Latest pound for pound ranking!

WE had had a busy first quarter, which involved several of our pound- for- pound entrants in interesting matchups. Here is our updated rankings:

1.) Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26KOs). – A couple of weeks ago, “Money” was pushed to the limit by the marauding Marcos Maidana.

From the opening bell, Maidana took the fight to Mayweather, unloading punches in bunches from all angles. Maidana was having some success early as the feral approach kept”Money” busy defending and prevented the latter from mounting an offensive thrust.

However, the brutal, punishing pace took its toll on Maidana and Mayweather took over the 2nd half of the fight where he repeatedly speared Maidana with clear, accurate right hands.

Still, the fight was close enough to merit some controversy as some fans felt Maidana did enough to deserve the nod.

2.) Andre Ward (27-0, 14KOs). No change here, but Ward is tenuously holding on to the 2nd spot because of inactivity. His last fight was a unanimous decision win over Edwin Rodriguez last November 2013.

With no defining matchup in the horizon, there is clamor from the fans for the talented Ward to face the undefeated middleweight king Gennady Golovkin at a catch-weight.

3.) Manny Pacquiao (56-5, 38KOs). The “Pacman” ascends to our third spot after he exacted sweet revenge over Tim Bradley last month.

In the rematch, Pacquiao dominated “The Desert Storm” in the second half of the fight, showing flashes of the deadly form that once propelled him to the top of this list.

Bradley had his moments in the fight, especially in the early rounds, but the Pacman was just too fast, and too strong and the scores of 118-110 and 116-112 (twice) were emblematic of the complexion of the fight.

4.) Timothy Bradley (31-1, 12KOs). Bradley drops to No. 4 after losing to Pacquiao. Though that was Bradlely’s first official loss, his win over Pacquiao in their first encounter was tainted as the boxing cognoscenti unanimously believe that he did not deserve that verdict. Hence, the loss to Manny last April was considered poetic justice.

But Bradley still has a bright future in boxing. Despite losing, he still gave a good account of himself and with Pacquiao and Mayweather in the twilight years of their careers, Bradley still has the potential to become a pound for pound king in the near future.

5.)Juan Manuel Marquez (57-6, 40KOs).“Dinamita” redeemed himself by outdueling the rugged Mike Alvarado just last week. Prior to that he lost via split decision to Tim Bradley.

Marquez’ power and speed were too much for the younger Alvarado, and he showed that at age 40, he is till pound- for- pound material.
5.) Sergio Gabriel Martinez (51-2, 28KOs). Martinez holds on to this spot, but a lot can change next week as he is set to face the resurgent Miguel Cotto in a tossup fight.

Cotto will be the smaller fighter but he looks to have recovered his once deadly form under the tutelage of Freddie Roach. Martinez will be the naturally bigger fighter but based on his last two fights, he seems to be ripe for the picking.

6.) Wladimir Klitschko (62-3, 52 KOs).Klitschko defended his WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO diadems last month with an easy TKO win over the hapless Alex Leapai in 5 rounds.

Right now the heavyweight division has become a barren desolate landscape, no thanks to the dominance of Wladimir and his brother Vitali.

7. ) Guillermo Rigondeaux (13-0, 8KOs)- No change as Rigondeaux has not fought since his unanimous decision victory over Joseph Agbeko last December 2013. He will be facing Jonathan Guzman this July.

8. ) Nonito Donaire (322, 21Os). “The Filipino Flash” is penciled to face Simpiwe Vetyeka for the WBA super world featherweight crown next week in Macau. Donaire is heavily favored to win against the South African whose best opponent to date is the faded Chris John.