Manny Pacquiao is the Greatest Southpaw of All Time.

Clarence Bones Adams and Paulie Ayala were both rated higher than Ledwab at 122lbs. Moreover, Pac failed to beat his WBO counterpart, Agapito Sanchez, in his one attempt to unify- and while the fight was cut short due to the accidental headbutt the outcome of the fight, it hardly seemed certain that Pac would have eventually gotten the better of Sanchez. So it can be stated with at least some validity that Pac was never the man at that particular weight.

 

Ledwaba was lineal champ which in of itself doesn't mean he was the best at the weight. But it's a pretty good indicator that he was operating at a high level within the division. And the Sanchez fight was stopped midway through due to the headbutt. But given that Pacquiao, especially early young Pacquiao was an attrition fighter the longer the fight goes the more likely it is that would have eventually won and stopped his opponent.

It's interesting though that you mentioned Adams and Sanchez were rated higher than Ledwaba. By who? The boxing organizations?

 

Ring Magazine. Check out their annual ratings from 2000-2002.

Also, Ledwaba was never lineal at the weight. Lineage had been broken once Morales moved up in weight. Ledwaba crafted a decent reign and was undeniably on a good run, but hadn't faced any truly notable contenders before meeting Pacquiao in 2001.

Finally, Sanchez was also a grinder in his own right and was landing his right pretty frequently against a less refined Pac that evening. The outcome of that fight was hardly certain after six.

 

True Sanchez was a tough guy and a good opponent and Pac wasn't as refined at that weight. I just can't really hold it against him that the fight was stopped due to accidental headbutt.

 

Yeah....I get that. But the fact that Pac had yet to establish himself as being at a higher level than Agapito gives me some pause as to whether he could really have been considered the man at the weight, especially when Ayala managed to earn the RING strap shortly thereafter. Still, going lineal in five is pretty impressive in and of itself. I think Whitaker might be a bit better but I will grant that Pac is definitely in the argument in terms of rating GOAT southpaws.

 

What? 8 divisions from the pewee leagues don't really count IMHO. Especially catchweight titles. Whitaker > Pacquiao.

 

Its arguable , I can admit that .

PacMan is the only Octuple division champion in the history of boxing .

 

Yea Barrera and Marquez were the pewee leagues. **** out of here.

 

8 division champ. Dude's a boss.

 

Ledwaba was ducked by everybody. Pac was lucky he got to make his pro debut on short notice. It was a good fight and Ledwaba had his moments but Pac walked over him eventually, just like he walked over his bigger opponents later on to become the greatest boxer since Roberto Duran.

 

It's annoying because there's only one ***** who articulates himself well in these discussions (Drew101), the others are just plain basement dwellers.

 

Pac could have been a 10 division champ if he didn't jump straight from 112 to 122. This guy won a belts in weight classes 10 division apart.

 

You've been cool recently, but wondering why do you always post about these mythical rankings? they don't mean anything and really when it come's down to it head to head mean nothing,

 

Rigondeaux, whitaker, Lara