Editorial - Pacquiao-Mayweather

So, Manny Pacquiao has now slipped from being the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world to just the second. He has been overtaken by Floyd Mayweather Jr., the previous holder of that distinction.

The latest pound-for-pound rankings were released by Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Yahoo! Sports days after Pacquiao eked out a close majority decision in his third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, a fight almost everyone expected he would win in abbreviated fashion.

Ring Magazine, however, which is considered as the bible of boxing, chose to retain Pacquiao as the best pound-for-pound boxer. And that pretty much tells us how subjective sports perceptions can be at times.

This paper, like many others who based their perceptions on what they saw of the fight live, and all the emotions and passions that went into the moment, felt the decision should have gone to Marquez.

But after sobbering up and all things settled down, a review of the fight would now show Pacquiao indeed winning the fight, but only by the skin of his teeth. It is clear, however, that it is not the fight but people's perception of it that can sway the rankings.

Especially if it is a very close one where the winning decision is debatable. If there is one thing boxing fans can agree on after that fight, it is that it was too close it could have gone either way.

So, does the burden rest solely on the shoulders of Pacquiao? We will never know. Nobody knows the real score. For one thing, not a minute passed after the decision was announced when promoter Bob Arum already announced a date for a Pacquiao-Marquez fourth fight. How is that?

Then, as if on cue, Pacquiao was dropped from the pound-for-pound pinnacle, as if to really entice Mayweather, who has been dodging a fight with Pacquiao, to finally commit to the one fight the fans would love to see, there being no more reason to hedge.

With Pacquiao winning unconvincingly, and Mayweather back on being Number One, there is now no more reason to split the anticipated very lucrative purse fifty-fifty. Arum may now have to split the purse 60-40 in favor of Mayweather. The chips seem to be falling to some plan.