Donaire enters Top 10 of Rosenthal, Fischer

Welcome aboard, Nonito.

Michael Rosenthal and Doug Fischer, Co-Editors of RingTV.com, have for the first time included Nonito Donaire in the Top 10 lists they submited as members of Yahoo! Sports' voting panel for its monthly pound-for-pound poll.

Donaire is coming off a sensational second-round knockout of Fernando Montiel on Feb. 19 in Las Vegas, which removed any doubt as to whether he belongs among the 10 best fighters. The Mexican had been on both lists but was removed after his setback.

Some outlets had Donaire as high as No. 3, below only Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., but Rosenthal has him at No. 4 and Fischer has him at No. 5.

Rosenthal decided to leave Martinez at No. 3 because he too is coming off a stunning second-round KO of an elite opponent, Paul Williams. That followed an impressive decision over Kelly Pavlik, which gave Martinez THE RING middleweight championship.

Donaire’s victories over Wladimir Sidorenko and then Montiel were spectacular but not quite as impressive as beating Pavlik and Williams in succession.

Donaire supporters could counter by saying, “Wait a second. Martinez drew with Kermit Cintron and lost a majority decision to Williams in the two fights that preceded his victories," which is a legitimate argument.

Rosenthal and Fischer can argue that Martinez was the victim of a bad decisions in both the Cintron and first Williams fights, which means he should’ve beaten Cintron, Williams, Pavlik and Williams in succession, which would’ve been an incredible run.

Also, Martinez is the undisputed middleweight champion. That’s something Donaire has yet to accomplish.

Fischer also has Juan Manuel Marquez, coming off victories over Juan Diaz and Michael Katsidis, ahead of Donaire at No. 4. Fischer said the future Hall of Famer is “more battle tested against elite opponents and also is an undisputed champ.”

Martinez, Marquez and Donaire are Nos. 3, 4 and 5, respectively, in the Yahoo! Sports poll.

This isn’t to take anything away from Donaire, whose victory over Montiel marks him as possible future superstar.

Remember, Pacquiao (32), Mayweather (34), Martinez (36) and Marquez (37) are all in their 30s and probably won’t be around – or at least in top form – for much longer.

That could open the door for Donaire, 28, to become the No. 1 fighter in the world within the next few years, although young stars like Andre Ward, Juan Manuel Lopez, Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan could have something to say about that.

Stay tuned.

Rosenthal’s Top 10

1. Manny Pacquiao

2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

3. Sergio Martinez

4. Nonito Donaire

5. Andre Ward

6. Juan Manuel Marquez

7. Timothy Bradley

8. Juan Manuel Lopez

9. Wladimir Klitschko

10. Vitali Klitschko

Fischer’s Top 10

1. Manny Pacquiao

2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

3. Juan Manuel Marquez

4. Sergio Martinez

5. Nonito Donaire

6. Wladimir Klitschko

 7. Vitali Klitschko

 8. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

 9. Tomasz Adamek

 10. Timothy Bradley