By Krista Angela M. Montealegre Reporter

After his sensational 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto on Sunday, Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao has been installed to the No. 1 spot of The Ring’s welterweight rankings.

The Ring’s Ratings Panel of boxing journalists from around the globe took notice of how the world pound-for-pound king, who turned pro down at 106 pounds, delivered and took a punch of a genuine welterweight in his second fight above 140 pounds. His first was his eighth-round demolition of legendary Oscar De La Hoya in December.

“Manny Pacquiao’s [technical knockout] of Miguel Cotto drew a wide array of suggestions from The Ring Ratings Advisory Panel and the majority felt that Pacquiao deserved the top spot,” said Nigel Collins, editor in chief of The Ring magazine.

The magazine, considered as the Bible of Boxing, has picked Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts) over current beltholder Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr., his next possible opponent.
Mosley (46-5, 39 knockouts), who succumbed to a unanimous decision to Cotto in November of 2007, fell to the No. 2 spot in the rankings.

Mayweather, the former Ring welterweight champ, dropped to the No. 3 spot. He debuted at No. 2 following his comeback win against lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez in September.
“Shane Mosley has only fought three times at welterweight since he lost the 147-pound title to Vernon Forrest in 2002, winning a decision over Luis Collazo, losing a decision to Cotto, and stopping Antonio Margarito,” Collins said.

“Mayweather has never faced a true welterweight anywhere as good as Cotto or Margarito, and in his only fight since his lengthy layoff he faced a blown-up lightweight.”
Cotto (34-2, 27 knockouts) was pushed back to No. 4.

Cotto’s loss to Pacquiao did not affect his pound-for-pound rating in The Ring rankings. The Puerto Rican is still ranked No. 7, which means that the top four welterweights are also in The Ring’s pound-for-pound Top 10.