Manny Pacquiao proved beyond doubt that he is the best fighter of this generation last weekend and a case can now be made for him being one of the greatest of all time.
The Filipino's victory over welterweight Miguel Cotto was brutal, technically brilliant and exciting.
Manny took a big risk in fighting the Puerto Rican at 145lbs (66kg) but the former flyweight actually looked the stronger man once he had got out of the first round.
Cotto had more success than many of Pacquiao's previous opponents but still couldn't put a dent in him despite landing punches that would have had other fighters in serious trouble.
In a sport where a few kilogrammes can make the difference between efficiency and ruin, Pacquiao has repeatedly proved that he is able to rise to every challenge put in his way.
He has now added Cotto's name to an incredible record that also includes wins over Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales.
Pacquiao's name certainly wouldn't look out of place among legends such as Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez and Henry Armstrong but he is also on the brink of getting right to the top among the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis.
There was plenty of talk at the weekend about how Pacquiao had become the first man to win seven titles in seven different divisions by beating Miguel but that statistic has been aided by the proliferation of belts and also the expansion of the original eight weight classes.
Yet even if Pacquiao had been boxing 100 years ago he would still have spanned five divisions, winning major fights in four of them (flyweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight).
He only missed out on bantamweight after being knocked out by Thailand's Medgoen Singsurat in Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1999 in a WBC flyweight title fight.
Pacquiao decided to skip over the 118lb (53.6kg) division but no one back then could have predicted his rise all the way up to welterweight while still retaining his power, speed and punch resistance.
The fight everyone wants to see now is Pacquiao against Floyd Mayweather and it was interesting to note Mayweather wasn't in the crowd last weekend.
As gifted as Floyd is, he must realise that his unbeaten record could come to an end against "Pacman".
If he had been ringside for Pacquiao v Cotto then he would have been able to make a big statement of intent but instead we were left guessing about whether he will take the risk.
I have no doubt that Pacquiao is ready to accept the match as long as Mayweather doesn't price himself out.
I always thought that Floyd would be too slick for Pacquiao but after seeing Manny hammer Cotto then it is impossible not to give him a good chance of winning the fight, which is what makes it so attractive.
Hopefully both camps can come to an agreement and get the match arranged for next year because it would be the biggest boxing event in years.
Even if Floyd wins it still wouldn't detract from Pacquiao's spectacular career and I have a feeling they could fight more than once anyway.
Another aspect of last weekend's fight worth commenting on is the conduct of Cotto's corner from the eighth round onwards.
Cotto's trainer Joe Santiago kept asking Miguel if he wanted to continue but he should have made the decision for him and pulled him out.
That is part of his job, because fighters rarely say they want to quit if asked directly. Cotto looked finished after the 10th and I was very surprised he was allowed out for the 11th round let alone the 12th.
It was hard to watch such a courageous man take a fearful, and prolonged, beating like that.
Cotto looked as though he was prepared to absorb any amount of punishment rather than give up and he should have been protected from himself, either by his corner or the referee.
Julian Turner is the Bangkok Post's Deputy Sports Editor.
Email: juliant@bangkokpost.co.th
Source: bangkokpost.com
Custom Search
No comments:
Post a Comment