Pacman KO2 Hitman

Pacman KO2 Hitman (May.02.2009)


As Filipinos worldwide are starting to come down from the high of Manny Pacquiao’s annihilation of the Ricky Hatton, it’s time to put in perspective what this victory means for boxing. A lot has been written about how Pacquiao now belongs with the true legends of the sport – Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Henry Armstrong etc. I have to agree with this assessment 100%. Forget the fact I’m Filipino, I am basing this conclusion to the nearly thirty years I’ve put in following this sport.

In my opinion, THE PACMAN IS GREATEST FIGHTER IN THE LAST 30 YEARS!!! He is the best since Muhammad Ali. He has surpassed the accomplishments of Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr., Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De la Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Julio Cesar Chavez.

As many have pointed out, Pacquaio is the closest thing to Henry Armstrong’s conquest of three divisions that spanned 21lbs. Pacquaio’s titles have been won from 115lbs to 147lbs which is a span of 32lbs. With the exception of the first fight with Erik Morales and the couple with Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao has been dominant since his debut at junior featherweight. The one punch kayo of Ricky Hatton stands above all “Big Fight” knockouts of the past 30 years. Pacquiao’s victory even surpasses the Thomas Hearns’ knockout of Roberto Duran in the second round because Pacquiao was supposedly the smaller man, yet he was the one walking away from a flattened foe.

Other reasons why Pacquaio’s the greatest fighter in the last 30yrs …
Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez - this triumvirate of Mexicans had less than 10 losses between the three of them when they fought Pacquiao. These three men were considered the standard to which featherweight division was compared. Each one of them is an easy first ballot Hall of Famer. Everybody avoided these men, if they could help it. Pacquiao scored two stoppages against Morales, one stoppage and one decisive win over Barrera, and two very close fights with Marquez who he knocked a down a total of four times.
Other solid competition Pacquiao defeated includes De la Hoya (HOF), Ricky Hatton, Oscar Larios, and Lehlo Ledwhaba. All were stopped within the distance.

Below is a list of fighters briefly summarizing why their great and why their greatness falls short to the accomplishments of Manny Pacquiao.


Sugar Ray Leonard
Why he’s great …
This version of Sugar Ray has wins over Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler. All these men are bona fide greats and Sugar Ray bested them all. Enough said.
Why he falls short …
I roll my eyes every time I read that Leonard is the first five division champion. After “defeating” Hagler, Leonard fought a good Canadian kid named Donnie Lalonde for the Super Middleweight AND the Light Heavyweight titles ON THE SAME NIGHT!!! How can you win the title if you’ve never fought at that weight class? And it should be noted that Lalonde was a one handed fighter. A previous shoulder injury prevented him from using his left hand effectively.

Pernell Whitaker
Why he’s great …
Sweet Pea is one of my favorite fighters EVER. He is the BEST PURE BOXER I have ever watched. The man was unhittable in his prime. Whitaker can stand in the pocket and hit you with everything and not take any return fire. It was customary to hear “120-108, 120-108, 120-108” read at the end of his fights, as he became known for shutting out his opponents on the scorecards.
Whitaker is a four division champ who couldn’t punch worth s**t. Technically only has one win against a HOF fighter with Azuma Nelson. However, he has a disputed draw against a prime Julio Cesar Chavez and a disputed decision loss to Oscar De La Hoya, both of which I thought Whitaker won. Other notable names on his resume include Buddy McGirt, Roger Mayweather, Julio Cesar Vasquez, Jose Luis Ramirez, and Greg Haugen.

Why he falls short …
In winning titles from lightweight to junior middleweight, Whitaker covered 19lbs. Pacquiao has covered 35lbs or 39lbs depending on which records you look. In all honesty, Whitaker was such a good boxer that it is plausible that if he had more punching power, he could have gone up to middleweight and possibly defeated William Joppy or Julio Cesar Green for the WBC belt. Then again, I could have been blessed with Eddie Murphy’s wit and be mentioned amoung the very best comics in the world. Too bad, so sad – we can’t always get what we want.


