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On January 1, 2000, Manny Pacquiao was 21 years old and virtually unknown outside of his native Philippines. During the course of the past decade, he has fought 26 times and become the most famous fighter in the world. His opponents in that 10-year span included Erik Morales (three times), Marco Antonio Barrera (twice), Juan Manuel Marquez (twice), Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto. In 10 fights against these six Hall-of-Fame-caliber opponents, Pacquiao amassed 8 wins against 1 loss and a draw.
Moreover, unlike Hopkins and Mayweather (both of whom fought many of their biggest fights against smaller men), Pacquiao has consistently challenged naturally bigger fighters. He has hurdled every major obstacle in his weight class and then some.
Unlike Mayweather and Calzaghe, Pacquiao has a less-than-perfect record for the decade. But when a fighter fights the best again and again, sometimes he loses. When Sugar Ray Robinson was young and great, he lost to Jake LaMotta. Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton before he got old.
History judges elite fighters in large measure by their record against other elite fighters and how they perform in their most difficult challenges.
Mayweather has talked the talk. Pacquiao has walked the walk. And Manny has out-of-the-ring intangibles as well. In that regard, he's similar to Muhammad Ali: a great fighter, a good person and an important symbol for his people.
"I'm just doing my job to be a good fighter," Pacquiao said after beating Miguel Cotto earlier this year.
He's doing more than that. Manny Pacquiao deserves recognition as "Fighter of the Decade."
Link: http://www.hbo.com/boxing/features/f...er_decade.html
Moreover, unlike Hopkins and Mayweather (both of whom fought many of their biggest fights against smaller men), Pacquiao has consistently challenged naturally bigger fighters. He has hurdled every major obstacle in his weight class and then some.
Unlike Mayweather and Calzaghe, Pacquiao has a less-than-perfect record for the decade. But when a fighter fights the best again and again, sometimes he loses. When Sugar Ray Robinson was young and great, he lost to Jake LaMotta. Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton before he got old.
History judges elite fighters in large measure by their record against other elite fighters and how they perform in their most difficult challenges.
Mayweather has talked the talk. Pacquiao has walked the walk. And Manny has out-of-the-ring intangibles as well. In that regard, he's similar to Muhammad Ali: a great fighter, a good person and an important symbol for his people.
"I'm just doing my job to be a good fighter," Pacquiao said after beating Miguel Cotto earlier this year.
He's doing more than that. Manny Pacquiao deserves recognition as "Fighter of the Decade."
Link: http://www.hbo.com/boxing/features/f...er_decade.html
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