By Francisco Hernandez: When Manuel Pacquiao refused to fight Juan Manuel Marquez a third time, Marquez decided to chase Pacquiao into the lightweight and then the Welterweight divisions, hoping to either outshine the Pacman or shame him into a third fight.

Marquez didn’t waste time with small fights or has-been fighters, he wanted big fights that could make the most money and deliver the most prestige. In the lightweight division he challenged and knocked-out two great champions, dangerous fighters who had dominated the lightweight division: Joel Casamayor, and Juan Diaz. When Manny Pacquiao moved up to the lightweight division he challenged a club fighter named David Diaz.

Again when Marquez moved up to challenge the Welterweights he called out Mayweather. Mayweather is a fighter who outmatched Marquez dramatically in both size and speed. Juan Manuel could have chosen easier opponents but he decided to go against a great risk in Mayweather. On the other hand Manny chose to go against the husk of Oscar de la Hoya. In his next fight Manny comatosed the over-rated brit Ricky Hatton.

All this is not to say that Manuel Pacquiao is not an excellent fighter. Despite the low level at which Oscar and Hatton had fallen, the way in which Pacquiao disposed of them was phenomenal. This is the characteristic that makes Manny Pacquiao so exciting, no one else in boxing today disposes of opponents the way Manny Pacquiao does. In his last three fights Manny has dished out severe one-way beatings.

Now Manny has chosen to fight a real risk, Miguel Cotto, just like Mayweather was a real risk for Juan Manuel Marquez. Cotto is a bigger and stronger man, who is at the top of his game. He is younger than Pacquiao and is in top physical shape. Cotto has the boxing technique needed to neutralize Manny’s speed, as he demonstrated against Judah and more emphatically against Shane Mosley. Cotto also has a granite chin. He took the punch of a Clotty who looks like a light-heavy weight. Cotto could not be knocked out by what were probably the plaster reinforced hands of Margarito.

The great Marquez took a high risk against Mayweather and although he failed to pull it off, he fought with great dignity, forcing Mayweather to fight out of a turtle shell; Mayweather was forced to rely on pot shots and was never able to mount a sustained offensive against Marquez. Marquez lost the fight because he didn’t have the power or the speed to mount an offensive himself to force Mayweather out of his turtle-shell. Now Manny is facing his own high risk in the form of Miguel Cotto. This is truly the defining fight for Manny Pacquiao whether it is in defeat or victory. In Cotto, Manny is facing the first fighter who has all the advantages over Manny. By logic, Cotto simply cannot be overcome by Manny.

Manny has been tested in three tough fights, the first fight against Eric Morales (where he was defeated) and the two fights against Juan Manuel Marquez (tie, split decision). In those fights Manny demonstrated a great heart and looked admirably even in defeat. But in those fights Manny was on level ground. Against Cotto Manny will be fighting uphill.

If Manual Pacquiao does the impossible which is to defeat Miguel Cotto, then he will have cemented his place amongst the great fighters. If Manny loses with dignity then he will not lose any of his hard won admiration. If Manny comes apart at the seams, is dismantled by Cotto, then he will have shown that he was not a fighter up for heroic tasks.