Who should be next for Manny?
Saturday witnessed boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao climb one or two steps higher on the boxing ladder to the all-time greats, demolishing a man impressively bigger than him and touted as an indefatigably aggressive warrior. In fact, Antonio Margarito was
four and a half inches taller than Manny; had six inches of reach advantage, and weighed 17 pounds more when the opening bell of their fight rung. And yet all of that hardly seemed to make a difference in the ring.
By beating Margarito, Pacquiao did what nobody else has ever achieved in boxing: win eight world titles in as many weight divisions. And while that’s been formally contested by some (Thomas Hauser of Seconds Out, for example), there’s no denying Pacquiao’s
superiority in the sport today. Almost every other fighter, with the exception of Floyd Mayweather himself, seems to be prepared to acknowledge his greatness.
With these claims, naturally, the question has become who Pacquiao should fight next. But with this question comes a few others. For instance: at what weight? And at what terms?
Seeing Pacquiao against Margarito, it’s clear that Pacquiao can’t move up much more. Freddie Roach has said that he would entertain a future fight at welterweight (147 pounds), or even junior welterweight (140 pounds), but anything otherwise seems a bit
far-fetched. Given his size, it's unlikely Pacquiao will ever top more than 150-pounds for a fight, at least at this point in his career. There are those who would like to see him go up against some of the best genuine middleweights in the world, such as
Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez, but the fights seem unlikely simply because they involve such bigger competition.
It is true that Williams can fight at welterweight; but if Margarito was tall for Pacquiao, Williams is unbelievably taller, at more than six inches above “Pacman.” Williams, who began at welterweight, has always been somewhat unnatural for the division
but to his clear advantage. He reminds boxing insiders of Thomas Hearns. Pacquiao, on the other hand, began fighting as a junior flyweight (108 pounds), and wasn't even able to meet the catchweight of 150-pounds against Margarito (he weighed in at 144.6
pounds).
The obvious choice of future opponent for Pacquiao is Floyd Mayweather Jr., because of the money and promotional value involved. But the truth is that there’s no telling how that fight could go, and entertainment value is not the sure bet it was with Margarito.
After all, hardly any fighters are as easy to hit as Margarito, and Mayweather is the best defensive fighter of modern times. While that could make for a wildly entertaining bout with Pacquiao, it could also make for a dull one, too.
At the welterweight level, Shane Mosley has expressed a desire to fight Pacquiao, and that’s well and good. But the reality is that Mosley seems past his prime now, and no longer the valuable HBO asset he once was. In his last two bouts he’s suffered a
loss to Mayweather and a draw with Sergio Mora. That doesn’t bode well with Pacquiao, who people want to see fight the best of the best.
There’s also Miguel Cotto, but he’s already been beat by Pacquiao, and is thus old news. Another possibility is Andre Berto, and that seems like a legitimately good fight—but Berto needs to defeat some world class names to deserve it first.
Then there's a slew of opponents Manny could face at junior welterweight—Timothy Bradley and Amir Khan, to name two. But even these guys seem a bit out of Pacquiao’s league considering his success in the last five years, and a win over Pacquiao for any
of them would take away from the hype of a Mayweather bout.
The truth is it has to be Mayweather at this point—the powers that be don’t have much choice.
Tags: