Let me start by saying that I am a huge Manny Pacquiao fan. Many of those who have read my articles in the past know that I have vehemently supported Pacquiao throughout his career, no matter who his opponents were. I can go about 3 weeks wearing Pacquiao t-shirts without wearing the same shirt twice (just ask my wife), but I am starting to think it`s about that time for him to step up his game. Don`t get angry yet, let me explain myself before you think I`ve turned my back on our favorite Filipino pugilist. I`ve heard all the negative comments by Pacquiao detractors in the past claiming he hasn`t been as great as we all like to think. I, like most, have defended Manny time after time because of my love for boxing and for what he brings to our sport. So I decided to take a step back and view the pound for pound champion from where the naysayers see him from.
Out of body experiences aside, its hard to step back, question and doubt Pacquiao`s accomplishments in the ring. We`ve seen fighters who want no part of him (ahem, Mayweather, ahem) and we have seen them line up in droves for a beating and a paycheck of a lifetime (Ahem, too many to list, ahem). But for arguments sake and for the fact that it would make a great article, I am willing to go out on a limb and try to create a legitimate position to dethrone the pound for pound king and re-open the debate as to who is the best fighter in the world.
For the casual boxing fan, the Pacquiao phenomenon started when he beat the daylights out of Oscar De La Hoya in December of `08. For the more hardcore fans, they go back to the first encounter with Marco Antonio Barrera, or perhaps even as far back as the 6 round KO of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. My first time seeing Manny “The Destroyer” Pacquiao was on the Mike Tyson – Lennox Lewis undercard against Jorge Julio in June of `02. The little Filipino dynamo destroyed Julio in 2 rounds, and I kept telling my wife (she`s Filipino) that we gotta start watching out for this guy. Three more TKO`s later and he was next seen on HBO murdering Barrera for 11 rounds until Barrera`s trainer called a halt to the bout and the beating of Barrera`s life.
Pacquiao`s next fight, his 1st with Marquez, is when we all started to see both the good and the bad of Pacquiao. The good, was that he was physically just too much for anyone to handle, the bad was that someone found his flaws and exposed them. Juan Manuel Marquez survived the worst round of his life after being floored 3 times and almost knocked out of the fight in the very first round. Marquez stormed back to outbox Pacquiao enough to score a questionable draw (I had Pacquiao winning 114-111, article coming soon). A brilliant performance by Marquez and Pacquiao, but some questions remained to be answered by Pacquiao as to why he couldn`t finish off Marquez. After making quick work of Fahsan 3K Battery in 4 rds, Pacquiao was once again exposed and beaten by a more skilled boxer in Erik Morales. Taking a page out of the Marquez playbook, Morales jabbed and landed accurate power punches to take the unanimous decision 115-113 on all scorecards. After a tune up 6 round KO of Hector Velazquez, all the work to fix Pacquiao`s flaws came to fruition.
In January of `06, Manny Pacquaio once again climbed the mountaintop in the Super featherweight division and gave Morales the first knockout loss of his career. Pacquiao battered Morales around the ring for much of the fight with his newest weapon “Manila ice” (the right hand, he and Trainer Freddy Roach had been working on). Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the bout in round 10 after Morales had been dropped twice. This was the Pacman we`ve all been dreaming of, a machine with all the tools of destruction in the boxing ring. Speed, accuracy, elusiveness and power in both hands. Pacquiao once again put his skills on display in the rubber match with Morales, this time destroying him in 3 rounds. Manny withstood a cut over his eye, in an April of `04 bout with Jorge Solis and scored an 8th rd KO. In a rare boring Pacquiao fight, Manny defeated Barrera again, but this time by decision. Barrera tried to keep it technical, but Pacquiao was out of his league at this point.
One of the defining moments in Pacquiao`s career was his second bout with Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao got to Marquez early again by scoring a knockdown in the 3rd with a power left hand. Again, Marquez battled back only to lose this time by a razor thin split decision. When it was all said and done, 79 boxing experts, analysts, current and ex-fighters all chimed in with their opinions on the bout. Pacquiao came away with the nod 38-32 and 9 draws (10 if you include my vote). This would be the last close Pacquiao fight. In his next 2 fights vs David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, for lack of a better term, pitched back-to-back perfect games. The foot movement to set up punching positions in both fights was brilliant. The combination punching and accuracy was brilliant, and the results were perfect. He barely got touched in either bout and basically beat both opponents to a pulp. The only problem was when people started to question his opponents. I didn’t have a problem with Diaz, but recently started to take a closer look at Pacman`s last 6 fights, starting with De La Hoya.
At the time it was deemed the dream fight, and it was, partly because no one had ever imagined Pacquiao and De La Hoya in the same ring with the exception of Larry Merchant. It became bigger than it was supposed to when Manny blasted ODLH and made him quit on his stool. Now, my question is ….. How good was De La Hoya? I mean, seriously…. He never fought again right? Was he done before this fight ever happened? De La Hoya only fought 3 times in the previous 4 years, and had a 19 month layoff after his loss to Bernard Hopkins back in Sept of `04. Oscar is a Hall of famer and an all time great, but he may have been at the end of the rope by the time Pacquiao got his hands on him.
