Manny Pacquiao once was a unanimous choice among voters in the Yahoo! Sports boxing poll as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. A year ago, an argument could be made that Pacquiao was no worse than the world’s second-best fighter.
But after getting knocked out by archrival Juan Manuel Marquez on Dec. 8 in their fourth encounter, Pacquiao dropped down the ratings yet again.
For the first time in more than four years, Pacquiao did not receive a single first-place vote in the poll of boxing writers from around the world. He dropped to sixth, barely holding off heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko for that spot.
Marquez used the momentum from his knockout win to vault into third place in the December ratings. Pacquiao and Marquez are likely to fight a fifth time in September, so Pacquiao doesn’t figure to move from where he is until then, at least.
With that, here are the latest Yahoo! Sports boxing top 10 rankings:
Mayweather
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Points: 286 (26 of 29 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
Ward
2. Andre Ward Points: 248 (2 of 29 first-place votes) Record: 26-0 (14 KOs) Title: WBA, WBC super middleweight champion Last outing: TKO 10 Chad Dawson on Sept. 8 Previous ranking: 2 Up next: Early 2013 vs. Kelly Pavlik
Marquez 3. Juan Manuel Marquez Points:210 Record: 55-6-1 (40 KOs) Title: None Last outing: KO6 No. 6 Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 8 Previous ranking: 5 Up next: Nothing scheduled
Martinez 4. Sergio Martinez Points: 208 (1 of 29 first-place votes) Record: 50-2-2 (28 KOs) Title: WBC middleweight champion Last outing: W12 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Sept. 15 Previous ranking: 4 Up next: Title defense April 27 against Martin Murray
Donaire
5. Nonito Donaire Jr. Points: 190 Record: 31-1 (20 KOs) Title: WBO super bantamweight champion Last outing: KO9 over Jorge Arce on Dec. 15 Previous ranking: 6 Up next: Nothing scheduled
Pacquiao 6. Manny Pacquiao Points: 115 Record: 54-5-2 (38 KOs) Title: None Last outing: L by KO6 to No. 3 Juan Manuel Marquez Previous ranking: 3 Up next: Nothing scheduled
[Also: Pop star Justin Bieber creates uproar over doctored Manny Pacquiao photos]
W. Klitschko
7. Wladimir Klitschko Points: 108 Record: 59-3 (51 KOs) Title:IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Last outing: W12 over Mariusz Wach on Nov. 10 Previous ranking: 7 Up next: Nothing scheduled
Bradley
8. Timothy Bradley Points: 64 Record: 29-0 (12 KOs) Title: WBO welterweight champion Last outing: W12 over No. 6 Manny Pacquiao on June 9 Previous ranking: 8 Up next: Nothing scheduled
V. Klitschko
9. Vitali Klitschko Points: 47 Record: 45-2 (41 KOs) Title: WBC heavyweight champion Last outing: TKO 4 over Manuel Charr on Sept. 8 Previous ranking: 9 Up next: Nothing scheduled
Froch
10. Carl Froch Points: 40 Record: 30-2 (22 KOs) Title: IBF super middleweight champion Last outing: TKO3 Yusef Mack on Nov. 17 Previous ranking: 10 Up next: Nothing scheduled
Others receiving votes: Abner Mares, 23; Adrien Broner, 19; Austin Trout, 9; Yuriorkis Gamboa, 6; Chris John, 5; Brian Viloria, 5; Roman Gonzalez, 3; Guillermo Rigondeaux, 3; Danny Garcia, 1; Robert Guerrero, 1.
Voting panel: Raul Alzaga, Primera Hoya; Ron Borges, Boston Herald; Damian Calhoun, Orange County Register; Brian Campbell, ESPN.com; Scott Christ, Bad Left Hook.com; Steve Cofield, ESPN Radio 1100; Dave Cokin, ESPN Radio 1100; Jake Donovan, BoxingScene.com; Andrew Eisele, About.com; Steve Farhood, Showtime; Thomas Gerbasi, BoxingScene.com; Carlos Gonzalez, Primera Hora; Randy Gordon, Sirius/XM; Lee Groves, RingTV.com; Rafael Hernandez Brito, Univision; Keith Idec, The Record; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Max Kellerman, HBO Sports; Scott Mallon, Boxing Digest; Gunnar Meinhardt, Die Welt; Kieran Mulvaney, Reuters; Santos Perez, Miami Herald; Cliff Rold, BoxingScene.com; Michael Rosenthal, Ring Magazine; Lem Satterfield, RingTV.com; T.K. Stewart, RingTV.com; Dave Weinberg, Press of Atlantic City; George Willis, New York Post.
