There were few changes in the monthly Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound rankings, as Manny Pacquiao solidified his hold on the top spot with his shocking rout of Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6.
Pacquiao is a unanimous No. 1, garnering all 30 first-place votes from the blue-ribbon panel. The only other change in the Top 10 is a swap at Nos. 8 and 9 between Miguel Cotto and Paul Williams.
Williams moved up to eighth after his impressive stoppage of Verno Phillips on Nov. 29, which capped a year in which he fought at welterweight, super welterweight and middleweight.
But the rankings in early 2009 could be dramatically different. Three of the top five fighters in the poll – No. 2 Joe Calzaghe, No. 4 Israel Vazquez and No. 5 Bernard Hopkins – may retire.
Calzaghe is leaning toward retirement after his Nov. 8 win over Roy Jones Jr. He said he’s going to consider his options after the holidays and will make his mind up whether to fight by February.
Calzaghe is expected to retire, which will have the domino effect of pushing Hopkins into retirement. Hopkins will be 44 in January and isn’t eager to fight just for the sake of fighting. He desperately wants a rematch with Calzaghe, but conceded there are no other attractive bouts for him on the horizon.
If Calzaghe goes, you can reasonably expect that Hopkins will soon follow.
Vazquez’s retirement may be forced by a medical condition. He had eye surgery to repair a detached retina and wants to fight again. However, he’ll follow his doctor’s advice and won’t fight if he is advised not to.
Pacquiao may also retire at the end of 2009. He’s likely to fight Ricky Hatton in the spring and may get a fall bout with former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., if he defeats Hatton and if Mayweather, as expected, opts to return to boxing.
After fighting Mayweather, there would be little more reason for Pacquiao to fight and he, too, would likely step down.
Big changes, it seems, are on the way.
1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 300 (30 of 30 first-place votes)
Record: 48-3-2 (37 KOs)
Title: WBC lightweight champion
Last outing: TKO8 over Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6
Previous ranking: 1
Up next: TBA
Analysis: Proved he can compete at welterweight in a stunning performance against De La Hoya
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