Next up was Ricky Hatton, and I`ll say this right off the bat, Ricky Hatton was overrated. I know he beat Kostya Tszyu, but that wound up being Tszyu`s last fight, so maybe we had a Pacquiao-De La Hoya situation there. This being my first live Pacquiao fight, I had a great time and I knew Hatton was no match for Pac, but I didn’t expect it to only last 2 rounds?! By the way, has Hatton fought since then? Nope.
The fight with Cotto was a nightmare for me. Because of My Puerto Rican roots and pride, I had a hard time watching this fight but I still rooted for Pac. (Sorry to my P.R. peeps.) For me (maybe I`m biased) the jury is still out on Cotto because he still remains a prominent fighter in boxing today. I know he isn’t what he once was and some say he was damaged goods after the loss to Margarito, but we wont know the full story until after the rematch with Margarito this coming December. Pacquiao blitzed Cotto, dropping him in the 3th and 4th rounds and finally putting him out of his misery (and mine) one minute into round 12. Cotto has fought only twice since his bout with Pacquiao, winning both, but the opposition leaving something to be desired.
In the crown jewel of Texas, and the home of my beloved Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium was the real attraction in the Manny Pacquiao – Joshua Clottey bout in March of 2010. Clottey was the next sacrificial lamb on Pacquiao`s resume and hasn`t fought since. Actually he didn’t even fight in the bout either. Clottey was begged by his corner to let his hands go, but for fear of winding up like the rest, chose to cover up all night long and was contempt just to last all 12 rounds. Clottey earned $2 Million plus and hasn’t fought in a year and a half. Was he ever good enough to be in the ring with Pacquiao in the 1st place? Not for me.
If it was the size of the venue that sold the Clottey fight, then it was the size difference between fighters that sold Pacquiao`s next fight with Antonio Marga-cheato. With almost a 5 inch height advantage and a 17 pound advantage on the scale, Antonio Margarito showed exactly how worthless he was even right before the fight by being caught with a bottle of Hydroxycut (Yes, an illegal substance in boxing, it`s Margarito ….What do you expect?) After trying to cheat again and even with all of the physical advantages, Pacquiao pummeled Marga-cheato to a point where he almost lost permanent vision in one eye and needed an emergency surgery. Pacquiao looked to referee Lawrence Cole several times to stop the bout but Margarito survived the bout on his feet. Makes you wonder about all of Antonio`s victories doesn’t it? Wins over Kermit Cintron, Cotto and Sergio Martinez were all put into question after Mosley`s trainer Nazim Richardson caught Marga-Cheato with illegal hand wraps in the dressing room before his January `09 9th round knockout loss to Shane Mosley. Safe to say I think Margarito is a fraud and I hope Cotto gets his revenge come December.
Last but not least is Sugar “Shame” Mosley. I liked Shane Mosley a lot during his career and probably rooted for him in every fight except for the Cotto fight and the bout vs Pacquiao. This fight is probably the biggest reason of all of why I am writing this article. Shane Mosley was finished before this fight took place, just like De La Hoya. After a 16 month layoff, he lost the last 10 rounds versus Mayweather, then he had a draw with Sergio Mora (Yes, that Sergio Mora!) and chose to run the Kentucky Derby rather than fight Pacquiao in May of 2011. He basically sold his resume to the public, Bob Arum helped him and we all paid for it. Pacquiao won the lovefest in a 12 round unanimous decision, flooring Mosley in the third and had him backpedaling for much of the fight. Mosley was clearly hurt in rounds 3 and 10 and ran to the finish line. Mosley blamed a blister on his foot for the poor showing and hasn`t fought since, and most fans hope he never does again. Pacquaio`s lackluster effort was aided by cramps in his leg, yet I didn`t kill Pacquaio for his performance, but I did question the opponent, again.
Its not all Manny`s fault, Bob Arum is a huge part of why Pacquiao`s Prime years are being wasted on arguably poor opposition. But I ask this, when does Manny take some responsibility? Why always the generic answers in interviews? “Arum picks the fights and I fight them”. “I`m just doing my job”. Isn`t Manny a big enough deal to call his own shots by now? He has to catch some of the shrapnel at least for who he`s in the ring with right? I am not questioning his skills or ability. I haven’t seen anything like him in all my years of following boxing. I just expect more from him as the pound for pound champ. After his November 12 trilogy bout with Juan Manuel Marquez, (which is not a fair fight to me at 144 lbs) Pacquiao has to step up his game and define his career before he retires. The Mayweather fight will do that for him, if it happens. Maybe fights with Tim Bradley or Saul Alvarez, Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz or some other up and coming champion has to happen for Pacquiao`s legacy in the ring to be fulfilled. Sure he`s a hall of famer and one of the greatest of all time, but wouldn`t you want to see him eat alive some exciting young lion, just to prove how great he really is? With only a few fights remaining in his career, the clock is ticking. I just hope he`s saving his best for last.
Joey Santana can be reached via email: theboxingkidd@verizon.net
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