Manny Pacquiao’s potential opponents who are waiting for him in the 140 pounds junior welterweight limit are getting impatient for his inability to decide exactly when is he leaving the 147 limit where he has been actively campaigning.
Pacquiao is a natural junior welterweight (140 pounds) and the reason for his long stay in the 147 pound limit is mainly due to the demand for high-level fights in the welterweight or junior middleweight limit of 147 pounds. There was a time in the past that the heavyweight division was the top grosser among the different weight classes. Fight fans prefer to watch boxers from the middleweight up to the heavyweight divisions that include Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Mike Tyson, among others. But the trend shifted to the lower weight limit of 154 down to as low as 126 pounds in recent years which made many boxers in the lower limits more in demand than ever. Pacquiao’s planned transfer down to the next level could have been influenced by two factors. First, he is small for a fighter in a full welterweight or middleweight limit where some fighters tower over him, including potential foe Floyd Mayweather, Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto, to name a few. Secondly, fight fans now love to watch rising fighters belonging to the 140 pounds limit down to as low as the featherweight limit of 126 pounds. When Pacquiao slides down to 140, he will find more lucrative fights there including a possible clash with rising star Danny Garcia, who is unbeaten in his pro career. Click here for list of fighters in the Junior Welterweight limit of 140 lbs. Pacquiao’s speed and power have been markedly reduced when he fought in the higher limits, which is the reason he has not scored a knockout in the last five years. Pacquiao’s longtime coach Freddie Roach said that fighters in the lower limit wanted to go up to 147 just so they can have a shot at Pacquiao but they will rejoice when Pacquiao finally comes down to 140. ?There?s a lot of competition in the 140-pound division, a lot of them are going to 147 because they want to fight Manny for the bigger money but as soon as Manny goes to 140 all of those will come back down,? said Roach. The problem right now is that Pacquiao cannot decide when to slide down because Mayweather is standing in the way as he moves down to the limit of 140. Pacquiao and Roach wish that Mayweather will officially declare his intention to face Pacquiao in the next few weeks so that they can finalize plans for Pacquiao’s move to the 140 pounds limit.
Manny Pacquiao celebrates his victory over Timothy Bradley following their WBO World Welterweight Championship title match in Las Vegas on April 12, 2014 Joe Klamar, AFP Like this image ?Last na yun,? Pacquiao said. ?Puwera na lang kung tatanggapin ni (Floyd) Mayweather and hamon natin na maglaban kami na sa tingin ko ay baka hindi na mangyari.? ( It was my last fight in the 147 limit except when Mayweather accepts our challenge to fight him but I doubt if it will ever happen), Pacquiao told veteran sports writer Eddie Alinea when asked about his convincing win in the 147 limit. Mayweather continues to mock Pacquiao by posting his KO loss to Juan Manuel Marquez on his Twitter page without saying that he will accept Pacquiao’s challenge. ?But instead of getting an answer whether he will finally accept the challenge, here he comes again making statements insulting me in person using social media,? the 35-year-old ring icon said. It is indeed exasperating for Pacquiao to have waited and survived Mayweather’s verbal assaults in the last five years but the end seems to be in sight as their promoters are working feverishly on getting the fight done for early next year.
