Fight Lover's Forum 11.19.09: Manny is an All-Time Great... Maybe the Greatest

Posted by A. Shakoor on 11.19.2009

Following his huge win on Saturday night, 411's Ali Shakoor looks at the future of Manny Pacquiao, whether it involves Floyd Mayweather or a possible change in weight, and whether he is one of, if not the, greatest ever!


Photos by Laura De La Torre / 411mania.com

We are witnessing GREATNESS. I can't wrap my mind around seven titles in seven different divisions. Manny Pacquiao is the best fighter in the world, and among the top ten of all-time. If he beats Floyd Mayweather Jr--a topic I'll get to later--I may just call him the greatest pound for pound fighter ever. In boxing, I know we seem to have our untouchables in this argument like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Henry Armstrong, but Manny belongs in the conversation.

It's a little embarrassing(I'm not sure why), but I think I may be able to make the case that Manny Pacquiao is currently the greatest pound-for-pound fighter ever. I'm not ready to make the case yet, but it's on my mind. As of now, I'll just call him among the ten greatest ever, although in my heart, I'm thinking top five at the least. I'm too much of a wuss to commit right now. Who is this guy that has me all smitten, confused and laudatory?

He's the guy that has me choking on my size 11.5 sneakers right now. Yes, I predicted Cotto to win this fight via an 11th round stoppage. I was so wrong. In fact, the fight unfolded in a manner exactly the opposite of what I was expecting. I thought Cotto would taste Manny's power early, shake it off, and then wear him down over the second half of the fight. It happend in reverse.

What I absolutely did not see coming, was Manny's iron chin. Cotto tagged Manny with some very solid jabs, hooks, and uppercuts. Manny shook it off, and just kept freaking coming. He knocked Cotto down in the third round, but Cotto was more off balance than hurt. In the action packed fourth round, where Cotto showed a great deal of heart, and appeared to be winning, Manny clocked him with a devastating left hook.. Cotto's face and eyes looked defeated. Although Cotto put forth an effort in subsequent rounds, he just couldn't turn things around.



Through my drunken excitement and disbelief, I continuously shouted, "Manny can hurt, Cotto, b-b-but, Cotto c-c-can't hurt Manny." I know, not very articulate, but that was the fight in a nutshell. I'll never "bet" against Manny again while he's in his prime. While combining skill with aggression and blinding speed, he's the most entertaining fighter I've ever seen. He's more aggressively offensive than Hopkins, Jones Jr. and Mayweather. He has better defensive skills than Trinidad, De La Hoya and Hagler. He's fought better competition than Vitali or Calzaghe. He's more dominant over a longer period of time than Leonard and Tyson. What I'm saying is, not only do I think Manny Pacquiao is the most exciting fighter of his era, I think he's the most exciting fighter of the last 3 or 4 eras; which is my era range as a boxing fan and viewer. There's no flaws in his game right now.

A few images from this past Saturday night reveal Manny's dual persona, and what makes him such a great fighter, and mesmerizing sports figure. First, it was his walk to the ring. He looked so relaxed and overjoyed with happiness. As opposed to walking to the ring to face his toughest opponent, for the roughest fight of his life, you'd think he was about to accept some type of "Man of the Year" award or something. He was so smiley and hand-shaky. I couldn't believe the calm. Pacquao is a different type of cat. Unbelievable.

Then there's this other side of Pacquiao--the intense, focused, warrior. When he went to the ropes to let Cotto tee off, we could just imagine Freddie Roach going insane in the corner. But Manny knew what he was doing. As he stated after the fight, Manny wanted to "test Cotto's power". Yep, the naturally smaller Manny wanted to feel just how much Cotto had to work with in the power department. Cotto is known as a heavy puncher, so when Manny shook off the best of his blows, he created a real psychological advantage for himself. "Manny can hurt, Cotto, b-b-but, Cotto c-c-can't hurt Manny."

This other side of Manny has the essence of the pure fighter. For all of his platitudes and respect outside of the ring, Manny is a true cold-blooded, badass warrior inside the ropes. He likes to fight--intelligently--,but fight nonetheless. He continuously stalked Cotto, and when Cotto occasionally got in full retreat mode to buy himself some time to recuperate, Manny stopped on a couple of occasions and just glared at him. He had no desire to follow Miguel around. He wanted to fight. It was like he was channeling Clubber Lang, "Come on, I got a LOTTA MO". The dual personality of Manny as the humble, respectful, guy outside the ring, in contrast with the aggressive, brutal, assassin inside the ring, creates the perfect fighter to root for. We are so lucky.

