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Home » Will Manny Pacquiao overtake Canelo as P4P #1 if he beats Errol Spence?

Will Manny Pacquiao overtake Canelo as P4P #1 if he beats Errol Spence?

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This week, all the buzz gladly turned from the mess of Fury vs. Wilder III to the welterweight unification between Manny Pacquiao and Errol Spence Jr.

Ahead of the August 21 super-fight, World Boxing News examines whether eight-weight legend Pacquiao can overhaul Canelo Alvarez if successful.

The current status of Spence will be all-important when deciphering what would happen on August 22.

To fully dissect the decision, WBN looks back at each of the fighter’s last ten fights. Also, the usual WBN P4P criteria of longevity, activity, manner of victories, and unification matches.

Each section gets consideration and marked out of ten. Not only to see if Pacquiao would overhaul Canelo but if the Mexcian would then return the favor against Caleb Plant or Gennadiy Golovkin in September.

Take note that marks are overall from the criteria given.

MANNY PACQUIAO – LAST 10 FIGHTS

July 2019 – Keith Thurman [29-0] – SD

A special victory. The oldest boxer to win a welterweight title. 9/10.

January 2019 – Adrien Broner [33-3-1] – UD

A faded Broner without a win for two years. 6/10.

July 2018 – Lucas Matthysse [39-4] – TKO7

Punished and defeated Matthysse into retirement. 7/10.

July 2017 – Jeff Horn [16-0-1] – LOST-UD

He won the fight by at least four rounds and got robbed on the cards. 7/10.

November 2016 – Jessie Vargas [27-1] – UD

Another champion outboxed. 7/10.

Manny Pacquiao
Chris Farina

April 2016 – Timothy Bradley Jr [33-1-1] – UD

This triumph had to be the most convincing of the three wins over Bradley. 8/10.

May 2015 – Floyd Mayweather Jr [47-0] LOST-UD

Pacquiao, nor the fight, lived up to expectations. 4/10.

November 2014 – Chris Algieri [20-0] – UD

He dethroned yet another champion. Algieri down six times. 7/10.

April 2014 – Timothy Bradley Jr [31-0] – UD

An un-needed redemption for a shocking set of first-fight scorecards. 8/10.

November 2013 – Brandon Rios [31-1-1] – UD

Pacquiao took the wind out of Rios’ sales. A win without serious dangers. 6/10.

PACQUIAO SCORE: 69/100.

Canelo Alvarez Eddy Reynoso
Michelle Farsi

CANELO ALVAREZ – LAST 10 FIGHTS

May 2021 – Billy Joe Saunders [30-0] – KO8

Unification against an undefeated champion. 9/10.

February 2021 – Avni Yildirim [21-2] – RET3

Stay busy fight against unwarranted mandatory. 5/10.

December 2020 – Callum Smith [27-0] – UD

It was dethroning of undefeated unified and number one in the division. 9/10.

November 2019 – Sergey Kovalev [34-3-1] – KO11

Canelo moved up two divisions in weight. He then defeated a seasoned champion. 9/10.

May 2019 – Daniel Jacobs [35-2] – UD

Three-belt unification. 8/10.

December 2018 – Rocky Fielding [27-1] – TKO3

Effectively a non-title fight billed as a championship. 4/10.

September 2018 – Gennadiy Golovkin [38-0-1] – MD

Challenge for two versions of the middleweight title. A close decision. 9/10.

September 2017 – Gennadiy Golovkin [37-0] – D

Title challenge in a long-awaited fight. GGG did enough to win a big decision. 7/10.

September 2017 – Julio Cesar Chavez Jr [50-2-1] – UD

It got billed as a Mexican super-fight. In truth, it was never a contest. 6/10.

September 2016 – Liam Smith [23-0-1] – KO9

Solid victory over a live but out-classed champion. 7/10.

CANELO SCORE: 73/100.

Manny Pacquiao Errol Spence
PBC

Looking at the scoring, Manny Pacquiao will indeed overtake Canelo as the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet if he defeats Errol Spence.

But just weeks later, Canelo can retake his crown with a decent victory over any of the fighters he’s currently linked with right now.

That’s barring a catastrophic performance.

If Spence wins, it could be another difficult decision. Spence sits at number three.

Phil Jay is the Editor of WBN. An Auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America since 2018. And a member of the Sports Journalists’ Association. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.