In the wake of Manny Pacquiao?s controversial points win over Juan Manuel Marquez last week, Pacquiao?s perch atop the pound-for-pound ratings slipped from solid to uncertain. In a recent post at The Ring?s website, Michael Rosenthal made the case that Pacquiao retains a ?shaky? hold on the No. 1 spot, ahead of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sergio Martinez and Nonito Donaire. As Rosenthal put it: ?Pacquiao survives as The Ring?s No. 1 fighter by a hair. Should he stumble again or Mayweather turn in an outstanding performance, a new king would probably be crowned.?
That?s certainly a defensible position. But, as the song from Porgy and Bess suggests, ?it ain?t necessarily so.?
Theoretically, a case could be made to leapfrog Pacquiao?s fellow Filipino Donaire from fourth to first place on the list, while moving the others down a notch. I know, I know ? only a few weeks ago, I wrote that Donaire wasn?t yet ready for consideration as king of the hill. But his two performances in the ring this year were, on the whole, more impressive than Pacquiao?s two, Martinez? two, or Mayweather?s one. That aspect has to be taken into account.
Donaire kayoed Fernando Montiel and won a shutout decision over Omar Narvaez. Both opponents were highly regarded coming into their encounters with Donaire. Yet Donaire crushed Montiel and intimidated Narvaez into simply striving to last the distance.
Yes, Narvaez was moving up in weight, and he is older than Donaire. But Marquez was also moving up in weight, and he is older than Pacquiao. Neither of those factors meant much as Marquez gave Pacquiao his hardest fight since Pacquiao?s last bout with ? Marquez. The two have met three times, and none of those encounters has produced a definitive result.
One could say that Pacquiao?s decision over Sugar Shane Mosley was just as one-sided as Donaire?s win over Narvaez. But Mosley is way over the hill. Narvaez was a more credible opponent.
Mayweather came back with a bang with a fourth-round knockout of Victor Ortiz. Unfortunately, that ?bang? was a so-called ?legal sucker punch? that came when Ortiz had his hands down and was looking at the referee instead of at Mayweather. A tainted win like this does not qualify Mayweather to rise to the pound-for-pound pinnacle, though it does put him back in the mix after a lengthy layoff.
Martinez scored two knockouts over undefeated contenders. But Sergiy Dzinziruk was an outclassed junior middleweight, and Darren Barker was untested. Also, Barker gave Martinez a lot more trouble than expected before Sergio finally lowered the boom.
Of all the bouts the top four pound-for-pound men fought this year, Donaire?s blast-out of Montiel was the most spectacular performance. Montiel lost again this weekend, which is an indication of how much Donaire took out of him in two short rounds.
So, if it were up to me, I would now place Nonito Donaire at the top of the pound-for-pound list. But it would be, as Rosenthal says of Pacquiao, ?by a hair.?
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His latest novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at http://www.gopulp.info
