Mayweather pound-for-pound king as Pacquiao’s 2012 ranking dips

MANILA, Philippines - Without throwing too many punches, Floyd Mayweather Jr. will end the year as the reigning and undisputed pound-for-pound champion.

The undefeated American, who is considered the best and the richest fighter today, only fought once in 2012 against Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto.

Mayweather was the unanimous winner against the wide-bodied Cotto, who was rocked a couple of times but never really came close to being knocked out.

Mayweather, bleeding from the nose, won in May, then stayed outside the ring the rest of the year. Yet he hit the headlines by spending time in jail in Las Vegas.

To stay on top of the coveted list, Mayweather got help from Juan Manuel Marquez who scored a sensational knockout of Manny Pacquiao last Dec. 8.

If things just went the other way, if it were Pacquiao who scored the knockout instead, it could have changed the minds of the people behind the P4P rankings.

After retiring in 2007, Mayweather returned to action in September 2009, and outclassed Marquez, who wasn’t as big as when he destroyed Pacquiao just weeks ago.

Again, the 35-year-old Mayweather fought only once in 2010, scoring a unanimous win over Shane Mosley, and in 2011, knocking out Victor Ortiz who wasn’t looking when the punch landed.

Mayweather chooses his fights well, and in between them makes sure he stays in the limelight. He often called on Pacquiao’s name even if there was really no intention to fight the Filipino star.

For that Mayweather was always talked about.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, was made to pay the price for his unimpressive win over Marquez last year, a loss to Tim Bradley last June, and then the most recent knockout loss.

Mayweather remained No. 1 in the lists provided by The Ring Magazine, Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and www.boxrec.com.

Pacquiao, the ex-pound-for-pound king, is nowhere near. He’s at No. 7 with The Ring, No. 6 at Yahoo!, No. 6 at Sports Illustrated, No. 7 with ESPN and No. 15 at www.boxrec.com.

Nonito Donaire, now the hottest Filipino boxer, jumped ahead of Pacquiao following four victories in as many fights this year. He’s only 30, and the best is yet to come.

Donaire outpointed Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. and Jeffrey Mathebula before knocking out Toshiaki Nishioka and Jorge Arce from October to December, and is the favorite for the Fighter of the Year award.

It’s the first time two Filipino boxers are inside the Top 10 of the pound-for-pound list. But for Mayweather, he’s just too happy to be on top.