Pacman savors tag as best pound-for-pound

Manny Pacquiao loves wearing his new tag that says he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the planet today.

Pacquiao made it to the top of the distinguished, often debatable list for the great skills, talent, energy and electricity he brings to the ring regardless of weight class.

For some time, he ranked a very close second to welterweight king Floyd Mayweather Jr. But with the latter’s sudden retirement, Pacquiao was elevated to the top.

Pacquiao has won seven of his last eight fights, and they included huge wins over some of the great Mexican fighters of all time – Morales, Barrera and Marquez.

He deserves the honor. He loves it. He intends to keep it.

“This award is for the Filipino people because they’ve always followed my career, always prayed for my victory,” said Pacquiao from his training camp in Los Angeles.

“The Filipino is the true pound-for-pound champion. These awards, especially the No. 1 pound-for-pound title, make me strive to work harder each day and elevate my game to another level.

 “I also intend to keep the No. 1 pound-for-pound title as well,” said Pacquiao.

With just 13 days left before the fight, Pacquiao is in the most critical stage of his training. Sparring has gone up to 12 rounds and soon it should go down as he tapers off a week before the fight.

“This is the most difficult part of training – when you spar for 12 rounds. Two more weeks and it’s fight time, and we will try to win the lightweight title,” he said.

Yesterday, Pacquiao sparred 12 rounds at the Wild Card Gym in the morning then met his fans and the press at the Little Philippines Lake Street Park in LA at noon.

Pacquiao’s wife, Jinkee, will fly to Los Angeles on Wednesday to be with the champion when he takes his customary 300-mile drive to Las Vegas either Sunday or Monday.

It’s almost fight time.