Manny Pacquiao And Floyd Mayweather Careers Above 140lbs – Part 2 Pacquiao

By Tommy Allan With it looking increasingly more likely that superstar fighters Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr will be squaring off in the early part of 2012, I have decided to take a look at both fighters careers above the 140lb limit. When Manny Pacquiao knocked WBC 135lb champion David Diaz unconscious in June 2008, HBO analyst Larry Merchant would half jokingly, half seriously suggest that Pacquiao move up to 147lbs to take on Oscar De La Hoya is a dream fight. That is exactly what would happen. De La Hoya had recently agreed to a rematch with former foe Floyd Mayweather Jr. at 147lbs but with Mayweather retiring through injuries Manny Pacquiao stepped in to fill the breach. Most experts and fans alike thought of this as a mismatch going in with the much bigger De La Hoya sure to catch up to Pacquiao and knock him out. Pacquiao after all, was a former Flyweight champion who had only recently made his 135lb debut. The Pacquiao camp knew different.. Pacquiao’s longtime trainer and father figure Freddie Roach had recently worked with De La Hoya for the fights with Mayweather and Steve Forbes. Roach noticed some flaws in De La Hoya that he thought Pacquiao would exploit and was also famously quoted as saying “Oscar can no longer pull the trigger.” Roach was correct – Pacquiao dominated De La Hoya who had strangely only been rehydrated before making his ring walk. Pacquiao was like a man possessed darting in and out, ripping De La Hoya with flurries of damaging blows. At the end of the eighth round after taking a savage beating, De La Hoya indicated to his corner that he’d had enough – thus calling time on his glittering career that had seen him win ten world titles in six different weight classes. Pacquiao was now a PPV superstar and after dismantling Ricky Hatton in two rounds at 140lbs he would challenge once beaten Puerto Rican star Miguel Angel Cotto for his WBO welterweight title. The Cotto fight has had a lot of mixed feelings among fans of the sport and for two reasons. The first one being many believed Pacquiao should have taken on Sugar Shane Mosley who had recently bludgeoned Antonio Margarito (Cotto’s conqueror) and secondly because of the weight the fight was at which was 145lbs instead of the full 147lb limit. Regardless of the above what we saw in the ring was a fight between two Pound for Pound superstars. Cotto looked strong after weighing in and tipped the scales at the full 145lbs which was 1lb lighter than his previous fight versus Joshua Clottey. The fight started off competitively with both fighters having their moments in the first couple of rounds before Pacquiao dropped Cotto early in the third. From that point on, it became one way traffic for Pacquiao. Pacquiao dropped Cotto again in the forth and from then on Cotto went into survival mode, boxing on the back foot trying to make it to the end. Pacquiao would eventually catch up with Cotto in the final round forcing referee Kenny Bayless to halt the action. With this performance and display Pacquiao affirmed his position as Pound for Pound the best fighter in the sport, only Floyd Mayweather Jr was thought of as a worthy challenge. After failed attempts to make Pacquiao vs. Mayweather – Pacquiao would sign to face tough Ghanaian, Joshua Clottey. Clottey was a former IBF title holder at 147lbs before relinquishing his title to take on Miguel Cotto for the WBO version. What we saw in Cotto vs. Clottey was a very close encounter with the fans split on who had done enough to get the decision. Pacquiao and Clottey squared off March 13th, 2010, at Cowboys Stadium. This was to be one of Pacquiao’s greatest ever performances where he dominated the tough Clottey over twelve one-sided rounds that saw The Ghanian tucked up in his defensive shell for the majority of the fight – This was exhibition stuff from Pacquiao who had made one of the divisions best look like an ordinary fighter. After Clottey came talk of a rematch with Cotto or even another move up in weight to take on WBA 154lbs title holder Yuri Foreman. What Top Rank settled on was a fight with recently returned Mexican Star, Antonio Margarito. Margarito is not known as the most skillful fighter around but what he does bring to the table is a good strong jab, strength, a tremendous chin and arguably the best work rate in boxing. When Margarito versus Pacquiao was set to take place at 150lbs for the vacant WBC light middleweight title it was given a frosty reception, mainly because boxing fans did not believe Margarito deserved a big fight after the wrapgate scandal. What we saw in the ring in Texas that night was Pacquiao’s toughest fight since leaving the 130lb weight class. Pacquiao won a wide decision in the end but questions which had been posted regarding Pacquiao’s ability to absorb shots from a true a big man had been answered. Margarito’s game plan was never a secret, the Mexican was going to look to add pressure to the smaller Pacquiao and try breaking him down late. Pacquiao was yet again offensively stunning but midway through the fight he was hurt badly by a body shot from the bigger Margarito. Pacquiao went on to see out the round, then come back in style leaving the Mexican with a badly detached retina that at one point looked to be career ending – Thankfully though Margarito’s eye has now fully recovered and he will face Miguel Cotto again in a rematch of their 2008 epic. With Pacquiao now having cleaned house at Top Rank by beating the three elite house fighter’s Arum had around him it was time for a new challenge. Enter, Sugar Shane Mosley. This match up was met with severe criticism from fans around the world after Mosley’s last two showings against Floyd Mayweather Jr and Sergio Mora where he had looked a mere shell of the fighter he once had been. In the lead up to the fight Mosley and his trainer were saying all the right things about being ready to shock the world again but to be quite frank, nobody in their right mind believed the hype. Pacquiao once again put on a dominating show dropping and hurting the embarrassingly negative Mosley early before cleaning up late without ever really getting out of first gear. Pacquiao will step into the ring for only the second time in 2011 when he takes on old foe Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12th, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Pacquiao has this week been quoted as saying he will face Floyd Mayweather Jr in the richest fight in boxing history, early 2012.