Just How Great is Pacquaio?

Written by: Jasveer Singh Gill

 

Years ago when I was a youngster watching boxing purely as a fan, I remember avidly rooting for Oscar De La Hoya to knockout Floyd Mayweather, just as the majority of people at the time did.

At the friends house where I watched the fight only one person was hoping that Mayweather would win. When I asked why this person replied “You can not deny greatness. What is great should always remain great.”

 

 

Think about any of sports true greats and it is clear their greatness has always been apparent; from Roger Federer beating Pete Sampras at the age of 20 at Wimbledon, to Lebron James breaking all types of records as a teenager and even Cristiano Ronaldo running rings around the Manchester United team for Sporting Lisbon in a friendly.

 

 

Manny Pacquaio has not always been great. There was a time when the Philippine fighter was just a brawler with a devastating left-hand.

 

 

Obviously over time, thanks to Freddie Roach’s tutelage, Pacquaio has matured into a truly exceptional boxer. His footwork is excellent, his accuracy is superb and his energy levels are beyond anything we have seen in recent years. All this and he has still kept his power and aggressive style.

 

 

But although he is the most accomplished boxer fighting today and a valid contender for the best pound-for-pound fighter in the last 10 years there are still some question marks over just how great ‘Pac-Man’ is when comparing him to some of the sports greatest of all time.

 

 

One of these question marks comes from the lack of counter punchers he has faced, which is the style he has been found to have most difficulty with. The last time he face one, it was against Juan Manuel Marquez, a master counter-puncher that only lost via split decision in a fight many thought he won. The two previously fought to a draw in another fight which many thought Marquez won, although Pacquaio did knock him down three times in the first round.

 

 

Pacquaio made his name going hell for leather with tough Mexicans such as Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. In his seven fights with these legends Pacquaio only lost once, drew once and won five times. However, the trio did give him his hardest fights to date.

 

 

Pacquaio was completely out-boxed in his first fight against Erik Morales, which is the loss that saw him completely change his fighting style. After Morales had than lost a unanimous decision to Zahir Raheem, he went back to take him on again in two fights which he lost via knockout, unable to handle the speed of the attacks and also Pacquaio’s new found waspish style.

 

 

Barrera was stopped in his first fight with Pacquaio after he could not resist brawling with him.The second time Barrera fought Pacquaio he was coming off some poor performances including two close fights with Rocky Juarez and a loss against Marquez. However, he was still able to go the full 12 rounds in a competitive fight, although Pacquaio did win a unanimous decision. Barrera perhaps, learning from Pacquaio’s fights against Morales and their own previous encounter, did not try to stand and trade this time. Instead he tried to out-box him but found he was simply too slow to win their exchanges.

 

 

In these fights Pacquaio showed that any fighter that tries to brawl with him would always lose but when in a more technical match he was more vulnerable. The problem all of these Mexican’s had was their instinct to brawl and also a lack of speed to keep up with Pacquaio gave them a natural disadvantage.

 

 

If boxing history has taught us that Mexicans are inclined to a brawl it has also taught us that those with the best hand speed and technical skill – the ingredients that create the style best to beat Pacquaio – are African-American fighters; think Cassius Clay, Bernard Hopkins, Pernell Whitaker and of course Floyd Mayweather.

 

 

This brings up the next major question mark on the illustrious career so far of Manny Pacquaio – he has not actually ever fought a Black-American fighter (until this week when he will fight Shane Mosley) making it even more ironic and maybe even suspect that he has never faced one before.

 

 

The likes of Junior Jones, Zahir Raheem, Derek Gainer, Nate Campbell and of course Floyd Mayweather and many other top African-American fighters have all held titles in Pacquaio’s respective weight divisions over the years but neither has ever got the chance to face him.

 

 

Mosley, verging on 40 years old and coming off a draw and a loss in his last two fights, will be the first African-American to fight Pacquaio. When, for four or five rounds, Mosley exploits the few gaps the Pacquaio does have in his arsenal it will be clear why he will not be seen as great as the likes of ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, ‘Sugar’ Ray Robinson, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns.

 

 

Since Pacquaio moved up from super-featherweight he has fought six people, three of them have been aggressive Mexican come-forward fighters (David Diaz, Oscar De La Hoya and Antonio Margarito) and another was noted brawler Ricky Hatton. Of the other two Joshua Clottey lacked the ability to ever be considered a threat to his reign. The other opponent – Miguel Cotto – was a legitimate threat but was also coming of a devastating brutal loss and than a poor win.

 

 

It was not just Cotto though, all of these fighters mentioned had some poor performances before being matched up to face Pacquaio. David Diaz was obviously the poorest champion at lightweight at the time, especially clear as his previous fight was a majority decision win against a journeyman fighter. Oscar De La Hoya took massive punishment from the much smaller but quicker Steve Forbes (which was a great indication of how his Pacquaio fight was going to go), whilst his fight before that was his loss to Mayweather. Ricky Hatton was two fights away from his first loss and KO against Mayweather and also a poor performance against Juan Lazcano, both which preceded a good win against Paulie Malignaggi. Cotto’s last three fights before his Pacquaio fight were the afore mentioned devastating stoppage loss, an easy win against the unknown Michael Jennings and than a poor controversial win against Clottey. That loss for Clottey is what seemingly got him his chance against Pacquaio while, Antonio Margarito, had his first ever KO loss and than an 18 month lay-off before a warm-up fight against a journeyman that came before he got his shot.There is no doubt that list of names still reads like a who’s-who of the best fighters of recent years in and around the welterweight division but they were all obvious underdogs to Pacquaio.

 

 

At this point, wins against more war ravaged modern day greats will not take Pacquaio’s reputation any higher. The obvious legacy sealing fight against Mayweather still looks unlikely to happen – with most signs pointing to Mayweather being the reason for that. However, there is still time to remove for him to enhance his legacy.

 

 

Pacquaio will go someway to try and remove one of those question marks if he takes on Marquez for a third time whilst a bout against an African-American champion is something any boxer needs to be considered great.

 

 

It seems between every fight against a legitimate threat (Marquez, Hatton and Cotto) Top Rank like to set up bouts that are very tailored to a spectacular win for Pacquaio. Perhaps a few years ago a fight against Mosley would have meant more but now it is just another bout that will allow Pacquaio to exhibit all of his skills on route to a comfortable win.

 

 

So after Pacquaio destroys Mosley, as he will do once Mosley begins running out of stamina, try not to get caught up in the hype and praise that will follow. For as great as Pacquaio is, he is not one of the greatest – yet.