Boxing 
One week ago, fight fans and writers alike were all buzzing about Manny "The Destroyer/Pacman" Pacquiao squaring off against former WBO Welterweight Champion, Miguel Angel Cotto on Saturday, November 14th 2009, at the MGM Grand, Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While many fight fans were expecting a good fight, (I was expecting Cotto to demolish Manny inside of 6) there weren't too many people who were expecting to see exactly what happened which was Manny Pacquiao completely dominating, out-working, out-hustling, and out-fighting who many feel was the best current Welterweight on the planet.
Not only did Manny Pacquiao completely dominate Miguel Cotto, he thrashed Cotto so badly that there was talk of the fight being stopped by the eighth round and finally, at :55 in round number 12, Referee Kenny Bayless stepped in to halt the one-sided action with no protest from Miguel Cotto or his corner.
By that point, the result was a foregone conclusion, had Miguel Cotto been able to hear the final bell sound as Miguel had already been dropped by Manny twice in the fight and was trailing so badly on all three judges scorecards, that Miguel needed a knockout in order to win the fight. Well, a TKO occurred and with said TKO, not only did the Welterweight Division see a "changing of the guard"
Miguel Cotto was cleaning house at Welterweight and had already beaten very tough competition in the division- in other words, Miguel Cotto was Manny Pacquiao's toughest fight ever.
And Manny Pacquiao made demolishing Miguel Cotto look easy. It took Antonio Margarito 11 rounds to TKO Miguel Cotto and it is very possible that Magarito was using loaded handwraps. To paraphrase Larry Merchant on November 14th: "We've seen how Miguel Cotto has fared against a guy who may have had illegally loaded gloves. Let's see how he fares against a fighter with naturally loaded gloves."
Miguel Cotto didn't fare too well at all. And with Miguel's loss in a very valiant effort, and Pacquiao's win in a performance which was nothing short of
phenomenal, the Boxing world finally received what we have been waiting for:
The arrival of the best Boxer on the planet, with no bullsh*t and no questions.
We all know how "great" Floyd Mayweather Jr. is. We all know about how Floyd has made one title defense in many years at Welterweight against the former best 140 pound fighter in Ricky Hatton, who Manny Pacquiao steam-rolled in two rounds in his last outing. (Floyd's previous title defense was at Lightweight many years ago when he had a rematch with the legendary Jose Luis Castillo.)
We all know how Floyd told Brian Kenny on ESPN about how he was greater than Ali and Robinson, because (again paraphrasing) "they had losses. Get the F*CK outta' here with that bullsh*t, Floyd. You have done NOTHING to show that you belong in the same sentence as Ali or Robinson. Oh yeah, Floyd, why did you fail to mention that you were greater than the legendary Jack Johnson? Is it because he was the first African American Heavyweight Champion ever? So he gets a pass despite having defeats?
And hey- if you can "go there" then so can I, and I just did. What?
But as I ponder you, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and your greatness, I am begged to ask myself one question:
Did your awe-inspiring comeback fight at 147 against the Undisputed Lightweight Champion of the World in one Juan Manuel Marquez (for those who don't know, Floyd's last fight was at "Welterweight" against a Lightweight.) compel you to DEMAND that the always classy Manny Pacquiao call YOU out? I'm not sorry to say this- ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME?
Oh, not to mention this proposal of negotiating a purse with Floyd's former promoter (and Pacquiao's current) Bob Arum regarding which money goes to who, and how.
Sorry Floyd- the gig is up. You lost your "bargaining chips" the moment that you carried Marquez for twelve rounds and more importantly, when Manny Pacquiao drubbed his (and at the time, yours) most dangerous opponent to date.
If I were Arum, I'd tell you that you will get the monetary split that I deem fair, and if you don't like it- it's your loss.
And by loss, I mean a loss to the tune of about six zeroes preceded by a three or four, as opposed to the lone zero on your record that seems a lot more important to you than establishing a legacy for yourself.
Floyd may be the best pure Boxer on the planet, and is certainly one of the most talented ever, but what the f*ck good is talent if you don't bother to test it?
If your response is that you "are so good that you make others look bad" then I will agree with that as long as we are talking about the Floyd who would actually fight and take risks. In other words, I am talking about the Floyd who fought on December 7th, 2002 in a rematch with Jose Luis Castillo.
Until you take a risk and fight someone who is a legit threat *cough cough, MANNY PACQUIAO* who you know will bring it to you all night, your credibility with regard to laying a claim of being the best boxer, pound for pound, is totally shot.
Nice work; enough about you. Either sign to fight Pacquiao or quit runnin' your suck. We are all tired of hearing it. Your act is played. Beat Pacquiao, and I will heap a ton of praise on you, and I WILL say that you are the best fighter on Earth. Until then, just talk about how great you are to whoever will listen.
Back to last Saturday Night, and back to Manny Pacquiao's win against Miguel Cotto: Manny elevated himself into the ranks of truly great fighters. Manny demolished the toughest and largest opponent he has ever faced, and while there may have been a lot of doubt as to who the best fighter on the Planet was leading into this fight, there is none any longer.
In fact, many have already placed Manny Pacquiao within the top twenty of their lists of all-time-great fighters. A few people I have spoken with also feel that if Manny Pacquiao fights and defeats Floyd Mayweather Jr. before making a run for a belt at Junior Middleweight (I think he can beat Floyd and win a belt at 154) then Manny is deserving of a spot in the top ten list of all-time-great fighters.
