By Chris Williams: I’ve noticed that many of Manny Pacquiao’s recent opponents during the past couple of years have either been coming off of a terrible loss or had recently been beaten at the time he fought them. Maybe it’s just coincidence that Pacquiao keeps getting matched up with guys that have been pounded on by other fighters leading up to his fights with them, but I think a little more effort needs to be made to find opponents for Pacquiao that are actually fighting well and not getting the stuffing beaten out of them before he fights them.

For example, Pacquiao’s next opponent, Antonio Margarito, was totally destroyed two fights ago by Shane Mosley a year ago in January. While Margarito rebounded from that loss to get a victory over an obscure fringe level fighter Roberto Garcia, that’s hardly a win that I would consider a significant win that would tell us that Margarito isn’t a shot fighter like many people suspect he might be.

Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto in November of last year, stopping him in the 12th round of a one-sided fight. Cotto has been brutally torn apart by Margarito in July 2008, and while Cotto was able to pick up two comeback wins following that loss to Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey, neither of those victories were against fighters that I felt were a big test for Cotto to show whether he still has it or not.

The Clottey fight turned out to be a narrow 12 round split decision win or Cotto, and at one point Cotto looked like he was ready to quit when he started taking punishment in the 9th round. It’s hard to come to any other conclusion in watching the Cotto-Clottey fight other than the belief that Cotto doesn’t look like the same fighter he once was prior to his beat down from Margarito.

Pacquiao’s last fight was against Joshua Clottey in March. Pacquiao easily won the fight, but it’s not surprising. Clottey had been beaten by Cotto in his fight going into the Pacquiao, and it’s a wonder why Clottey was given a shot at fighting Pacquiao given his recent loss. Is it because Clottey had recently been beaten that he was chosen for Pacquiao or just another dumb coincidence?

Ricky Hatton fought Pacquiao in May of 2009, and was stopped in the 2nd round. Hatton had been badly beaten by Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 10th round TKO loss in December. To be sure, Hatton had rebounded from that vicious beating by defeating Juan Lazcano and Paulie Malignaggi, he still didn’t look like the same fighter he once was prior to the loss to Mayweather.

Pacquiao fought Oscar De La Hoya in December 2008, beating him by a 8th round stoppage victory. At the time that Pacquiao fought him, De La Hoya was just a part time boxer, who had lost two out of his last four bouts.