Could Pacquiao Beat A Good Welterweight?
December 30th, 2008
By Manuel Perez: Okay, I’ve seen what Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) can do against a 35-year-old, obviously shot, Oscar De La Hoya, but what can Manny do against a quality welterweight that isn’t shot, someone like Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams or Miguel Cotto? To me, that’s the real question. It’s hard to claim much of a victory when you’ve got a fighter that’s been past his prime for at least five years like Oscar, who to make things worse, had to diet drastically to get down to the 147 pound weight limit of the welterweight division, leaving De La Hoya badly weakened.
If there is any victory for Pacquiao, it’s that he showed that he can beat a fighter that should have been in a weight loss hospital like the Jenny Craig clinic rather than in a real life athletic competition like a professional fight.
I don’t think he does. Both Margarito and Williams would come into the fight in tip top shape, ready for war and prepared to give the miniature sized Pacquiao a battle of his life. And unlike De La Hoya, there wouldn’t be a quitting scene with them. Indeed, Williams and Margarito would fight until they had nothing left, staying in the heat of the battle until someone dropped.
I like Pacquiao a lot as a fighter, but I don’t like his chances against them. Maybe that’s why his trainer, Freddie Roach, would probably never let Pacquiao fight either Margarito or Williams, knowing that Pacquiao would take a major beating worse than his loss to Erik Morales in 2005.
Roach knows what Pacquiao is capable of and he’s probably already sized up both Williams and Margarito, and made a mental note, something along the lines of ‘those are guys to keep Pacquiao away from.’ A fighter has to know his limitations, and Pacquiao probably isn’t capable of beating a fighter much better than the shot De La Hoya in the welterweight division, because after all, he’d be giving up a lot of size and power.
Speed is one thing, but size and strength mean a lot more. That’s why I see Pacquiao, after he finishes mopping the deck with Ricky Hatton in May, moving back down to the lightweight division where fighters are much less dangerous than at welterweight.
Even against a lower ranked welterweight in the top 15, like Kell Brook or Jesus Soto Karass, I think Pacquiao would get decimated and taken apart. These guys are simply too big, young and strong for a fighter only 5’6”, with limited reach. Pacquiao might do well for a round or two, but eventually they’d get to him and beat him down and take him out.
Tags: 15 Responses to “Could Pacquiao Beat A Good Welterweight?”
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Hmmm.. I don’t think its a racial or discrimination issue.. But I somewhat agree with the articles view.
Hatton was NO match for Manny.. He also beat an older DeLa Hoya who was no longer at his peak. He also fought and beat mexican legends with a combined fight total 130+ fights. Well.. It’s just the writers opinion.
On another note but similar rhyme, Mike Tyson (who I was a fan of in the 90′s) Had an undefeated streak of about 45+ bouts against subpar and old tired fighters…and an 0-4 record against fighters somewhat at their peak Lewis, Holyfield.. Its safe to assume that Tyson probably would have lost to Michael Moorer too?
Overall.. I understand where Manuel Perez comes from and feel free to comment and/or bash my reply.
Pacfan
OH Manuel….. you crack me up sometimes!!!!
LOL now is that answer you stupid question?
Manuel Perez kizz my azz
lol talk shyt now LOL! just go sell tacos or something. hater. hatton got killed in 2 round
” I was surprise it was an easy fight ” Pacman Pacquiao
he beat KO Hatton with a Left hand while holding a TACO on his right hand.
I’m pacquiao fan,i think pacquiao can withstand the power of hatton,the questions are,can hatton has something to do against pacquiao speed?can hatton has something to do with pacquiao tremendous firepower?can hatton withstand the technique in boxing of a lefty?
AMEN Ronald AMEN…
Turn boxing back into a sport; take control away from the yanks, enjoy a new lease of life!
Sometimes a fighter must accept defeat be humble and brave enough to swallow it coz like Pacman who doesn’t say anything in defeats bounces back in passion.
