Manny Pacquiao is already 41 years old and in his 25th year as a professional boxer, but the key number for him today might just be No. 9.
If you get the drift, we are talking here of Pacquiao’s quest for a ninth division crown. Pacquiao already holds the record with eight division crowns, having won titles (or lineal recognition) in the flyweight (112 lbs), junior featherweight (122 lbs), featherweight (126 lbs), junior lightweight (130 lbs), lightweight (135 lbs), junior welterweight (140 lbs), welterweight (147 lbs) and junior middleweight (154 lbs) divisions. It is worth noting though that if Pacquiao did not skip the junior bantamweight (115 lbs) and bantamweight (118 lbs) divisions, he would have been a 10-division champion today.
Pacquiao’s first world title came in the flyweight or 112-pound division, where he starved for days just to stay within the weight limit. True enough, after losing the WBC flyweight strap to Thailand’s Medgoen 3k-Battery in September 1999, Pacquiao instantly added 10 pounds to his frame and debuted as a junior featherweight (or 122 lbs) just three months later against Reynante Jamili.
Between 2001 and 2010, Pacquiao invaded one division after another and ended up pocketing seven more titles in as many weight classes. The last time Pacquiao made a jump to a heavier weight class was in November 2010, when he outboxed Mexican Antonio Margarito to win the vacant WBC junior middleweight (154 lbs) title. Pacquiao won via lopsided scores, but he admitted after the contest that it was not easy fighting at junior middleweight. Margarito was really big and at one point in the fight a devastating body shot from the Mexican almost crumpled Pacquiao.
Pacquiao returned to the welterweight (147 lbs) division after the Margarito fight and settled in the weight class. He gave up the junior middleweight diadem and continued to defend the WBO welterweight title he won in 2009 against Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao is now on his fourth reign as welterweight king, defeating Keith Thurman in his last fight (July 2019) to earn recognition as WBA “super” welterweight champion.
Pacquiao has found his niche in the welterweight division, but lately he appears to be feeling the itch to move up again. Trainer Freddie Roach recently hinted at Pacquiao possibly moving up to the middleweight (160 lbs) division to challenge IBF king Gennady Golovkin (40-1, 1 draw, 35 knockouts).
Golovkin, 38, was once the most feared puncher in boxing, racking up a 23-fight knockout streak that started in 2008 and ended when he went the full distance against Daniel Jacobs in 2017. Golovkin seemed unbeatable until he lost by decision to Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in their rematch in September 2018.
Golovkin’s struggles in his two fights with Alvarez showed cracks in his once impregnable armor. In his last fight, October 2019, Golovkin struggled to barely beat Sergiy Derevyanchenko for the vacant IBF middleweight crown. There were moments in the fight when Derevyanchenko’s speed and mobility had Golovkin looking perplexed and old. If Roach is looking at the flaws Pacquiao can exploit against Golovkin, he saw them in the Derevyanchenko fight.
However, to say that Pacquiao can easily defeat Golovkin by simply employing a hit-and-move approach is a sweeping conclusion. Pacquiao currently tips the scales at 147 pounds and in the natural course of the business will need an additional 13 pounds to enter the middleweight (160 lbs) division. That’s a heavy, err tall, order. Roach is thus proposing a “catchweight” similar to the Margarito fight. While Margarito was a legitimate junior middleweight (154 lbs) in 2010, he agreed to limit his weight to 150 pounds for the Pacquiao fight. Pacquiao actually weighed only 144 pounds for the fight, barely removed from the junior welterweight division. When you think about it, Pacquiao never really fought as a junior middleweight while Margarito gave up the four pounds he was entitled to. This is the reason why critics frown at “catchweight” clauses: the winner’s claim to the crown appears half-baked.
For now, Roach’s dream of a middleweight fight between Pacquiao and Golovkin is a pipe dream. Golovkin is already an old fighter and the last thing he wants is to shed weight at this stage in his career. Unlike Margarito, Golovkin has other big money fights he can zero in, particularly a third match with Alvarez. A win over Alvarez will give Golovkin instant redemption, not to mention a whole lot of money for a fourth contest. On the other hand, even if he beats Pacquiao, Golovkin stands to gain nothing because people will just say that he beat a small man.
Of course, things will be very interesting if Pacquiao pursues Golovkin without demanding any catchweight clause. Then again, it’s a long shot.
