THE World Boxing Media with over 40 voting members from the United States, England, Canada, Italy, Panama, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Ireland has voted Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao as the no. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, giving him his just due and confirming what most Filipino boxing aficionados believe that the southpaw from General Santos is the best in the world today.
Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach has always maintained that Pacquiao is not merely the best fighter in the world today, but that he is also by far the most exciting and he has proven that in his demolition of legendary Mexicans Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik “El Terrible” Morales, among others.
According to a story by Tom Thompson in tigerboxing.com, all voting in the poll is private, adding that “it could only be speculated that Pacquiao moved ahead of Floyd Mayweather because of his willingness to fight good quality opponents this year.” Pacquiao defeated Morales early this year and Oscar Larios last July 2. A third encounter with Morales is set for Nov. 18.
Thompson said the objective of the World Boxing Media Pro Boxing Poll is “to recognize achievements of deserving professional boxers by giving voice to boxing journalists around the world.”
Membership in the World Boxing Media is open to any professional media person covering professional boxing. These include individuals from print, radio, television or the Internet.
The others in the pound-for-pound list include Winky Wright at no. 3, with Jermain Taylor moving up from sixth to fourth spot while Bernard Hopkins entered the rankings at no. 10, following his dominance of Antonio Tarver.
Meantime, Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune has said that he doesn’t believe the Pacman can repeat his showing against reigning super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera in case a rematch pushes through next year.
Fortune told popular boxing writer Brad Cooney: “I don’t believe it would be a close out like that last fight.”
