FILIPINO ring idol Manny Pacquiao has dropped to no. 2 in the World Boxing Media pound-for-pound rankings after three months at the top.
Pacquiao was edged by undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is in training for his Nov. 4 battle with World Boxing Council welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir.
Pacquiao was the WBM choice for the top spot over the past three months on the strength of his TKO victory over legendary Mexican Erik “El Terrible” Morales last January. He fights Morales in a rubber match at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas on Nov. 18.
The Tiger Boxing Web site reported that the final voting margin between Mayweather and Pacquiao has been three points or less for four consecutive months with Mayweather leading the voting for the first five months beginning February.
The news that Pacquiao had slipped to no. 2 came even as a posting on the Pacquiao Web site said he had been seen nightly at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. But Standard Today learned that the report was factually inaccurate and that Pacquiao goes to the Commerce Casino to play poker on Saturdays, with some of his so-called LA Boys, since he doesn’t train on Sundays.
Another report from LA claimed that Pacquiao yesterday bought a brand-new Mercedes Benz valued at some $150,000.
