Pacquiao Shows His Greatness: How High Can He Climb?
Manny Pacquiao ascended into rare air in the wee small hours of this morning, rising in weight and above logic and doubt, to assume his place amongst the pantheon of legendary men who have punched for money within the confines of a roped square.
Much will be made of the Filipino’s seventh ‘world title’ claim in his seventh weight division, a trivia piece which is of relatively little importance such is the spurious nature of world titles in the year 2009. As the years pass, reverence will be reserved instead for the exhibition the current king of boxing graced us with, in disassembling Miguel Cotto, himself one of the more fearsome and accomplished fighters of recent vintage.
Pacquiao performed as well as any fist fighter I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, such was his mastery of Cotto. There have been fighters who have performed with greater flourish and panache when faced with overmatched opposition for sure, however rarely does one brilliant fighter obliterate another in the manner Pacquiao managed in Vegas.
Going in there were two schools of thought. The first believed that Pacquiao’s recent run of blistering form was something of a con trick, owing to shrewd and cosmetically enhanced matchmaking. The feeling here was that in facing Cotto, a fully fledged welterweight wrecking machine, an untruth would be exposed and the streaking phenom would come unstuck.
The other camp, firmly behind Pacquiao’s genius, understood that the challenge ahead was illogical. They understood that a man who began fighting at 106 lbs should not, by the laws of boxing, have a hope of defeating a stand out fighter in the 147 lb class. They believed in Manny’s magic however, in his greatness and that he was special enough to explode boundaries which even legendary men have been unable to throughout history.
The magic won out and we were fortunate enough to witness a master craftsman at work.
In my preview I had described Cotto as a ‘faded force, perhaps more so mentally then physically’ based on the crushing loss he suffered at the hands of Antonio Margarito.
Physically, he proved to be as good as he’s ever been and had much success, especially when working behind his jab, before cracking in left and right handers to Pacquiao’s body.
He showed plenty of mental fortitude also, always trying to adjust and find a way back into the fight in the face of a quite devastating attacking force. There were doubts however etched all over the Puerto Rican’s face as he emerged into the auditorium. When an intimidator such as Cotto is taken apart as brutally as he was by Margarito, they lose part of their repertoire, which can mean the difference between success and failure when duelling at the level Cotto and Pacquiao throw hands at.
Cotto can feel justifiably proud of his efforts. He will be crushed of course, yet the world will empathise with what he was in the ring with. This loss leaves no questions; Miguel just met his, along with most mortal men’s match.
As for Pacquiao, there are even greater challenges available to him. Fans in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena called for reluctant warrior Floyd Mayweather, a man capable of matching Pacquiao’s stunning verve without alas, having yet displayed his character and courage.
Boxing’s hardcore fringe will be salivating over a possible clash with fellow hall of famer ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley, a former dominant lightweight champion who holds two victories over Oscar De la Hoya and was the man who blasted Cotto’s tormentor, the dishonoured Margarito to defeat.
Team Pacquiao may have other plans meanwhile, with noises emanating from camp indicating that old scores may now be settled with the great Juan Manuel Marquez down at 140lbs.
Whatever his path, Pacquiao’s legacy is secure. All that remains is how much further he chooses to challenge himself; how much higher he can raise the bar and how close he can get to boxing’s holy trinity of Robinson, Ali and Armstrong.
I am a staunch believer that legacies may only be evaluated once a fighter hangs them up and sufficient dust has settled after their departure. Rash analysis in the aftermath of a great performance is unfair to men who retired long ago and whose best nights are less fresh in the memory.
We can however take a stab at tentatively positioning the Filipino hero amongst fighters he now belongs with.
Here follows a list of the top 20 fighters from the last 80 years as published by Ring Magazine in 2002:
1. Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Henry Armstrong 3. Muhammad Ali 4. Joe Louis 5. Roberto Duran 6. Willie Pep 7. Harry Greb 8. Benny Leonard 9. Sugar Ray Leonard 10. Pernell Whitaker 11. Carlos Monzon 12. Rocky Marciano 13. Ezzard Charles 14. Archie Moore 15. Sandy Saddler 16. Jack Dempsey 17. Marvin Hagler 18. Julio Cesar Chavez 19. Eder Jofre 20. Alexis Arguello.
I’d be willing to place Pacquiao in the last quarter of that list (although I’d be loathe to displace the fabulous Arguello in doing so).
If including fighters pre-1922 however, men such as Jack Johnson, Sam Langford and Joe Gans would come into the argument, squeezing Pacquiao out, for me at least.
If we instead pluck the top men post Ali, we’d end up with something along the lines of: 1. Roberto Duran 2. Sugar Ray Leonard 3. Pernell Whitaker 4. Marvin Hagler 5. Julio Cesar Chavez.
I no longer feel it’s blasphemy to state that Pacquiao now belongs to this majestic gang of legends. The bell has not yet tolled on his career however, meaning he has the rare opportunity to grow his legend further and vie with Duran and Leonard for the title of top man of the modern era.
There’s that word again, ‘rare’. Enjoy him while you can.