Don’t worry more and more God Father in the Philippines sponsors Boxers now a days and with proper training and International exposure we will be seeing not only Mexican-Puertorican match-up but Filipino Mexican or Puertorican Filipino Rivalry.
Well, first of all, let me put one thing straight,Margarito lost his fight against Williams yes, but Paul didn’t destroy him, Margarito lost by decision. Now let me tell you that Pacquiao is a very good fighter, he has an amazing speed, he has power and he has the nuts, to fight toe to toe with anybody; no doubt about it.
The thing is this, as a Mexican is hard to accept that we lost, and is hard because we have a huge HISTORY in boxing. Just google any of this names Salvador Sanchez, Jose Pipino Cuevas,Ruben Puas Olivares, Julio Cesar Chavez, Ricardo “el finito” Lopez(the only fighter in the world that retired with not even one lost) and we can continue writing names, and all of them hall of famers.
To be honest with you guys the only fighter that I know at this time from Filipinas is Pacman. Well we don’t have to many fighters right now either just, Margarito, “el travieso” Arce, Juan Manuel Marquez, Israel Vazquez, Daniel ponce de leon, Oscar Larios, Abner Mares, Jhony Gonzalez and a few more.
I really hope that Filipinas give us more fighters like Pacman, so we can have huge fights in the future. Because guys lets be honest this amazing sport is going down. I’ll love to see good fights in the future.
So guys try to understand, that is hard for us to accept a lost.
excuse me we 7000+ Islands along with 30+ World Champs 4 hall of famer’s and a lot of guts to beat this mexican braggers who cant accept defeat.yah they only have PACMAN to show for now but the quality of fighters that he destroy are class A, I remember back in 2003 when he pulvorize’s the over hype Marco BARRERA.HAHAHA
Margarito is a Middleweight and yet he’s fighting in welter that shows that he’s afraid of taking on bigger much stronger guys. I remember he was destroyed by Paul Wil which is 2 inches bigger than him.
I say Filipino fighters they just not been given enough chance and recognition in the past, and now Manny Pac open the world for them and I believed that 3-5 Years from now the current 5 world champions from the phil will be 10 or more.
just wait and see.
Poor Filipinos .. 3,000 plus islands with more than 78 million people.. And you only have manny to show for?? Ok; manny beat 4 mexicans, who’ve been established, been in wars already, fough people like b.hop, all while manny was in the filipines fightin nobodies…ok so since manny is young and has soooo much hands… He shoulda been fightin young-around his age fighters. David Diaz is the only young guy he fought; and he’s weak. I woulda loved to see Manny get in the ring with a pre-margarito Cotto. manny would be destroyed by Paul Williams, cotto, margarito, flloyd, even sugar shane…you know…… Good fighters actaully in their prime.. NOT OUT OF IT LIKE DLH, MORALES, MARQUEZ.
Always making up excuses. DLH didn’t even give excuses. I bet you vote off MP before their match…. YOU JUST COULDN’T GET OVER THAT LOSE. Just like JMM. Oh well, sour looser, better change sports… perhaps badminton?
I DON’T THINK THERE IS A PROBLEM OF MANNY’S FIGHTING MARGARITO EVEM THOUGH MARGARITO HAS THE ADVANTAGE IN HEIGHT AND REACH AS LONG AS THEY HAVE TO FIGHT AT A CATCH WEIGHT OF 142 POUNDS NOT 147 LBS.PACQUIAO IS A LIGHT WEIGHT AND MARGARITO IS A WELTER WEIGHT. THEN THEY HAVE TO MEET IN THE MIDDLE. IF THIS WILL HAPPEN, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER MEXICAN GOLIATH VICTIM. WHOSE NEXT DO YOU THINK AMONG THE MEXICAN? ZORRO!
The “they” refers to those who up to this time still could not accept a Filipino is better than the rest of the world. Except for billiards maybe, Filipinos are expected to lose in any athletic competition they are in.
