Has Pacquiao reached his limit?
He may be boxing’s very own superman but has Manny Pacquiao reached his limit in terms of weight divisions?
“Pacman” reached an incredible eleventh title at nine different weight classes with a win over Antonio Margarito at light-middleweight on the weekend; however he has decided that he will not be facing Paul Williams or Sergio Martinez, who are contesting for the WBC middleweight title on Saturday.
This makes sense really, both fighters are much bigger than Pacquiao, particularly Williams who is a giant compared to the little Filipino.
Therefore his remarkable jump up from flyweight to light-middle may go no higher and we could see him drop back down the divisions in pursuit of different goals.
That will hopefully include a super fight against Floyd Mayweather, but that’s a pretty tentative step and so he has to look at other options. One mooted fight would be Shane Mosley but that seems a bit pointless in the grand scheme of things. Mosley was obliterated by Mayweather earlier this year and at 39 years of age it would be like shooting fish in a barrel for Pacman.
It’s hard to say which weight he is even best at, obviously he is going to want to stay in and around welter to keep the Mayweather fire burning while there is little or no chance he will stay at light-middle despite his comfortable victory over Antonio Margarito on the weekend.
Normally in boxing when a fighter gets bigger they lose a bit, be it hand speed, foot work or whatever but his rise in size seems to have not effected Pacquiao at all, which is remarkable in itself when you consider the massive amount of weight he’s had to put on.
Obviously it’s the fast combos he rattles out that sets him apart from the pack, so surely as the muscles on his arms grew that would make him slower and more cumbersome as a result of the added size. However, Pacquiao is as quick as he ever has been and has given no indication in any side effects.
So what now for Pacquiao? Who knows, the world is his oyster; he is already a multi-weight champion, politician, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He will probably be an astronaut next and blast off in to space. What division he fights in next is also anyone’s guess. The way the heavyweights are these days he may as well have a crack there.
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