It is hard to believe that this man has actually lost a fight. Three of them, to be precise.
Manny Pacquiao looks like the perfect fighting machine. Maybe not perfect in presentation, but perfect in performance. The Fury from the Philippines appears impossible to beat.
Pacquiao won his 50th prizefight Saturday, dominating the rugged Miguel Cotto before finally stopping the WBO welterweight champion in the 12th round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In the process, Pacquiao won a world title in a record seven weight classes.
The first three rounds were competitive, but then Pacquiao settled into his unique rhythm and took Cotto on a violent dance that left the Puerto Rican champ bewildered. Pac Man attacked from every imaginable angle and delivered punches in rapid succession.
He fights in a manner that cannot be taught. Nor would you want to learn it.
Trainer Freddie Roach has certainly enhanced his ability, but Pacquiao's style is all his own. His angles, his speed, and, yes, his power puts unbearable pressure on opponents. He makes you fight and fight and fight.
The unequivocal evidence of Pacquiao's combative excellence was witnessing the typically rugged, brawling Cotto reduced to a flitting, fleeing fighter hoping merely to survive. He didn't. Pacquiao's pressure was that suffocating. He beat the fight out of him.
Pac Man’s win sets up a potential showdown against the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. It could wind up being the largest grossing fight -- in any division -- of all time.
"The only fight that should be made is Mayweather-Pacquiao," HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg told Newsday in an email early Sunday from Las Vegas. "It's too important for the future of the sport."
Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 knockouts), sidestepped all questions about a showdown with Mayweather after the fight. Promoter Bob Arum has been skeptical that Mayweather will accept such a dangerous fight but it is indeed the only fight in boxing that matters. "The whole world wants to see him fight Mayweather,” Roach said after the fight. “I want Mayweather."
The idea of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight actually predates Pac Man's meeting against Cotto. When Arum announced the Pacquiao-Cotto fight at a Yankee Stadium press conference, Lonn Trost, COO of the Yankees, told Arum he wanted to host the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight at the Stadium.
It will be up to Mayweather to agree to the fight. Anyone think those negotiations will go smoothly? Forget for a second about the fight itself. Just think about the 24/7 episodes leading up to it.
Mayweather has never lost as a pro (40-0, 21 knockouts) and has captured titles in five weight classes. When he retired after beating Oscar de la Hoya, he was considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Even though “Pretty Boy” Floyd has returned to boxing, that title now belongs to Pacquiao.
[Just a side note here, and I am not trying to kill anyone's buzz. But if Manny Pacquiao were an American athlete and he got bigger, stronger and better as he aged -- kind of like say, Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens -- would we be looking at him a little differently? The good news is, boxing, especially in Las Vegas, has been testing for steroids for about a decade. It's mandatory after every title fight. Now back to the business at hand.]
The last time Pacquiao lost was a unanimous decision to Erik Morales in 2005. He avenged that defeat twice and has won 11 straight bouts, including eight by knockout. But those numbers take on a deeper meaning when you look at the fighters he defeated: Morales, Jorge Solis, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton and now Cotto.
Four of those fighters -- Morales, Barrera, Marquez and de la Hoya -- are future hall-of-famers. But perhaps even more impressive are the knockouts of Diaz, de la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto came at weights that appeared to be above Pacquiao's comfort range of 126 to 130 pounds.
"Manny's one of the best I've ever seen," said Greenburg. "His speed and strength is unparalleled. He's a fighter who loves to put on the finishing touch. A true warrior. He's great for this business."
And the business of boxing dictates a fight with Mayweather next, whether Floyd likes it or not.
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