Julio Cesar Chavez
Why he‘s great …
Chavez was a certified s**tkicker. He is best known for the path of destruction he laid by going an astounding 88-0 record from the start of his career and winning titles in three divisions. He only has one win over a HOF fighter – Edwin Rosario but it was CRUSHING victory. That said, he went out and destroyed the following high caliber opponents – Mario Martinez, Roger Mayweather, Rocky Lockridge, Juan LaPorte, Jose Luis Ramirez, Meldrick Taylor, Hector Camacho, Greg Haugen, and Tony Lopez.
His only losses during his prime were against Whitaker (incorrectly scored a draw) and Frankie Randall. On the downslide, he lost De la Hoya and Kotsa Tszyu. The other losses were to non-descript opponents when he was completely done as a fighter.

Why he falls short …
Chavez didn’t cover the same ground as Pacquiao has, as he’s basically fought a range of 15lbs – not even half of what the PacMan has done. Also, the level of competition he defeated doesn’t match the names Pacquiao has beaten. Chavez accomplished a lot, but not as much as Pacquiao.


Roy Jones Jr.
Why he’s great …
Without a grain of doubt in my head, Jones was the most TALENTED fighter I have ever seen. He had amazing had amazing hand speed and footspeed and one punch kayo power. His most meaningful wins came against Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Tito Trinidad, and Mike McCallum who are all Hall of Famers (HOF). He had other wins against quality opposition like Virgil Hill, Reggie Johnson, and Montell Griffin.

Why he falls short ….
Jones made the poor choice of wasting his talents on fights that didn’t matter. In his prime, Jones fought non-descript guys who had no chance in hell in beating him. There was a joke about Jones that went something like he likes to fight civil service guys because he fought Ricky Frazier, a policeman, and Tony Thornton, a postman.
The potential to cement his greatness was there because during his prime, there were a handful of English boxers fighting a round robin tourney to claim who the best super middleweight was. And to his discredit, Jones didn’t fight any of the following – Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Michael Watson, and Steve Collins.



Oscar De La Hoya
Why he’s great …
He is the first six time division champion. As much as people want to discredit De la Hoya, I believe he is a good enough fighter to have competed against ANY OF THE GREATS in boxing. I certainly don’t think he would win most of them, but he would put up a solid effort and challenge a lot of the old time greats. Technically, De la Hoya only has two victories against HOFs and both were over Julio Cesar Chavez. I believe De la Hoya won the rematch against Shane Mosley and I believe that he also won enough rounds to secure victory over Felix Trinidad. Other solid fighters he defeated include Genaro Hernandez, Rafael Ruelas, Hector Camacho, Ike Quartey, and Fernando Vargas.

Why he falls short …
A handful of his victories were very questionable. His wins against Pernell Whitaker and Felix Sturm were very controversial. He’s also lost to Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather, and Pacquiao. Essentially, when it came to fighting elite level fighters, De la Hoya consistently fell short.


Floyd Mayweather
Why he’s great …
So far, Mayweather has remained undefeated in his career that has covered from junior lightweight to welterweight (17lbs). He is a solid two way fighter who doesn’t forsake his defense while attacking. He’s in the mold of Whitaker but with more power and fighting out of a conventional stance. His list of HOF names that he’s beaten includes De la Hoya and Jose Luis Castillo. Other high caliber fighters he’s defeated include Ricky Hatton, Diego Corrales, Zab Judah, and Genaro Hernandez.

Why he falls short …
Similar to Jones, Mayweather has been rightfully criticized by the boxing media for his lack of gumption to fight the best available opposition. Before he “retired” there were opportunities to fight either Antonio Margarito and/or Miguel Cotto. The thing with Mayweather is that he’s now decided to come back and fight Juan Manuel Marquez, with a potential of fighting Paciquiao if he wins. It’s not too late to add to his legacy by taking on challenges bigger and better opponents.



DENlightening you with some boxing opinion ......