By Steve Lewis: I first encountered the term “cherry-picking” as a young lad years ago, playing basketball with schoolmates. I would sometimes stand underneath our basket while the rest of my teammates would be playing defense at the other end. Then, if a teammate were to steal the ball or grab a rebound, they would throw a full-court pass to me, where I would easily throw in an uncontested lay up. “Cherry picker!,” the opposing team would exclaim. Even though there were no “illegal defense” rules in street ball, there was still some on-court etiquette that you were expected to follow. Cherry-picking is apparently one of those no-no’s.

In the context of boxing, cherry-picking is often defined as the selective choosing of a particular opponent to fit one’s strength or forte. Or, it is pretty much the selection of a safe, easy opponent who presents minimal risks.

Many boxers have been accused of cherry-picking. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao have been the most recent recipients of that distinction.

But some cherry-pick to gain an advantage, while others do so to equalize the playing field. There is a difference. And some are mischaracterized entirely.

Floyd Mayweather’s selection of Juan Manuel Marquez, the lightweight champion, who recently came up from super featherweight, constitutes as “cherry-picking.” Yes, Marquez was the #2 top pound-for-pound fighter out there at the time, but as an opponent for a welterweight? Israel Vazquez was a mainstay top pound-for-pounder before getting dropped due to inactivity. Would a Mayweather-Vazquez bout be justifiable, simply because Vazquez was in the pound-for-pound list?

And yes, Marquez gave Pacquiao fits, yet Pacquiao was being called a legitimate prospective opponent for Mayweather, so why not Marquez? Because when Pacquiao fought Marquez, it was on even terms. They both fought each other in the featherweight and super featherweight divisions, weight classes that they were both in, weight classes that they were both competing in. Marquez going up to welterweight, when he was barely surviving in the lightweight ranks, was another matter. Mayweather was essentially taking on a slowed down (Marquez was not a speed demon to begin with), bloated lightweight. Now, if Mayweather wanted that as a tune-up fight, that would have been OK. But to pass it off to the public as Number One vs. Numero Uno, a legitimate superfight? That it was not. I do understand the marketing motives behind it, but let’s call a spade a spade.

And then there was the fight against Carlos Baldomir, when people like Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, and Antonio Margarito were available. Yes, Baldomir was the lineal champ at welterweight at that time, but no one will be confusing Baldomir with any of the all-time greats of the welterweight division anytime soon. Baldomir having the lineal title by beating an underachieving Zab Judah was just happenstance. What has Baldomir done since the Floyd defeat? Lost against Vernon Forest and Jackson Bonsu, and claiming 2 wins against Luciano Perez and Jairo Siris. Yup, those guys.

Cotto, Mosley, and Margarito all found ways to battle each other. Floyd was the only one not involved in that quasi-welterweight round robin. Apparently, wins against Judah and Baldomir were enough to stake his claim.

Even at junior welterweight, Floyd could have fought the recognized champ of the division, Kostya Tszyu, but was content on taking on DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, Henry Bruseles, and lifting a belt from Arturo Gatti, who had picked up the vacant WBC strap in the first place by defeating Gianluca Branco after Tszyu got stripped of his title.

Now while Floyd cherry-picks on smaller or safer opponents, Pacquiao at least cherry-picks on larger opponents. And that is to equalize the playing field for the naturally smaller man. I would say that Pacquiao only has one legitimate “cherry pick”: his WBC lightweight match against David Diaz. But at least Pacquiao, who had never fought above 130 at the time, was going against a bigger foe, and treading unchartered waters, stepping in to a new weight class. At least it was not him taking on Ivan Calderon because Calderon is a top 10 pound-for-pounder.

Pacquiao had been competing as a super featherweight since early 2005, when he chased Erik Morales to a higher weight class. So when the folks at Top Rank matched him up with David Diaz during this new trip up the scales, it was an understandable “feeling out” process. This was before Pacquiao started going into the weight class-leaping phenomenon that he is now noted for. After having taken on the likes of Marquez, Morales, and Marco Antonio Barrera several times over, I think we can cut Pacquiao some slack if he takes on the occasional “stay busy” fight…one that was at least against a bigger belt holder in a new division. Now Pacquiao could have taken Nate Campbell next, but he didn’t. Not because Pacquiao was ducking Campbell, but because Oscar came calling. It was a matter of Pacquiao having bigger fish to fry. Sorry, but prior to Campbell’s win against Juan Diaz (who lost to a smaller, slower Marquez & may have benefited from a hometown call against light-punching Paulie Malignaggi), Campbell was essentially dubbed a journeyman. And that win against Ali Funeka does not exactly boost his profile. Sorry Nate, but you don’t quite belong in the class of Hatton, Oscar & Cotto as a potential opponent. No clout, you’ll pout. But go ahead, mark David Diaz up as a Pacquiao cherry pick.

Some say Oscar De La Hoya was cherry picked. I do not know how that could be, considering that it was Oscar who did the picking, not Pacquiao. And what was Pacquiao suppose to do, climb all the way up to middleweight from 130/135? Others say Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto were cherry-picked as well. It is hard for me to classify those as “cherry picks” when Hatton and Cotto were considered the top (or close to it) in their respective weight classes. Hatton was undefeated at 140 and held the lineal title since 2005, and was an easy moneymaker of an opponent to boot. That was a no-brainer. And Cotto was certainly one of the top welterweights out there, having held the WBA title previously and then the WBO strap. If Pacquiao really wanted to cherry pick a welterweight title off of someone, he would have had an easier time against IBF champ Isaac Hlatswayo than against Miguel Cotto. Now Hlatswayo would have been a “cherry pick,” but not someone of Cotto’s caliber.

Now, there are talks that, with Floyd possibly dragging his heels on a deal, a Pacquiao-Yuri Foreman match for a title in an unprecedented 8th weight class could takes place beforehand. If this is indeed the case, then Yuri Foreman would be a cherry-pick, since the current WBA jr. middleweight champ is not exactly noted for his punching power. Although the other jr. middleweight title holders are not all that awe-inspiring either (Sergio Martinez – WBC, Sergei Dzindziruk – WBO, Cory Spinks – IBF). If Paul Williams beats Martinez however (and there is a high likelihood he will), then that could be something enticing. But we’d be getting ahead of ourselves to think about that when Pac vs. Floyd has yet to be settled.

So yes, Pacquiao has one cherry pick, and a possibly second one on the way. But hey, at least they are against bigger opposition, and a claim to an 8th weight class is nothing to sneeze at, considering that Pacquiao was just at 130 in March of last year and could be facing a champ at 154.

So everyone cherry picks, whether through a management team’s desire to build someone up (i.e., Julio Ceasar Chavez, Jr.), as an equalizer (i.e., Pacquiao), or to make the most money for the least amount of risk (i.e., Mayweather). But it should be noted, not all cherry picks are created equal. Floyd should at least pick on bigger cherries next time.