EVEN THE British have recognized the meteoric rise of Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao.
The BBC (British Broadcasting Company) has just launched a new feature in its website ranking the best boxers in the world regardless of weight based on their recent fights, fighting style, resilience and punching power.
Pacquiao, who has caught the fancy of the US boxing community, was ranked No. 4 on the list topped by middleweight Bernard Hopkins of the US. Coming in second is super-lightweight Floyd Mayweather also of the US, while third is Australian-Russian Kostya Tszyu.
Pacquiao was listed ahead of Mexican super-featherweights Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, American superwelter Winky Wright, Puerto Rican middleweight Felix Trinidad, Mexican feather Juan Manuel Marquez and American lightheavy Glencoffe Johnson.
On March 19 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Morales and Pacquiao are going at each other in a 12-round super-feather encounter on HBO Pay-Per-View, the first time a Filipino boxer is going to see action on PPV as a main event fighter. Pacquiao had showcased his stuff on PPV when he fought underneath the Oscar dela Hoya-Javier Castillejo headliner in June 2001 also at the MGM Grand and during the blockbuster Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson rumble in June 2002 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis.
BBC is only one of many publications or websites that has accepted the 26-year-old Pacquiao as a top-of-the-line performer. USA Today, The Ring magazine and maxboxing.com are only a handful of outfits which have doffed its hat to the country?s premier sporting hero.
Pacquiao is earning an unprecedented $1.75 million (about R96.2 million) in the eagerly-awaited duel with Morales, who is a cinch for a slot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
BBC Sport also said that a victory by either fighter would improve their standing on the elite list.
