By Steven Pink: Manny Pacquiao represents the latest in a proud line of boxing champions who have looked from the glorious height of their own personal fistic summit to the next towering peak on the horizon. In carving out a trail of mayhem over an astonishing number of divisions the Filipino dervish has displayed a willingness to accept challenges and overcome obstacles in successively higher weight classes.
From a callow light flyweight Manny has risen over 40 pounds, all the while confounding expectations, claiming titles and defeating the world’s best fighters. His skills have developed as his weight has grown. Guile, lateral movement and variety have been added as lessons were learned along the way.
His position at the top of the Pound for pound ratings was confirmed in they eyes of many through his punch perfect demolition of Ricky Hatton. While subjectivity alone guarantees freedom of debate when it comes to rating the top performers in the sport, no-one can argue that Pacquiao’s potent blend of speed, power, movement and indefatigable will to win have elevated him to superstar status at present.
However, has Manny, in choosing to move swiftly through the divisions, done enough to be remembered by fight fans alongside the greats in any one particular division? Does he even need to limit his focus to one weight class his triumphs representing the body of work that they do? Bob Arum’s tub-thumping hyperbole aside Pacquiao, with every successive demolition, cements his name further into the bedrock of the sport. Should he never fight again the memory of his achievements will be enough to secure his place in Canasota. However, we are all in the enviable position of watching him in the prime of his career and if he is to be remembered alongside Robinson, Ali and Louis then the next few years will provide posterity with the yardstick for measuring his greatness.
Henry Armstrong (who Manny is most often compared to) blasted his way to three world titles between Featherweight and Welter, defeating Hall of Fame opposition at almost every turn (Lou Ambers and Barney Ross being the standout victories). These wins have quite rightly guaranteed Homicide Hank’s place in the pantheon of boxing immortals. Though, it could be argued that his 18 defences of the Welterweight crown remain his greatest fistic legacy. Roberto Duran is another who travelled from the foothills of the lightweight division to the rarefied climes at 160 pounds, claiming four world titles as he went. However, it is as one of history’s greatest champions at 135’’ (backed up by his twelve successful defences, including eleven knockouts) that he will be principally remembered. Defeating Ray Leonard at Welterweight added to the legend, this is beyond contestation, though following the loss in the rematch he vacated the division almost as quickly as he had arrived. Subsequent title victories over Davey Moore and Iran Barkley (at Light-Middle and Middleweight respectively) while providing vivid evidence of his stellar talent and will to win, did not establish him as an all-time great in either division.
Ray Leonard’s fourth and fifth world titles (won paradoxically against the same opponent in Donny Lalonde) are not as impressive as his unification of a talent laden Welterweight division in the early 1980’s. Though, conversely his upset victory over Hagler in 1987 for the Middleweight crown will forever embellish his legacy. Clearly multi-weight excellence can be its own reward, though Leonard was fortunate enough to be faced with a number of fellow all time greats with whom to tussle as he ascended the weight divisions.
Sometimes a fighter has little choice in taking on the bigger men. The inescapable prison of our genetic makeup often determines our changing body shape. Fighters like Thomas Hearns and Oscar De La Hoya prove that a fighter often dances to the dictatorial tune of his own metabolism. Recent Pacquaio opponent De La Hoya won titles in six divisions, though victories over the likes of Jimmi Brehdal, Jorge Paez, Rafael Ruelas and a faded Julio Cesar Chavez will surely not resonate down through the corridors of time with the same sonorous clang of his encounters with Whitaker, Quartey and Trinidad (battles conducted while he ruled the Welterweight division). Hearns, in becoming boxing’s first four-weight champion, has a niche in history that can never be effaced. Though how much more brightly would his star burn had he unified any of his titles or reeled of a succession of consecutive title defences at Light-Middleweight, where he looked set for a lengthy and dominant reign following his dethroning of Wilfred Benitez? With Hagler looming large on the horizon, a fight that promised both riches and an irresistible challenge, Hearns tied up the WBC title at 154 pounds for two years, making only three defences.
Riches may indeed be behind his promoter Bob Arum’s stated willingness to allow his charge in the ring with anyone. At present Pacquaio generates huge revenue as boxing’s marquee performer. It would be blindly naïve to discount that, at thirty, Pacquiao’s brain trust see little merit in anything but the biggest (and thus most lucrative) fights.
Boxing speaks to the inspirational in all of us. The aura created by defying the conventional rules of genetics is a dreamy and fantastic one. There is something noble in a fighter striving to better himself, in his taking on bigger, taller, heavier opponents. However, in clearing out a division a champion truly dispenses with the need to justify his status; with all worthy opposition dispatched no-one can look back in years to come and bemoan the fight that got away or the worthy opponent avoided. Not that Manny makes a habit of avoiding those the wider boxing community consider to be worthy; as his rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez, a man who had posed him a plethora of problems in their first fight, testifies. However, in vacating titles with relative alacrity a champion will always leave disgruntled opponents behind him. Has Manny done enough at 135 pounds with a victory over the limitlessly brave, yet relatively one-dimensional David Diaz to merit comparison with the best the division has offered up in previous years?
