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.
For that reason, I can’t give Pacquiao one ounce of credit for beating De La Hoya, because on that night, anyone with a pulse would have likely taken De La Hoya out. Now if Pacquiao wants to impress me, he needs to step up to the plate and fight Margarito or Williams and show that he has the skills to beat a natural welterweight.
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.
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