Ring Mag to Demote pacquiao in Their Ranking?

Floyd Mayweather has put an end to Manny Pacquiao’s three-year stranglehold in The Ring magazine’s Best Fighter Poll.

In the Ring’s May 2012 issue that will soon hit the stands, Mayweather emerged as the top vote getter from the majority of 10 fight scribes polled by editor-in-chief Michael Rosenthal.

Pacquiao had topped the same poll for three straight years (2008 until 2010) but gave way to Mayweather in the 2011 survey that was participated in by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Ron Borges of the Boston Herald, Gunnar Meinhardt of Die Welt (Germany), Gary Andrew Poole (Ring contributor) Norm Rosenheim (Ring contributor), Keith Idec (The Record and Herald News of New Jersey), Harry Pratt of Daily Star (United Kingdom), Rick Reeno of ***********, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com and the Manila Bulletin.

Mayweather got 5.5 first-place votes, while Pacquiao received 3.5 owing to Poole’s decision to halve the point and Frauenheim’s decision to leave the No. 1 spot vacant owing to the fact that Pacquiao and Mayweather hasn’t fought each other.

Making up third to tenth places are Sergio Martinez, Andre Ward, Juan Manuel Marquez, Nonito Donaire4, Wladimir Klitschko, Tim Bradley, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Lucian Bute.

Interestingly, Pacquiao also put a stop to Mayweather’s domination of the annual Ring poll in 2008 after Mayweather was the clear choice from 2005 until 2007.

The Ring poll began in 1980 with Panamanian Roberto Duran as its first top pick.

Through the years, marquee names who have topped the poll include Roy Jones Jr. (six times), Marvin Hagler (four times), Julio Cesar Chavez (thrice), Mike Tyson (twice), Pernell Whitaker (twice), Bernard Hopkins, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad.