Mayweather or Pacquiao? Who's the Real Pound for Pound King?

Manny Pacquiao, fresh off his two-round destruction of Ricky Hatton, is widely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. was the consensus pound-for-pound king when he elected to take a sabbatical from boxing after stopping Hatton in ten rounds in December 2007.

Well, Mayweather is done doing whatever he was doing while 'retired' and will face Juan Manual Marquez in Las Vegas on July 18. The hope and expectation of everyone in and around the fight game is that Mayweather will beat Marquez (no easy feat) and then face Pacquiao to decide - in the ring - who is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.

Until then, fight fans will have to decide for themselves who they consider to be the pound-for-pound king . . .

The 30-year-old Pacquaio is unquestionably in his prime as he appears to continue improving under the tutelage of trainer Freddie Roach. Mayweather is a low-mileage 32 and there's no reason to believe he won't be able to return to the form that allowed him to compile a perfect 39-0 record between 1996 and 2007.

Both fighters share Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton as their two most recent ring opponents. Pacquaio's overwhelming victories have The Golden Boy and The Hitman questioning whether they will ever fight again. What's important to remember about Mayweather's wins over Oscar and Ricky is that - while they were less impressive than Pacman's blowout victories - they both came first. In other words, Mayweather arguably beat better versions of both Hatton and De La Hoya than the ones that entered the ring against Pacquiao.

So who do you rate as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world today? Mayweather or Pacquiao?

Source: boxing.about.com