Here is a little time line of Manny Pacquiao's accomplishments and the reason that he is the current best Boxer, pound for pound today:
On December 4th, 1998, Manny Pacquiao Captured his first title in his first weight class (Flyweight) when he knocked out Chatchai Sasakul in his 25th fight as a professional. Manny suffered a setback in his second defense of his WBC Featherweight title at the hands of Medgoen Singsurat.
Following that loss, Pacquiao made a three- weight class jump to the Super Bantamweight Division where he beat the then highly touted Nedal Hussein before wrestling the IBF Super Bantamweight title from Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in Manny's seventh fight in that division. In Pacquiao's next outing, he was held to a technical draw with Agapito Sanchez in a fight that was marred with fouls that cost Sanchez two points and a both fighters second title in that weight class, as it was an IBF and WBO Championship unification fight. Manny ultimately had four successful title defenses at Super Bantamweight before he moved up yet again to the stacked Featherweight division.
In the 126 pound division, Manny Pacquiao immediately shook up the Featherweight picture when he upset the great Marco Antonio Barrera, in an action packed and dominant win that ended in an 11th round TKO for Manny Pacquiao. At that time, the win was Manny's biggest to date, for as was the case with the Miguel Cotto fight, the odds seemed to be steeped against Pacquiao with many believing that Barrera would be far too much to handle for Manny Pacquiao, who was fighting a deadly opponent in Barrera, four weight classes above where Manny won his first title; and five weight classes above the weight in which he made his pro debut.
Then, in Manny's second fight as a Featherweight, he fought another legend in Juan Manuel Marquez to a very controversial draw. Pacquiao was able to send Marquez to the canvas three times in the first round, and Marquez valiantly fought back. The only reason that fight was ruled a draw was because one judge did not score the first round as a 10-6 round for Pacquiao. If memory serves me, it was because the judge "thought the NSAC frowned on 10-6 rounds" or something to that direct effect. It was bullshit, but one cannot excatly cry robbery because a case can be made for Juan Manuel Marquez doing enough to win that fight by that "mysteriously" lost point from the first round knockdowns suffered by Marquez at the hands of Pacquiao. I didn't mention that this was Manny's third fight as a Flyweight, and also that particular fight was for Marquez' IBF and WBA "Super" World titles.
From there, Manny opted to fight Fashan 3K Battery earning a 4th round TKO victory before Manny moved up yet another weight class to the 130 pound division where his first fight was against yet another legend in Erik Morales which was a very close fight in which Manny lost a decision by two points on all three cards. Manny then fought Hector Velasquez before fighting Erik Morales a second time, in which Manny scored a 10th round TKO. After taking a fight with Oscar Larios, Pacquiao once again found himself in the ring with Erik Morales, only this time, Pacquiao wasted no time in going on the attack with Morales, stopping Morales in the 3rd round. After Manny's fight with Morales, Manny went on to stop Jorge Solis via 8th round KO (Solis even had the audacity to say that his Wife hit harder than Manny- his wife must beat the shit out of Solis quite frequently, and if anything should have been fighting Manny that night, for she likely would have fared better.)
After Manny fought Solis, he went on to fight Marco Antonio Barrera once again in a fight where Barrera was looking to survive to the 12th round after he tasted Manny's power at 130. (The first meeting was at 126 pounds.) Manny went on to win a wide unanimous decision before he got another shot at Juan Manuel Marquez, as well as a title at 130 pounds. As was the case with the first Pacquiao-Marquez fight, this one was close but Manny was able to walk away with a split decision win and yet another title to add to his collection.
In Manny Pacquiao's next fight, he moved up to the Lightweight ranks to fight 135 pound titlist David Diaz in a one sided drubbing that left a bloody and battered Diaz on the canvas before the fight being stopped in the 9th round, and yet another world title for Manny Pacquiao.
Then Manny Pacquiao lands a dream fight with regards to making a lot of money, against former six-division champion, Oscar De La Hoya in a fight at 147 pounds; two weight classes above Lightweight. Many pundits didn't give Manny a chance in hell against the much bigger Oscar De La Hoya. I know I didn't. But low and behold, Manny proved his naysayers wrong when he beat the absolute shit out of Oscar, prompting Oscar to quit in between the 7th and 8th rounds.
Before Manny Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto, he jumped down to Jr. Welterweight and proceeded to annihilate the reigning IBO and consensus kingpin at 140 in Ricky Hatton. I cannot really call that a fight because it lasted less than two rounds. Manny Ko'ed Ricky before the fight had even started is what it seemed like.
And then, we go back to last Saturday. If one were to count Pacquiao's win over Ricky Hatton as a legit title win (I do) then Manny has won titles in a record seven weight classes. also, if you look at the competition Manny has faced, you will see that out of any active fighter, he has been the busiest against the toughest names in the sport.
If that isn't a case for greatness and being the best fighter, pound-for-pound on this planet, then I know what is.
Well, we all do, and that would be a vociferous disagreement on the part of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. but I will say this-
Floyd- your antics and words don't mean sh*t until you step into the ring with Manny Pacquaio. And for some reason, I don't think you want to, especially after you saw what Manny did to Cotto last Saturday.
Until then- The best fighter out there is bar none, Manny Pacquiao.
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