Manny Pacquiao: Just A Great Boxer or One of the Greatest

The world of boxing is truly was fascinated with likes of Muhammad Ali, Rocky Marciano, Joe Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard but there is a name in boxing that also merits great consideration as one of the greatest boxers that ever graced the sport. The boxer I am talking all about is Manny Pacquiao, “Pacman”. He has stripped many world champions of their title belts and his illustrious list of victims falling prey to his sheer strength, sharp wits, lightning speed movements, variety of potent combinations and powerful punches, continues to grow. What sets him apart is his versatility. While other boxing legends established their greatness by beating fighters in the same division, in the same weight level, Pacquiao demolishes great champions who are heavier and supposedly better than him and he does it over and over again.

His records say it all. He has a career win loss record of 55-5. He is the first and only eight-division world champion, in which he has won ten world titles. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s (decade) by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO). He is also a three-time The Ring and BWAA "Fighter of the Year," winning the award in 2006, 2008 and 2009, and the Best Fighter ESPY Award in 2009 and 2011. He is long rated as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world by some sporting news and boxing websites, including ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Sporting Life, YahooSports, About.com, BoxRec and The Ring.

Yes, he is a proven champion but does he merits to be spoken in the breath as the legends mentioned above. He may have dominated every fighter he has faced; virtually routing them all but the biggest reason for that is quite simple: few elite fighters have faced a more mediocre set of challengers and contenders during their prime than Pacquiao has. It’s not that the fighters he’s faced aren’t good; men like Oscar de la Hoya, Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Shane Mosley were all elite fighters. But the problem is, with the exception of Marquez, none of those fighters were in their primes when they fought Pacquiao. In other words, this is one of the weakest eras of boxing has ever seen in terms of talents.
When Ali fought Frazier the first time, both fighters were squarely in their primes, and all three of their fights took place before either fighter was past his prime. When Foreman fought Ali, the same was true. If Pacquiao wants to reach the pantheon of elite fighters in history, he needs to fight an elite fighter or two before his prime ends.

But there is an easy solution, though. There just so happens to be another elite fighter in this generation, who goes by the name of Floyd "Money" Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather the opponent who could cement Pacquiao’s claim as one of the greatest fighters ever. If they ever fight, Mayweather will represent an opponent who is classier than anyone Pacquiao has fought before. Fighting Mayweather next would be enough to push Manny out of the "great" category, and into the "greatest" category. But the question remains if that fight will happen?