It?s too much pressure to put on a single individual.
His name is Manny Pacquiao and he?s expected by all his supporters and loyal followers to engage in brawls that will have them on the edge of their seats in anticipation of a knockout victory by their national icon.
Like Mike Tyson in his prime, the initial image that comes to mind when envisioning the Filipino power-puncher is aggression and chilling knockout power. When the definitive stoppage doesn?t come to fruition, I get the slightest inkling that his supporters feel somewhat of a let down.
It?s unfair.
This is why I state that there?s no need for a Marquez-Pacquiao trilogy bout.
Each fight between the two future hall-of-fame fighters would transpire as it did on Saturday with the ?Pacman? pressing forward looking to bring the pain and Marquez circling backwards attempting to counter the onslaught. While it?s an exciting and entertaining scenario nonetheless, luckily for international boxing fans, there are numerous characters that could provide Manny with the stage of pure savagery as we saw in the classic 1985 bout between ?Marvelous? Marvin Hagler and Tommy ?The Hitman? Hearns.
The one clear candidate that has the ability to potentially give Manny a run for his money in an all out war would be the underground legend, Edwin ?El Inca? Valero.
Relax Pac-maniacs? I didn?t say that the Venezuelan would dominate or even stop the ?Pacman? as Hagler did Hearns, I?m simply stating that the clash of styles could be as explosive and as crowd pleasing as that middleweight battle that took place thirteen years ago.
Valero has the mystique and record to send shivers down anyone?s spine being that he possesses a perfect KO ratio having won twenty-three of his twenty-three bouts by violent knockout. Did I mention that 19 of his victims never even made it to the second round?
It?s a fight that might not seem noteworthy enough to some fight fans being that ?El Inca? hasn?t fought anyone considered a top-level champion as has Pacquiao. I disagree being that there?s nothing like the excitement of two aggressive mad men with the same thoughts on their minds? end the night early.
Current middleweight champion, Kelly ?The Ghost? Pavlik hardly had anything noteworthy on his ledger leading up to his initial bout with Jermain ?Bad Intentions? Taylor last September (outside of his victory over Edison Miranda), but ended up persevering ending the reign of the Arkansas athlete by brutal stoppage. It?s a scenario that has the possibility to repeat itself in Valero-Pacquiao being that we?ve yet to see someone truly push the ?Pacman? back and force an all out war.
Like Bernard Hopkins? two bouts with Jermain Taylor, sometimes the matador?s style in Marquez isn?t enough to convince the public that they are indeed the better man.
Like Bernard Hopkins? two bouts with Jermain Taylor, sometimes an injection of new blood into the championship mix can provide the spark to rejuvenate a division and potentially shake up the boxing world.
If Valero cannot somehow get cleared to compete in the states, his bout with Pacquiao could take place on any continent in the world and it?d still draw intrigue based on the stylistic qualities of both men. ?El Inca? also happens to be quite the colorful character outside the ring leading me to believe that the build-up to the shoot out would be as classic as the fight itself.
Let?s give the Mexico-Philippines rivalry a break for a bit and inject some new blood into the Manny Pacquiao equation.
It?s time for the ?Pacman? to get a break from these counter-punching wizards and face-off with someone that?s is just as much a beast as himself.
I?d predict three rounds of nothing but brutality and destruction should the fight come to fruition?
