Pacquiao retains P4P title - barely

MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao barely kept the coveted The Ring Magazine’s No. 1 pound-for-pound king title following his controversial win over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas last Saturday.

“Pacquiao survives as the Ring’s No. 1 fighter by a hair,” Ring Magazine’s Michael Rosenthal said in a statement posted on The Ring’s website.

Rosenthal said that the magazine’s editorial board nearly declared the No. 1 pound-for-pound position vacant after Pacquiao’s “sub-par performance” in his recent fight with Marquez.

“In the end, though, we decided to leave the pound-for-pound rankings as is for one simple reason: All but one member of the Ratings Advisory Panel who provided input and the entire Ring Editorial Board believed it was the right thing to do,” he said.

The No. 2 position is held by Floyd Mayweather Jr. followed by Sergio Martinez and Nonito Donaire. Marquez is at No. 5.

Rosenthal said that they will consider putting Mayweather ahead of Pacquiao if he turns in an outstanding performance in his next fight or if Pacquiao “stumbles again.”

He said that they also considered moving Marquez up the rankings, but they could not because Mayweather, Martinez and Donaire “don’t deserve to be demoted.”

Meanwhile, Rosenthal said that The Ring hopes that Pacquiao and Mayweather will agree once and for all to a face-off.

There are reports that the camps of Mayweather and Pacquiao are working for a May 2012 fight. Top Rank’s Bob Arum, meanwhile, said they are also trying to talk on a fourth fight between Pacquiao and Marquez on the same date.

In naming Pacquiao as the Ring’s pound-for-pound king, the prestigious magazine said the Filipino icon didn’t take on a chump, pointing out that Marquez is the No. 5.

“And Pacquiao beat him, at least officially. A great fighter shouldn’t necessarily be demoted because another great fighter has his number. We didn’t think less of Muhammad Ali because he had trouble with Ken Norton three times. The same with Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler,” said The Ring. – Angelo Gutierrez/Contributor