Smoke And Mirrors

Valuev is easily the biggest smoke & mirrors guy in years.

 

I voted Manny Pacquiao and these are my reasons for doing so.

Out of all of the fighters on the list, Manny is the most respected I think and his wins very rarely come into question. This is hard for me to deal with considering every other fighter in history has had their resume questioned at least once. He is a world class fighter, the second best in the world in my estimation, and you don't get to that point without having great wins. Manny has those. His first victory over Marco was nothing short of great, but what came after wards?

Juan Manuel Marquez 1

This was a great fight, the drama was epic. Marquez has no business getting out of that first round, and it's actually a credit to the referee as well as Marquez's heart and spirit that he came back to sweep most of the rounds. I had Juan ahead in this fight, and the verdict came back a draw. Manny was unable to really exemplify his dominance in a division with other great fighters in. For the majority of the fight, he was outboxed.

Erik Morales 1

Manny Pacquiao only fought the best, but this version of Morales was not the peak version we all knew well. He had slowed down a little, and weight was starting to become a major issue in his preparation, more so than normal. in any event, Manny was outboxed by the veteran, and whereas the Pacquiao fans bring up the eye excuse, their the first ones to dismis Manny's opposition's exuses. Nobody had claimed before the fight Morales was still in his prime, so we shouldn't do it afterwards.

Erik Morales I and III

Morales, already past his prime first time around, was able to put on one great last performance in their first fight, but after that he was done. He was defeated by an average fighter at best in Raheem, and he was stopped for the first time in his career in his second fight with Manny. He was at the end of the road, and this was evident when he couldn't even beat a mere club fighter in David Diaz. Manny did what he had to do, but these fights don't do anything for his legacy as far as I'm concerned. Erik would go on to lose all his remaining fights.

Juan Manuel Marquez II

Again, he lost the most rounds, but he scored a knockdown. Even with the 10/8 round, the majority of sports writers, and healthy amount of members at ESB had Marquez ahead, even one of Manny's greatest fans DINAMITA, had Marquez ahead. The bigger draw, more exciting and quirky fighter, Manny Pacquiao, was given the decision. He cried after the fight, he couldn't believe it.

David Diaz

Was acknowledged as one of the worst beltholders in Boxing before the fight, and this remainded true afterwards. He was the easiest option at 135lb.

Oscar De La Hoya

I got to feel badly for Manny Pacquiao. He should have recieved all of the props in the world for beating Oscar. The size difference was huge, but nobody can convince me that Oscar was not weight drained. All of the evidence suggests he was, and all for a fighter that was at his twilight and hadn't made the weight in 7 years. Came in to the ring at 147? Freddie Roach, Manny's trainer, admitted that they handpicked Oscar because he thought he couldn't pull the trigger anymore. This was Manny's trainer who said that.