After being neck and neck with WBC titleholder Mario Barrios on the scorecards last month, Manny Pacquiao now sits just behind Barrios in the sanctioning body’s rankings.
In the WBC’s latest ratings update – released on August 8 – the legendary Hall of Fame is positioned at No. 1 at welterweight.
Earlier this year, Pacquiao announced that he would be returning from retirement. Aside from exhibition bouts, his last professional prizefight had taken place in August 2021, when he lost a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas.
Pacquiao’s announcement led to the WBC inserting him at No. 5 in its May rankings. However, the 46-year-old from the Philippines was not listed in the WBC’s ratings in June and July.
But on July 19, Pacquiao fought Barrios to a majority draw, two judges scoring it even at 114-114 while the third judge had it 115-113 for Barrios.
That performance means Pacquiao, 62-8-3 (39 KOs), is back in the rankings, supplanting the previous No. 1, Souleymane Cissokho, 18-0 (9 KOs), who topped Egidijus Kavaliauskas by unanimous decision in May.
Of course, Pacquiao doesn’t need a high rating to land a fight, given his longtime box office allure, marketability that is amplified by the hook of him fighting again at such an advanced age. All Pacquiao otherwise needs is to be in the top 15 to be allowed to fight for a world title.
It has not yet been announced whether Pacquiao’s next fight will be a rematch with Barrios or if another pairing will be more attractive to him and his team.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