What's Next?

Manny could go back to 140, but nobody there could compete with him. Timothy Bradley would be scrappy before getting knocked out inside of 8 rounds. At 147, there is the winner of Berto v. Mosley. The "green" Berto would get eaten alive by Manny. Mosley would have a puncher's chance against Manny, but really, can the guy who couldn't drop Cotto, drop Manny? I doubt it. Plus, as great as Mosley is, I don't see him outworking Manny at the age of 38. Nobody can mess with Manny right now in the 140's. A rubbermatch with Juan Manuel Marquez(JMM) is a possibility, but Manny should only take it, if it's in the low 140's. Manny has proven to have gotten much stronger ever since leaving 130, and I'm certain that's why he struggled so much with JMM in their two epic battles. At 140 or above, Manny puts the ancient JMM to sleep inside of 4 rounds.

Well, what about Mayweather? Does Mayweather even want this fight? Of course it makes a lot of sense, and would be the biggest event in the sport's recent history. The two greatest fighters in the world are in the same weight range. This is very rare. Floyd talks so much about his legacy, but it's incomplete without fighting Manny. The storylines are so clear with P4P king v. P4P king, Roach v. the Mayweather brothers, Manny was more dominant against 2 opponents in common, and lastly, the winner can call himself the best fighter of his era.

Mayweather is scared, because he's already making up excuses to avoid the fight, such as Manny getting KO'd as a teenager and 20 year old. How many of you know that a young Bernard Hopkins lost to some guy named Clinton Mitchell? Do you care? I didn't think so. Marvin Hagler had early career losses to Willie Monroe and Bobby "Boogaloo" Watts. Who gives a crap. Any fool can see that Manny in no way resembles the unpolished, weight drained, young man from over 30 pounds and ten years ago. There's also no shame in Manny losing a decision to future hall-of-famer Erik Morales at a much lower weight; particularly after knockout victories in two rematches.

Manny did much better against Oscar and Hatton than Floyd did. He was also able to knock JMM to the deck 4 times in two fights, despite having outgrown 130. Floyd could only muster a second round flash knockdown, of a slow and chubby JMM, in their welterweight mismatch. Floyd won't be able to hurt Manny, but Manny would hit Floyd harder, and more often than he has ever been cracked in his entire career. I can see Floyd avoiding this fight, because he's scared to have an L on his record. He's too stupid and arrogant to understand that most every great fighter has more than one loss, and that doesn't diminish from greatness. What fades perceptions of greatness, is the failure to challenge one's self against the very best.

If I'm Manny, I'd offer Floyd a 50/50 split and the ability to weigh up to the 147 lb limit for Manny's new WBO Welterweight Championship Belt. Floyd isn't a bruiser, and he certainly doesn't hit harder than Cotto, so 2 pounds would make zero difference. If Floyd doesn't bite on 50/50, I'd offer a 60/40 split in favor of whomever wins via KO. This would follow the brilliant model of the Hopkins/Jones Jr. agreement. If Floyd turned these terms down, he'd be exposed as the loudmouthed coward that so many of us believe him to be.

So if Floyd refuses to fight Manny--which I think is highly possible--what should Manny do? There aren't any other big money fights at 140 or 147, and I've already mentioned his superiority to the other fighters there. Pacman could just retire with his legacy in place, with the hope that Floyd grows a sac in a year or two. But how about this: who would favor Manny against Cory Spinks for the IBF Junior Middleweight strap, even while giving up 7-10 pounds? I would. That would be 8 belts in 8 divisions. Could this great champion then next give up 12-15 pounds to snag the feather-fisted Felix Sturm's WBA 160lb belt? Try 9 titles in 9 divisions. I know this would be gimmicky, but the risks are there. If Mayweather is yellow-bellied, why not see how far the climb up the ladder can go, while engaging in smart matchmaking. 9 titles in 9 divisions. Sounds nuts right? I remember hearing about Manny v. Oscar, and being disgusted by the gross "mismatch" in Oscar's favor. That was the first time I bet against Manny in the past several years. Then I misjudged him against Cotto. I'll never pick against Manny again. He's a truly remarkable athlete--and MAN.

I feel very fortunate to bear witness to the history he's creating for us all. There will never be another Manny Pacquiao. He's a truly special gift.