New golden era launched by Filipino featherweight superstar

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/nov/04/yehey/top_stories/20071104top2.html

Sunday, November 04, 2007
SPECIAL REPORT: BOXING BOOM
New golden era launched by Filipino featherweight superstar

By Conrad Cariño, Senior Desk Editor

This content is protected

Sunday, November 04, 2007
SPECIAL REPORT: BOXING BOOM
New golden era launched by Filipino featherweight superstar

By Conrad Cariño, Senior Desk Editor

Is this guy Reading my post here in ESB??? He almost got it right except for calling PBF as Roger Mayweather.

 

The birth of a golden era in a boxing division requires a three- or four-cornered fight, with the triumphant fighter gaining the right to be proclaimed the greatest boxer of the era—even if he is not from the heavyweight division.

Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman battled it out for supremacy in what is considered the most competitive era in the heavyweight division’s history. In the end, it was Ali who was proclaimed “The Greatest.”

In reality, Ali owed a lot to having Frazier and Foreman for his rivals. They were, like Ali, world champions and Olympic gold medalists.

After Ali’s heavyweight golden era, it was the turn of the welterweight-middleweight division to give boxing another golden era. It happened because four superstars—Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler—vied to be No. 1.

No one ever expected that after the magnificence of Ali and Leonard, boxing’s next golden era would be launched in the featherweight-superfeatherweight division. Much less did anyone ever think a Filipino named Manny Pacquiao would emerge as the sport’s new supernova.

A phenomenon

Pacquiao’s bouts—whether with pugilists also of superstar status or with lesser lights—invariably dominate the box-office ticket sales and TV viewership. The praises he gets from critics and specialists are phenomenal, considering that he actually does not hold a world title belt from any of the ruling boxing organizations. His only title is that of World Boxing Council (WBC) international superfeatherweight champion.

Even without a world title, Pacquiao is the “universally recognized” superfeatherweight champion. This is a first in boxing history. The prestigious Ring Magazine for the longest time has been ranking him as the top boxer in his division.

Pacquiao’s popularity rose sharply after he defeated Lehlo Ledwaba in June 2001, to win the IBF superbantamweight championship. He went on to challenge Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, the dominant figures in the division before the Filipino arrived.

Future hall of famers

Barrera has four titles in different divisions and his greatest fight was against featherweight champion Naseem Hamed, a flamboyant fighter who was actually a 3-1 favorite to win over the Mexican. Morales was also a champion in four divisions. Both fighters never suffered knock out losses before facing Pacquiao.

The three-cornered rivalry between Pacquiao, Barrera and Morales remarkably eclipsed the drama of what was happening in the welterweight-middleweight divisions. There, Oscar de la Hoya failed to avenge his losses to Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad, who retired after being knocked out by middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins, who in turn knocked out de la Hoya.

Meanwhile, the heavyweight division turned into a circus when Mike Tyson started acting like a clown in the ring.

Pacquiao established his supremacy in the featherweight-superfeatherweight division with an exclamation point in every match. Pacquiao won two of his three matches with Morales, two by a knockout. Nobody had ever done that to Morales.

In late 2003, in his first fight against Barrera, Pacquiao won the first fight with such brutality that the referee had to stop the fight in the 11th round. On October 6, in their second fight, the Filipino did not need to knock Barrera out. The whole world saw who the undisputed master was—a judgment punctuated by the foul blow the Mexican gave Pacquiao while the referee was talking to them.

Pacquiao even did better than Ali in establishing his domination in his division. Ali had to go through hell to beat Frazier in their third fight, the “Thrilla in Manila.” Ali was even knocked down by Frazier in their first fight, and his second fight with Foreman was also aborted (some believe Foreman could have beaten him).

Even Leonard’s supremacy in the welterweight-middleweight wars of the 1980s is not as well-established as Pacquiao’s. Leonard only drew in his second bout with Hearns. And, to this day, some sports historians doubt Leonard’s decision win over Hagler. Leonard even failed to knock out Duran (which Hearns did easily).

Pound for pound the best

If there is one fighter whose dominance in his division excites boxing fans almost as much as Pacquiao does, it would be super welterweight Roger Mayweather, who is ranked number one in the pound-for-pound ranking (on the list of best fighters today). On this list Pacquiao occupies second place.

While Mayweather’s fight against de la Hoya got the most pay-per-views in boxing history, he has never figured in a fierce three or four-cornered fight for supremacy, as Ali, Leonard and Pacquiao did.

If Mayweather retires now, he may end up like Rocky Marciano—with a great fight record and a championship reign. But he would not rate among the all-time greats because he did not have formidable and accomplished rivals. Even Joe Louis is ranked higher than Marciano for the simple reason that Louis took on tough opposition. Notably, Marciano has a knock out win against an aging Louis.

Ricky Hatton is set to test Mayweather when the former challenges him for the superwelter-weight title. Hatton is touted to be the best boxer ever produced by Great Britain. But he is not yet regarded as a future hall of famer—like Pacquiao’s Barrera and Morales. Hatton has not also gained the stature where he can strike fear in his opponent’s hearts, the way Hearns and Duran did.

Likewise, Mayweather’s boxing style pales in comparison with Leonard, who also took risks and did not mind getting hit just to land his combinations. Have you ever wondered why Mayweather’s face is regarded as “pretty?”

Mayweather’s cautiousness (witnessed most graphically in his fight with de la Hoya) may not also sit well with fans who want more excitement. Boxing fans will always want a knockout, the way basketball fans crave for the dunk, and baseball fans for a home run. And Pacquiao delivers the exciting knockouts on a good night.

 

I didn't write it. But it seems like the author copied everything I've discussed here in ESB about Pac's P4P Greatness. But as you can see he's not a Diehard Boxing Writer, He can't even see the difference between Roger & Floyd Jr. Maybe PBF really is not known in the Philippines????