Assumed truth: If Pacquiao were to go to up 154 and beat Sergio Martinez he would have to be considered the greatest boxer of all time. Now, I'm not saying that I agree with this statement, given that I still personally believe that with Pacquiao's resume thus far, Greb is still considerably out of reach. But I can certainly buy that should Pacquiao go beat Martinez at 154 then he solidifies himself in the consensus Top 5, even going so far as to oust Henry Armstrong and people like Sam Langford and Willie Pep, to be a very, very viable resident in the top 3. The question therefore, is, because with his entry to politics and his future there seemingly bright, has this robbed us of the opportunity to see Pacquiao establish himself as one of the greatest of the greats? The situation that has permeated now is that Pacquiao needs to win one more fight to be considered in that highly prestigious bracket. The fight is there and available for him if he wants it. Why would you not chance it? From the press it seems like team Pacquiao are not even considering a fight with Martinez. It is one fight. To become (arguably) the greatest of all time. All time! Pacquiao doesn't need money, and he keeps saying that he is satisfied with his achievements in boxing. I don't think that Joe Frazier would have turned down this opportunity. Bob Arum has said something along the lines of "it's a stupid fight, too much of a mismatch". And sure, the odds are stacked heavily against him. But how often does somebody get the opportunity to beat one guy to become the greatest in history at something. I mean, sure, worst case scenario Martinez could literally kill him. But I don't know, I just find it kind of sad to think this opportunity exists and is not being seized. Of course, maybe I'm talking out of my ass too. And if so kindly pass this thread by...
A month ago no one was even mentioning Sergio Martinez, but suddenly he's almost a legend. Pacquiao's great but if we have to make lists he's not even close to the top 5 of all-time, IMO. It's remarkable that so many people buy into all this over-orchestrated "title collecting" stuff, and in weight divisions (of which there's already too many) that are rendered meaningless by catch weight, titles rendered meaningless by the ridiculous ratings and multiple titles and multiple vacancies. Most of Pacquiao's titles are a joke.