In taking over from Ricky Hatton as the premier 140 pound boxer on earth it is to be hoped he allows himself time to put down some roots and stamp his signature on a talent filled division that provides him with a myriad of potentially mouth-watering matches. The proliferation of alphabet titles and the extension of boxing’s weight divisions (8 in golden age of the 1950’s compared to 17 today) has taken something of the lustre from the achievements of the sport’s multi-weight division champions, though achievement on the scale of Pacquiao’s is akin to a fistic version of climbing Everest. So it could be argued that rather than embellishing his legend further by bouts against Cotto and Mayweather at 147’’ or beyond he could establish lasting greatness by staying put for a few years. His run at Super-Bantam (between 1999 and 2003) encompassing as it did 11 fights for either the WBC title proper or WBC International belts has established something of a precedent for maintaining his weight. However, this time he appears to have a selection of talented opponents worth staying around to face at 140 pounds.
At Light Welterweight the 5’6 1/2 ’’ Pacquiao may finally have reached his ideal weight. His power has been successfully carried though the divisions and this allied to his blinding speed and ring savvy provide him with all the tools necessary to dominate the division. The fact that he is presented with a number of potential opponents who will strive not to let him have it all his own way only seasons this particular pot further. Even a cursory glance at the ratings at 140 pounds highlights a number of opponents that would provide both excellent fights and allow Pacquiao to rubber stamp his place in the Hall of Fame. Timothy Bradley and Kendal Holt would provide robust challenges while allowing Pacquiao to cement his grip on the division’s leadership. If a rematch with Hatton has been rendering meaningless due to the brutally conclusive nature of the first stoppage then Junior Witter, 37-2-2 (22) would happily step into the vacuum left by his fellow Englishmen. Andreas Kotelnik, 31-2-1 (13), while neither particularly exciting or marketable is a respected adversary and would add the scalp of another champion to Manny’s resume.
Slightly below the elite level of the division Victor Ortiz, 24-1-1 (20) and Ricardo Torres, 32-2 (28) both bring power and a punchers chance into any match with Pacquiao. Torres in particular, assuming he recovers fully from the traumatic knockout he suffered at the hands of Holt, possesses the punching power to make the fight a potentially thrilling shootout. Juan Urango, 21-1-1 (16) is teak tough and his come forward style would surely blend well with Pacquiao’s. Useful prospects abound in the division from Lamont Peterson 26-0 (11) and Mike Alvarado, 25-0 (17) to Devon Alexander 18-0 (11). While some might argue that these are mere marking time fights, small fry to digest while waiting for the bigger fish to arrive it is worth remembering that in between the mega fights the last truly great Light-Welterweight, Julio Cesar Chavez, dispatched numerous solid opponents such as Alberto Cortes, Angel Hernandez, Andy Holligan (all unbeaten), Lonnie Smith, Greg Haugen, John Duplessis, Giovanni Parisi and Terrance Ali, during a run of 14 defences (11 in his first title run). While biding his time, racking up the wins and putting down a marker in the division the big fights against Taylor and Camacho still materialised. As both long term WBC and IBF champion Chavez rendered the claims of any rival in his weight class irrelevant. His achievements place him alongside Aaron Pryor as the pre-eminent performer in the division’ history.
At 140’’ he would even be in the refreshingly unfamiliar position of having opponents rise in weight to meet him. The coming year could yet bring exciting encounters against powerful WBA Lightweight champion Edwin Valero or the weight plagued, yet experienced Nate Campbell. Juan Manuel Marquez (win or lose against Mayweather) would surely cherish a third match with Pacquiao. Indeed should the Mexican battler shock Mayweather the rubber match would be a cataclysmic affair and more importantly be contested at a weight that does not disadvantage either man unduly. Even stable mate Amir Khan, should he capture Kotelnik’s WBA crown next month, would provide the mouth watering option of fighting in front of a packed British crowd in a fight sure to generate a great deal of interest in the UK. That is assuming that gym loyalties could be temporarily forgotten in order to facilitate the match.
Conversely by rising again to face the returning Mayweather Pacquiao would provide us with the sort of super-fight that broadens boxing’s appeal, the type of contest that captures the imagination of the general sports fan. Should he win you might argue that his achievements would bear comparison with any of the sports legendary figures. But each successive summit brings with it potential pitfalls. Treacherous glaciers and unseen cornices abound at 147 pounds and above. Duran ran into his Hearns and even Robinson had his Joey Maxim (the one sad stoppage defeat on his incomparable resume). When will Pacquiao’s upward mobility stop? Would the likes of Cotto or Paul Williams be a step too far? I would not deny the sport the signature moment Pacquiao -Mayweather would provide it with but it would be a sad day for boxing should he make that one step too far, though I do believe that he has the tools to find the answers to that particular examination. At very least it is impossible not to admire Pacquiao’s unwavering resolve and willingness to push himself higher and further, though one cannot help but wonder if he is not doing himself a disservice in being so prepared to concede natural advantages to his opponents.
Manny Pacquaio is a special fighter. He deserves to be remembered as such and while I am certain he remains refreshingly free of overconfident hubris his willingness to take on the most daunting of all comers looks to be the only thing that can derail his seemingly pre-ordained march to a seat at boxing’s very highest table.
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