To truly ring the cash cow bell in boxing requires, in relevant part, becoming a member of the pound-for-pound (P4P) club. With every "rule," there are exceptions; however, most of the top 10 P4Pers have contracts with SHOWTIME or HBO and at least half of them command pay-per-view premiums (or think they do).
As interesting as it is to subjectively determine the 10 best fighters in the world, there comes a time, which incidentally was several months ago, when it all just becomes political and lazy. Manny Pacquiao 
is the number 1 fighter in the world and no convincing argument can be made to the contrary. He has defeated two men on the P4P list and will likely fight another this year. Can subjectivity be more objective than that standard?The remainder of the list is what it is--very distant by comparison. Regardless, according to the boxing writers and pundits from around the world, here are the best of the rest for April 2010:
No. 10 - Nonito Donaire. Donaire is as exciting as the come and his knockout percentage of 62.5% is grossly misleading. Nonito entered the ring seven times in the last three years and has only gone the distance once. It's well past time that the promoters get out of the way and give Donaire the best money fight that can be made at super flyweight--Nonito Donaire-Vic Darchinyan II.
No. 9 - Israel Vazquez. It's great that Vazquez will meet Rafael Marquez for the fourth time next month, but the true P4P fighters in the division are Yuriorkis Gamboa, Juan Manuel Lopez, and, to a lesser extent, Chris John.
No. 8 - Miguel Cotto. Rather than cleaning out the welterweight division, the division appears to have cleaned Cotto out. Miguel will make his debut as a light middleweight next month when he faces a technically sound Yuri Foreman. Foreman hits about as hard as Paulie Malignaggi though, which is to say that if Cotto gets knocked out, then it's time to quit.
No. 7 - Chad Dawson. The frustrating thing about Dawson is that he has become a two-fight per year guy. While such a pace is at light speed compared to other fighters on the P4P list, it isn't enough. Dawson has the potential to be a super star, which requires exposure. He is network worthy, which speaks volumes for a light heavyweight today. The only thing more redundant than monthly P4P rankings is this author's call for Dawson to move to super middleweight.
No. 6 - Paul Williams. The Punisher's date with Kermit Cintron in May is interesting. On the one hand, there is no way Cintron can keep up with Williams' work rate and he will not likely win under any scenario involving scorecards. On the other hand, Cintron can end a fight with one shot. Williams is flawed in all of the right ways for a power guy like Cintron to capitalize. The question is whether Cintron has the ring intelligence to do so.
No. 5 - Juan Manuel Marquez. Yes, it is true that Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz was one of the classic bouts of 2009. It is also true that both men are not the same fighters a year later. Frankly, Diaz-Maquez II is nothing but a money fight and Juan Manuel should be downgraded for booking it when Edwin Valero, The Ring's number 2 lightweight, is available.
No. 4 - Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins fights Roy Jones, Jr. tonight. Oh yeah, it is on pay-per-view too. Sometimes even tax write-offs do not justify the purchase of a fight. This is one of those times. It doesn't matter who wins or loses because both men are so far beyond P4P consideration that even HBO is laughing.
No. 3 - Shane Mosley. Loss, slop, dominant, desperate, and dormant. Those four words describe the last three years of Mosley's boxing life. He has his chance next month to actually make sense of it all. Win and it is Pacquiao time, which is either good news or bad depending on the perspective.
No. 2 - Floyd Mayweather, Jr. If Mosley shows up next month, then we will learn once and for all whether Money May has been worthy of all the ink. After 40 professional fights, we shouldn't need to even ask. Unfortunately, we still do.
Source: examiner.com
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