yes, maybe also duran had success moving up...but pacquiao comes all thge way from being a flyweight champ...no flyweight champ had ever had success past 126:deal
An astonishing achievment. But nothing like enough to get him into my top 20 at this time. The thing is, though, he is only one fight away from leap-frogging a real handful of guys. If he hangs around...
Aside from maybe Holyfield, absolutely. Pacquiao's resume is nowhere near Canzoneri's, or even Arguello's resume for that matter. Pacquiao's resume is rivaling Jones's, but he's not the talent Jones was. To be honest, Holyfield's resume is still easily better, he's just had a few more setbacks and never really established this kind of dominance. Pacquiao though, is now certified top 50 ATG in my book, and he's surpassed Harada as the most accomplished Asian fighter of all time.
No flyweight champ has ever won a lightweight belt, much less the linear junior lightweight and junior welterweight belts. Manny is easily in the Top 15-20 now, especially in this era where the top fighters only fight 2-3 times per year. He's definitely made use of his 3 dates last year (Marquez, Diaz, De La Hoya), and this year (Hatton, winner of Mayweather/Marquez?). I don't see how anyone could put Pacman below the Top 10 if he were to beat Floyd. Even Sweet Pea only won belts at 4 weight classes, with only 2 being legit lineal titles...and he was ranked at #10 all-time by The Ring.
That's not what ranking an ATG is all about, though. There are really many different factors to consider. It's a pretty futile task, to be honest.
I still think the De La Hoya win is over ratted. The Hatton win is very impresive. I think he is top 25 for certan mabay top 15.