed very well against one of the elite fighters in the world. Having done so on injured feet only makes his performance all the more impressive in my mind.
For the record, my votes this month were, in order, for Mayweather, Ward, Pacquiao, Marquez, Bradley, Nonito Donaire, Sergio Martinez, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko and Carl Froch. With that, let’s head to the newest rankings: 1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Points: 431 (36 of 44 first-place votes) Record: 43-0 (26 KOs) Title: WBA super welterweight champion Last outing: W12 over Miguel Cotto on May 5 Previous ranking: 1 Up next:Nothing scheduled Analysis:Will he be same boxer after jail sentence ends?
2. Manny Pacquiao Points: 390 (8 of 44 first-place votes) Record: 54-4-2 (38 KOs) Title: None Last outing: L12 to No. 8 Timothy Bradley on June 9 Previous ranking: 2 Up next:Nov. 10 against TBA Analysis: Hasn’t had a stoppage since Nov. 14, 2009
3. Sergio Martinez Points: 314 Record: 49-2-2 (28 KOs) Title: Ring middleweight champion Last outing: KO11 Matthew Macklin on March 17 Previous ranking: 3 Up next:Sept. 15 vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Las Vegas Analysis: Superior conditioning makes him dangerous late in fights
4. Juan Manuel Marquez Points:270 Record: 54-6-1 (39 KOs) Title:Interim WBO super lightweight champion Last outing: W12 Sergey Fedchenko on April 14 Previous ranking: 4 Up next:TBA Analysis: Hoping for one more shot at Pacquiao
5. Andre Ward Points: 264 Record: 25-0 (13 KOs) Title: WBA, WBC super middleweight champion Last outing: W12 over Carl Froch on Dec. 17 Previous ranking:6 Up next:Sept. 8 vs. Chad Dawson in Oakland, Calif. Analysis: Showed the full package in winning Super Six
T6. Nonito Donaire Jr. Points: 231 Record: 28-1 (18 KOs) Title: WBO super bantamweight champion Last outing: W12 over Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. on Feb. 4 Previous ranking: 5 Up next: July 7 vs. Jeffrey Mathubela in Carson, Calif. Analysis: Stay at 122 pounds expected to be brief
T6. Wladimir Klitschko Points: 231 Record: 57-3 (50 KOs) Title: Ring, IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Last outing: KO4 over Jean Marc Mormeck on March 3 Previous ranking: 7 Up next: July 7 vs. Tony Thompson in Switzerland Analysis: Rematch looks even less exciting than first bout
8. Timothy Bradley Points: 135 Record: 29-0 (12 KOs) Title: WBO welterweight champion Last outing: W12 over No. 2 Manny Pacquiao Previous ranking: 8 Up next:TBA Analysis:Needs rematch with Pacquiao to quell the doubters
9. Vitali Klitschko Points: 66 Record: 44-2 (40 KOs) Title: WBC heavyweight champion Last outing: W12 over Dereck Chisora on Feb. 18 Previous ranking:10 Up next: TBA Analysis: Has begun speaking of retirement
Points: 40 Record: 29-2 (21 KOs) Title: IBF super middleweight champion Last outing: TKO5 Lucian Bute on May 26 Previous ranking: NR Up next: TBA Analysis:Was extremely impressively in dominating Bute
