KO Digest Pound-For-Pound (P4P) Ratings Update

THE World Middleweight Champion

KO Digest Top 12 Pound-For-Pound

1. Floyd Mayweather (1)
2. Sergio Martinez (3)
3. Manny Pacquiao (2)
4. Andre Ward (4)
5. Juan Manuel Marquez (5)
6. Nonito Donaire (6)
7. Timothy Bradley (8)
8. Yuriorkis Gamboa (7)
9. Anselmo Moreno (9)
10. Miguel Cotto (10)
11. Carl Froch (11)
12. Wladimir Klitschko (12)



It's been a curious month and a half since the last KO Digest P4P update. Most peculiar was the horrendous decision in Las Vegas last month which gave Timothy Bradley a disputed split decision over Manny Pacquiao. The boxing world is still in shock over that one and the official verdict makes it more of a challenge than ever before to compile these ratings fairly and accurately.

Do we punish Manny Pacquiao and reward Timothy Bradley? Do we cover our eyes and ignore the official decision?

The answer lies somewhere in the middle. Even though it was obvious to most observers that Pacquiao beat Bradley, it should also be obvious to most observers that the Filipino superstar is slowing down and starting to shows signs of being human.

For this reason, Pacquiao falls one spot from #2 to #3. Moving up one spot from #3 to #2 to take his place is World Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez. As middleweight champion, Sergio has been nothing short of Maravilla and all four of his title defenses have ended in brutal knockouts. Needless to say, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr will have his hands full when he tangles with the champ this September.

Tim Bradley "beats" Manny Pacquiao

As for Bradley, he does have an official win over Manny Pacquiao and that can't be completely ignored. Desert Storm moves up one notch and switches places with Yuriorkis Gamboa whose inactivity is starting to become a liability.

No other changes in the KO Digest P4P ratings and it should be noted that both Nonito Donaire and Wladimir Klitschko both notched wins (against Jeffrey Mathebula and Tony Thompson respectively) since the last update (5/27) and their performances were strong enough to maintain their current spot in the KO Digest P4P ratings.


Looking ahead, the upcoming fight with the biggest P4P implications is clearly Andre Ward vs Chad Dawson. Should Ward win as expected, his meteoric rise though the P4P rankings would likely continue with Ward moving past Pacquiao. A win for Dawson would be equally as big a deal and Dawson would almost certainly crash the KO Digest Pound for Pound party with a quality P4P win like that.

Ratings as of July 24, 2012

The number is parenthesis represents where the fighter was rated in the KO Digest Top 12 Pound-For-Pound rankings the last time an update was done, in this case that last update was done on May 27, 2012 ~ www.KODigest.TV