"Elite boxing panel" to Manny Pacquiao: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is better -- Examiner

By Eric Sloan, Examiner.com

It's not time to update the boxing pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings here; however, an "elite panel of boxing writers," according to Yahoo! Sports, says that the man at the top spot is no longer Manny Pacquiao--it is Floyd Mayweather, Jr. We're not talking about a small margin of victory either. Floyd commanded 20 of 33 first place votes with Manny taking the remaining 13. Given that Yahoo! and The Ring are basically in bed together these days, we may well see Mayweather take the top P4P there as well in the coming weeks.

Mayweather deserves mad respect for what he did against Shane Mosley on May 1st and there is no doubt that he is one of the top fighters in the world. The troubling trend with the "elite" boxing writers though is that Mayweather receives too much P4P credit for his victories.

Coming out of retirement in September 2009 to bully Juan Manuel Marquez vaulted Mayweather to a near unanimous No. 2 P4P ranking. That fight was as lopsided as a bad breast augmentation and nobody seemed to care that Floyd dishonored the weight limit in order to maximize his size advantage over Marquez. The problem at the time was that Mayweather was immediately ranked ahead of Mosley--a man Floyd had not been willing to fight.

So, to the delight of boxing fans, Mosley and Mayweather threw down. That fight, as dominant as it was, was just as much about the fact that Mosley did absolutely nothing after the second round. It could be argued that Andre Berto, Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto, Luis Collazo, Joshua Clottey, and just about everyone else on the radar at 147 would have looked equally impressive against Sugar Coma Shane. Manny Pacquiao would likely have knocked him out.

Now every boxing writer is entitled to an opinion. The problem with P4P voting though is the analysis. Most voters seem to weigh recent performances over the aggregate level of opposition. They demand a certain level of accomplishment, and rightfully so, but there also seems to be a bit of matchmaking going on as well.

Mayweather has fought twice since his "retirement" in December of 2007. Pacquiao fought six times. Mayweather fought one welterweight. Pacquiao faced three. Mayweather scored no knockouts. Pacquiao stopped four fighters. Mayweather has physically developed into a true welterweight. Freddie Roach believes Pacquiao has maxed out in size as a junior welterweight.

To properly compare Manny and Floyd from a P4P perspective, then equal size is the modifier. In other words, put all of Pacquiao's talent, power, speed, stamina, heart, and every other attribute into Mayweather's frame. Frankenstein Pacquiao versus modern Mayweather--true P4P analysis. Now, who wins? Whoever that is should be the number one fighter in the world. Any of the elite boxing writers want a do over?

Source: examiner.com