By Manuel Perez: If people think that Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) is going to be the next “Golden Boy,” then I say they’re going to be sadly disappointed when Pacquiao is knocked out by Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KOs) on May 2nd, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao, 30, isn’t the one that should be facing Hatton in this fight, it should be Juan Manuel Marquez, because he was defeated by an incredibly 12-round questionable decision by Pacquiao a year ago in March 2008.
That victory for Pacquiao proved nothing to anyone other than die hard Pacquiao fans who seemed to be blinded to the actual fight that took place on that night.
Right now, boxing is looking for a popular fighter to step in and fill the void left by the great Oscar De La Hoya’s retirement from boxing. Whoever the fighter that emerges as the next Golden Boy, they have pretty big shoes to fill because De La Hoya was the best for 17 years, winning 10 titles in six different weight divisions.
There will never be another like De La Hoya that much is for sure. But some lucky fighter will step up soon to take over the mantle De La Hoya left, but it sure isn’t going to be Manny Pacquiao, I can tell you that. It especially won’t be Pacquiao after he’s handed a nice sweet loss by Hatton.
Getting beat by Ricky will remove Pacquiao from the running for this excellent award and put him at a lower class that I feel he should be ranked in given his lack of quality fights the past few years.
I don’t think Hatton will be the next Golden Boy either, because he’s not going to be around long enough to make that happen. If he Hatton did stick around for another six or seven years and fought and beat quality opposition like Marquez and Victor Ortiz, then I would immediately bestow upon Hatton the prestigious Golden Boy crown.
However, Hatton won’t be around much longer, so he’s out of the running. But you can be assured, it won’t be Pacquiao either. The same goes for WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero (25-0, 25 KOs), who’s build up a perfect record of knockouts, albeit against largely soft opposition.
If anyone is going to take over the Golden Boy title it’s Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs). He’s fought the best during his 16-year pro career and only has one loss that I consider to be legitimate, his first fight which ended up as a 1st round disqualification to Javier Duran in 1993.
The losses to Chris John, Freddie Norwood and Pacquiao were all victories as far as I’m concerned, showing how badly some fights are sometimes scored. The only problem with Marquez, 35, is that he doesn’t have too many more years left before he starts to show signs of fading as a fighter.
However, he’s incredibly youthful in the same way as Bernard Hopkins and he may be able to fight into his 40s like Hopkins. In that case, Marquez definitely will be the next Golden Boy.
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