Who'll be the next Pinoy world champ?

MANILA, Philippines - There are 25 Filipino boxers ranked in the top 10 of the sport’s four most prestigious governing bodies  World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO). Six are unbeaten while seven lost only once, indicating a solid pipeline of prospects for future world champions.

The list of 25 includes WBO No. 1 superbantamweight Nonito Donaire Jr. who recently relinquished his WBC/WBO bantamweight titles to battle Puerto Rico’s Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. for the vacant WBO 122-pound throne on Feb. 4 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Donaire, 29, has a 27-1 record, with 18 KOs and is unbeaten in his last 26 outings. He is chasing his third world title in three different divisions.

Aside from Donaire, the other Filipinos ranked No. 1 are superflyweight Silvester Lopez by the WBC and bantamweight A. J. Banal by the WBO. Rated No. 2 are minimumweight Denver Cuello by the WBC and flyweight Froilan Saludar by the WBO while the No. 3 contenders are lightflyweight Johnriel Casimero by the IBF, flyweight Rocky Fuentes by the WBC and IBF, lightflyweight Rodel Mayol by the WBO, flyweight Milan Melindo by the WBO, bantamweight Malcolm Tunacao by the WBC and Banal by the IBF.

Only Banal and Fuentes are ranked by all four sanctioning bodies. Banal, 23, is ranked No. 1 by the WBO, No. 3 by the IBF, No. 5 by the WBC and No. 5 by the WBA in the bantamweight division. Banal, a  23-year-old southpaw from the ALA Boxing Gym, has won nine in a row since losing to Rafael Concepcion in 2008 and is ready for a title shot with a 26-1-1 record, including 19 KOs. Fuentes, 25, is rated No. 3 by the IBF and WBC, No. 5 by the WBO and No. 7 by the WBA in the 112-pound category. The reigning Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) flyweight titlist, also from the ALA Boxing Gym, has won 11 in a row, including four in Japan, since losing a decision to Richie Mepranum in 2007 to raise his record to 30-6-2, with 18 KOs.

Lopez, 24, has an 18-3-1 record, with 14 KOs. Bebot Elorde’s altar boy from Zamboanga Sibugay has won his last four bouts, all by KO, including an upset over Mexico’s highly touted Oscar Ibarra in Queretaro last September.

The six undefeated contenders are WBO No. 8 minimumweight Merlito Sabillo, Saludar, Melindo, WBO No. 5 featherweight Lorenzo (Thunderbolt) Villanueva, IBF No. 4 lightweight Al Sabaupan and WBA No. 6 lightweight and WBO No. 7 superlightweight Mercito Gesta.

Sabillo, 27, is the OPBF 105-pound champion and boasts a 16-0 record, with 7 KOs. Saludar, 22, has a 14-0-1 record, with 11 KOs, including seven in the first round. Melindo, 23, holds wins over former world champions Carlos Tamara and Muhammad Rachman. He stakes his unblemished record of 25-0, with 9 KOs, against Mexico’s Juan Esquer in Cebu City on Jan. 28. Villanueva, 26, is a KO artist from Cotabato del Norte with a 21-0 record, including 20 KOs, seven in the first round. His only victim to survive the distance was veteran Jaime Barcelona in 2009. Sabaupan, 23, has an 18-0-1 record, with 13 KOs while Gesta, 24, totes a 24-0-1 mark, with 12 KOs. Gesta, based in San Diego, has won his last 14 assignments in the US since relocating from Mandaue in 2007.

The fighters with only one loss in their records are Banal, WBA No. 4 superflyweight Drian Francisco, Donaire, WBO No. 4 bantamweight Dayer Gabutan, WBO No. 5 19-year-old bantamweight Marlon Tapales, WBO No. 4 lightflyweight Eduard Peneiro and WBC No. 6 lightflyweight Jonathan Taconing.

Other Filipinos in the top 10 are WBO No. 9 minimumweight Rommel Asenjo, IBF No. 4 lightflyweight and WBC No. 8 flyweight Sonny Boy Jaro, IBF No. 5 flyweight Mepranum, WBO No. 6 superbantamweight Jessie Albarracin, IBF No. 5 featherweight Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista and WBC No. 7 welterweight Dennis Laurente.

Cuello, 25, is close to a title shot and has won his last eight, all by KO, including the last two in Mexico. His record is 29-4-6, with 19 KOs. Tunacao, 34, won the WBC flyweight crown in 2000 and lost it in his second defense to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam a year later. Now based in Kobe, Tunacao has won his last eight, five in Japan, and is zeroing in on another title crack. He is rated No. 3 by the WBC, No. 6 by the IBF and No. 9 by the WBA. Bautista, 25, has a 32-2 record, with 24 KOs, and is undefeated in his last six assignments since losing a decision to Heriberto Ruiz in Las Vegas in 2008. Bautista remains a crowd favorite because of his explosive style and would like nothing more than to erase the nightmarish memory of his first round knockout loss to Daniel Ponce de Leon in a bid for the WBO superbantamweight crown in Sacramento in 2007.

Laurente, 34, is a sentimental favorite to vie for a world title but as a welterweight, his predicament is he fights in the same division as Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Laurente, however, must be taken seriously by promoters as he has won his last 17 to raise his record to 41-4-5, with 22 KOs. Laurente hasn’t lost since dropping a technical decision to Daudy Bahan in Jakarta in 2006.

Of the 25, eight have figured in at least one world title fight – Asenjo, Casimero, Jaro, Mepranum, Mayol, Tunacao, Donaire and Bautista – with only Mayol, Tunacao and Donaire emerging victorious.