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Pacquiao ‘greatest southpaw ever’ -Bert Sugar
Pacquiao ‘greatest southpaw ever’
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines - Proven wrong by Manny Pacquiao's two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, boxing historian Bert Sugar added a new entry to the Filipino ring icon’s lengthening list of honors.
The 73-year-old Sugar, who picked the Briton to win, tagged Pacquiao as “the greatest lefthanded fighter of all time” in a recent chat with ESPN.
Sugar, former editor in chief of The Ring who has written over 80 fight books, had earlier labeled Pacquiao “the greatest Asian fighter of all time” after his eighth-round stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya last December.
That time, Sugar, inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, had the odds even for the fight.
In giving Pacquiao his vote as the best southpaw ever, Sugar put the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter above such lefties as three-time light heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson, former middleweight king Marvin “Marvelous” Hagler and former three-division titlist Pernell Whitaker.
Pacquiao is also the only fighter in history to jump divisions in his last four fights (130 lb against Juan Manuel Marquez, 135 against David Diaz, 147 against De La Hoya and 140 against Hatton) and win them all.
With that feat, Pacquiao surpassed all-time great Henry Armstrong’s accomplishment of ruling the featherweight, welterweight and light welterweight divisions in succession in the same year.
Roy Luarca
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines - Proven wrong by Manny Pacquiao's two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, boxing historian Bert Sugar added a new entry to the Filipino ring icon’s lengthening list of honors.
The 73-year-old Sugar, who picked the Briton to win, tagged Pacquiao as “the greatest lefthanded fighter of all time” in a recent chat with ESPN.
Sugar, former editor in chief of The Ring who has written over 80 fight books, had earlier labeled Pacquiao “the greatest Asian fighter of all time” after his eighth-round stoppage of Oscar De La Hoya last December.
That time, Sugar, inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in 2005, had the odds even for the fight.
In giving Pacquiao his vote as the best southpaw ever, Sugar put the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter above such lefties as three-time light heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson, former middleweight king Marvin “Marvelous” Hagler and former three-division titlist Pernell Whitaker.
Pacquiao is also the only fighter in history to jump divisions in his last four fights (130 lb against Juan Manuel Marquez, 135 against David Diaz, 147 against De La Hoya and 140 against Hatton) and win them all.
With that feat, Pacquiao surpassed all-time great Henry Armstrong’s accomplishment of ruling the featherweight, welterweight and light welterweight divisions in succession in the same year.
Roy Luarca
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