Where does Manny Pacquiao rank in history if he beat Cotto?
Manny Pacquiao has won world titles in six weight classes. He's beaten a slew of fighters who will probably end up in the hall of fame. He has looked completely dominant in his last three fights. So where does the Pac Man rate on the all-time, pound-for-pound list?Does he rank up there with Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Willie Pep?Is he the best fighter of his generation, but not an all-time great? Your thought..
Top 20 without question. I mean think about it he beats Cotto, there isn't a whole lot more he could have done in his era. What big names did he miss? He's pretty much fought everyone he could have. Amazing.
Yes, it is amazing. No doubt. But compare it to the oldtimer ATGs who fought 8 or 9 times a year with less pay, meaning less motivation. Nutrition probably consisted of a piece of steak, a beer and a cigarette. No Alex Ariza to keep you in tip top shape. If Pac fought at least 4 times a year against top fighters and mandatories, there might be some discussions on him being top 5. But right now, I don't think so. Plus, the catchweight fight with Cotto while carrying the JW lineal belt doesn't impress too much. Hatton was 140 and moved up to 147 to challenge PBF, why not PAC?
And this could be the difference between being a top 10 ATG and a top 100 ATG. Imagine if Flash Elorde fought Saddler or Ortiz at a catchweight or Bob Foster vs Ali, they would probably be both top 10s.
Elorde moved either down or up to his opponents weight class, which surely would have made him at least a top 20 if he beat both Saddler and Ortiz at their weights. But without the catchweight, we all know what happened.
Top 20 without question. I mean think about it he beats Cotto, there isn't a whole lot more he could have done in his era. What big names did he miss? He's pretty much fought everyone he could have. Amazing.
Anybody who puts Manny in the top # 5 is delusional or didn't do enough research about boxing. You have to put everything in context and in relation to each other. You have to consider factors, such as, fight frequency, advances in nutrition, equipment technology, and others, in order to make an accurate prediction on where he belongs in the ATG list. You can't just say "Oh he beat Cotto, he's # 1."
First of all, Cotto is not an ATG, not even a hall of famer. Hatton is probably a HOF because of his dominance in the 140 lb division. ODLH, although a surefit HOF and possibly a top 100 all time great was way past his prime when he fought PAC. The only fighters that Pac beat during his great run that are still worthy of mention would be MAB, EM and JMM. Beating these 3 and hopefully, Cotto in Nov, wouldn't put him in the # 5, in my opinion.
But heck! I won't be surprised if some delusional fans already rank him #1 ATG. That's boxing for you.
It definitely puts him in the discussion around 50 at least. And if he goes on to beat either Floyd or Mosley that would jump up to around 20 or 30. It's natural for the boxing public to not recognize a fighter's place in history until they retire, it happens for most, so we won't have any good idea until Manny retires.
to me... this is (somewhat) like the hatton fight (only backwards :confused:), in the thought that, the win or loss depends on what manny does... not at all on what cotto does... cotto is going to do his thing regardless... if manny keeps his cool and uses his speed to land good hard shots and then stay out of the way of cotto's body work and jab, then he wins easy.... BUT if he tries to trade with the bigger stronger guy and doesnt use his head and stay outta the way, he can and might get stopped...
however, i think that TEAM pacman is smart enough to have the right game plan and to know and concede that trading with cotto wont be in their best interest.... so to me, its could be an easy W, but thats up to manny....
well said bro too bad i cant give you a green K yet i have to recharge. i think cotto wont catch manny on the ropes cause his footwork is just too good. cant wait for this fight :cool2:
Where does Manny Pacquiao rank in history if he beat Cotto?
Top 15 ATG if he defeats Cotto, Top 10 ATG if he defeats the winner of PBF-JMM, Top 5 ATG if he defeats Mosley and unifies the WW division, and finally Top 1-3 ATG if he captures a Super Welterweight crown.
i think this is a fight he is supposed to win, so i dont see him gaining too much, or at least anything he doesnt already have....
i think he has more to gain by beating mosley... but thats another discussion....
if i may ask, why are you so confident that pac will win? just a question bro.. cause i really think that this fight is 50-50. pac and cotto are my most favorite boxers now :cool2:
it would barely make a difference. dont get me wrong tho, cottos good, but beating him i think wouldnt make pac better in the atg list. maybe beat jmm or mayweather would
He will probably just make it as an ATG when he wins. He's not as good as people make him to be, he's only got 1 genuinely good win and that was the first Barrera fight.
He beat some big names, but only after they were on the verge of retirement or dead at the weight. He lost to a well conditioned Morales and to some he lost twice to JMM as well. He forced Morales to be dead at the weight twice after the first loss and only beat him when he was shot. He ran away from JMM after the second fight and we all know why that is.
Pacquiao's jumping up in weight is down to the fact that he started at 16, he has weighed in as a welterweight for the majority of his fights for the past few years and the fact his measurements are large enough to allow him to do so. That's not impressive at all to me. If he was a small featherweight and did all this, then that would be impressive. The fact is he was actually bigger than Hatton measurements wise, and managed to weigh more than DLH did.
He should beat Cotto fairly easily, and it would be his second best victory behind the first Barrera win, but it won't make him anywhere near the top 20 all time.
It would be incredible. I think in terms of the weight - 2lbs wouldn't make any difference to the fight but for his legacy it would make a big difference. It takes the sheen of any potential win. (any win at all for Pac in this fight would be an amazing thing - he has done nothing above 130 apart from KOing a shot Hatton).
You'd have hard time doing it for Ali, Armstrong, Louis, Pep, and Robinson without looking stupid...
I could sit here and take apart plenty of resumes of fighters in the last 10 years...
Lol
try scrapping pacquiaos resume now :cool2:
Cotto won't make much difference IMHO. Pac is the same class above Cotto as he is above everybody else - bar Mayweather. The only question is whether the fight is a few pounds too far.
It's the Mayweather fight, should it happen, that will define both their careers.