When Manny beat the then rising star Lelo Ledwaba for the super-bantamweight IBF title, Ledwaba himself put up an excuse of his devastating defeat for having prepared for challenger Enrique Sanchez instead of an unknown substitute fighter.
When Manny badly beat up then featherweight top dog Marco Antonio Barrera, the “they” came up with excuses like an interrupted training due to a fire which made the Barrera team change training camp venue.
When Manny twice avenged a close decision loss to Eric Morales by knockouts, the “they” say Eric was drained in making the junior-lightweight limit to really be his old self.
These excuses diminish the credit Manny deserves for the unmatched dedication he puts into his preparation for his fights.
When the Oscar de la Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight was sealed, no excuse could ever be entertained by the “they” for them to use. After all, 18 out of 20 so called boxing experts picked the bigger Oscar to just easily run over the smaller Manny as a truck does to a stray tin can on the road.
The dust in the Oscar-Manny “dream match” has settled. Pacquiao showed the world how fearlessness, dogged determination, thorough preparation and what have you can make seemingly insurmountable odds can be overcome. The “they” have long awakened from their “dream” but still refuse to give Manny due credit.
They considered the weight drain as an excuse. But Oscar has been around 145-lbs weeks before the official weigh-in. They decided this blame is overused.
Ah, the diet. Now “they” blame the innocent kangaroo, the buffalo and the ostrich. Anybody and anything are to blame but the Pacman.
In these times when America has elected a black man president by a landslide, the “they” still refuse a Filipino can be the best in this sport. You might say why should I mind the “they” who are few? Well, the “they” includes those who can influence the many to lessen the credit Pacquiao deserves.
Just figure out how Dan Rafael ranks Juan Manuel Marquez higher than Manny in his biased rankings at espn.com. Manny is just #2 to JMM.
Rafael gives JMM higher credit for beating 37-year old Joel Casamayor. After all, Casamayor allegedly held the linear lightweight title. Never mind if Joel struggled against Juan Santa Cruz and Michael Katsidis. Never mind if Manny beat JMM twice and has beaten the suddenly “old” Oscar de la Hoya just this month. JMM is better than Pacquiao, period.
But the reality is that Manny is on top of the boxing world. He is now the better P4P than Floyd Mayweather was because, as a commentator aptly puts it, “Manny fights what boxing fans want a fighter fights”.
Ledwaba still fought after his loss to Manny and so did Barrera. Barrera beat Eric Morales to win their trilogy and even scored a knock down over JMM in their fight last year which is years after Manny unseated him as the linear featherweight champion of the world in 2003.
Many, even Filipinos, mistakenly go with sportswriters who don’t recognize the crown Manny won over Barrera. Cliff Rold of Boxingscene.com recognizes this 126-lb championship for Manny though he doesn’t count the 122-lb IBF title which he calls an alphabet belt. Rold counts Manny’s championships at four. The others also count four by including the 122-lb IBF title but excluding the 126-lb linear championship. I go with Joaquin Henson’s count of 5 world championships for Manny Pacquiao. Manny earned the 122-lb title as much as he did the 126-lb crown. Or, Manny Pacquiao. Manny earned the 126-lb crown as much as he did the122-lb title.
When Manny struggled to make the junior-lightweight limit in his fight with JMM just last March, he was a few more pounds over the limit a day or two before the fight, his camp did not raise this blame for his not having scored a convincing win over JMM.
It’s high time the blame on interrupted training, old age, diet, and weight drain should stop when Manny beat the best out there. It’s high time to put the blame on somebody responsible for their defeats. The “blame” is none other than Manny Pacquiao.
P.Williams is 6’1 that is a middleweight or a Light heavyweight stature, Margarito is about 5’11 a sure Middleweight size and yet fighting in the welter division it makes no sense they are just trying to dominate a a weight class that is much smaller to their size. I say they are just like DLH afraid to take on the bigger guyz in the heavier division.