I was so impressed with Pacquiao right after the Cotto fight, but that cooled off due to the Mayweather debacle...I had Pacquiao in my top 15, damn near close to being in the top 10, but as of right now, I personally think he hovers right above 20...maybe 17 or so. But a win over Mayweather or Mosley, and he'd easily crack my top 10. As far as the Clottey fight, I thought Pac did as good as he possibly could. Had he not got hit as much as he did, I would have been more impressed, but give Pacquiao credit. That could have been a painfully boring fight to watch, but Manny kept it at least somewhat watchable, because of the amounts of punches he was throwing. It was a good win. Not a GREAT win, but a very good one.
You act as though there havent been any good fighters before Manny, mrtony. Thats a bit of a silly comparison. Its to hard to properly rank an active fighter anyway...I can easily think of 11 fighters I put in front of him. Wouldnt be to hard for me to think of 25. But again you have give it a few years before you can properly rank him.
Name one fighter on Pac's resume that comes within 100000 miles of a Duran or Hearns, hell a Benitez for that matter. Whitaker is the far greater fighter. Was far more consistent in both performance and high quality competition and he actually dominated a division something Pac hasn't come closet to doing, not to mention their both by far more skilled fighters than Pac can ever dream of becoming. I hate the after effects of these damn Pacquiao fights, I swear I do.
Placing Pacquiao in your top 40-50 is just ridiculous, which is why I made the MJ comparison. Nobody who knows anything about boxing would rate Pac that low unless they just flat out don't like the guy...I respect everyone's opinions, but 40-50? COME ON!!!!!!!
If he beats Mayweather and Mosley? Top 10 easy. If he KO's BOTH of them? Damn...we're talking top 5, here.
Between 15 and 20. For someone as big and as competent as Clottey to be scared.. That moves Pac up to me closer to top 15. He beats Floyd, inside 10 for sure and if he becomes lineal at a very good 140 div, then SRR #1 PAC#2
^^^^He's in the Top 35 give or take at the moment IMO. Saying that he belongs in Top 40-50 is less ridiculous than saying he belongs in the Top 10-20 honestly.
ESPN ranks Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and De La Hoya as top 50 ATGs. Pacquiao fought and beat Barrera twice, and had a trilogy with Morales with a 2W-1L record, and beat De La Hoya albeit passed prime, but Pac moved up two weight levels to fight him at 147 lbs., and Pac had only fought at 135 lbs. just once before DLH. Marquez, Cotto, and perhaps even Hatton will make it to the Hall of Fame, but not necessarily top 50 ATG. And you never know how far Clottey will go even though some of you might downgrade Clottey's abilities since yesterday. Pacquiao has also fought strong opposition (many champions) throughout his career. He has 56 fights under his belt with a record of 51W, 3L, and 2 D's. He is a 7 weight division champion.
Right. I'm calling bull**** on your post. Name some of the fighters in the 25-35 region that are ahead of Pac so. We shall compare their resumes and see how it looks.
ESPN don't know ****! Having Barrera, Morales, and Hoya in the Top 50 is absolutely ridiculous by all boxing logic and those who know anything about the sport. The rematches to Barrera and Morales are worthless as they were shot to **** (I give him credit for the 1st Barrera fight). I doubt Hatton makes it to the hall of fame and Cotto imv is absolutely finished at the elite level. I won't bother with Clottey, he showed his quality last night:dead. Also, his weight jumping is overrated. He never dominated one division and in 3 of those divisions all he did was collect a paper title, he never fought the best man or 2nd best man for that matter. Pacquiao is an extroadinary fighter, I rate him is the best of the era *at the moment* and he's in my Top 35. But having wins against guys who haven't proven anything (and never will) does not propel you up the ATG ladder.
Last night was one of the fights that I really couldnt care too much if Pac had lost..sometimes youre just due for one. Anyway when Buffer started doing a rundown of the Former Flyweight, Former Bantamweight, Former SFW, Former LW, Former JWW, and reigning WW champion of the world..It does sends shivers esp when Buffers doing it. But no hes not top 12 but hes inside 20 in the JCC, Pea level