Manny Pacquiao’s display against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas may have impressed two of the three ringside judges but I can’t help feeling the Filipino may be regressing as a fighter.
Pacquiao won a narrow split decision over Marquez after another high octane encounter last month but would probably have lost the fight had he not scored a knockdown in round three.
Marquez, much as he did in their first encounter, outboxed ‘Pac Man’ for long periods and I actually had him winning the fight by a round. It was a tough one to score and you could make a case for it going either way but Pacquiao was lunging in an awful lot and relying on his power to get him out of trouble too much.
He does use his right hand far more under Freddie Roach but I still don’t feel he can hold a candle to Marquez in terms of boxing ability, which may sound strange considering he has yet to lose to the Mexican in two meetings. However I felt Manny’s remarks after the fight were quite telling.
When pressed as to whether there should be a third fight to settle the argument once and for all Pacquiao snapped back “I don’t think so. This business is over.”
As long as Marquez is around operating at this kind of level I don’t think their business will ever truly be over and while I fully expect Pacquiao to beat David Diaz and claim the WBC lightweight title this year I feel he may be going back as a fighter.
Pacquiao is still one of the most exciting fighters out there but he’s 29 now and it’s been a long career. Diaz will be his 52nd pro fight and when you consider that he began life as a flyweight it’s not surprising that there are increasing signs of wear and tear in his armoury.
He’s certainly not the fighter that destroyed Marco Antonio Barrera in Texas in 2003 and I actually don’t think he has looked that impressive since starching Erik Morales in three frounds back in 2006.
For this reason he drops one place in our latest ‘pound-for-pound’ rankings and is usurped by Britain’s Joe Calzaghe.
Calzaghe recovered from a horror start on his American debut to outbox and outthink wily American campaigner Bernard Hopkins recently. The fight was by no means a classic but at the end of the day it was all about the result for the Welshman and despite B-Hop’s protestations the best man won.
Having cleaned up at super-middleweight Calzaghe is now recognised by the prestigious Ring magazine as the best light-heavyweight out there and the talk is of him fighting Roy Jones in November before walking off into the sunset with his faculties and unbeaten record in check.
Calzaghe showed against Hopkins that he is just about the best fighter in the sport for making adjustments mid-fight. It looked to be getting away from the Welshman early on but he made a few subtle changes and from the halfway point took control of the fight.
As he moves up the rankings Hopkins, having all but announced his retirement from the sport for a second time after the fight, moves out.
‘Nard has been a fantastic servant to the sport and a brilliant champion. From humble beginnings (he lost his first fight on points way back in 1988) he has grafted and his achievements at middleweight (record number of title defences) and light-heavyweight (humbling modern greats such as Antonio Tarver and ‘Winky’ Wright) will almost certainly stand the test of time and see him inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame at the first time of asking.
I noticed Hopkins didn’t officially call it a day at the post-fight presser but looking around there is nowhere really for him to go.
Chad Dawson and Tarver are set to collide later this year and with Jones and Calzaghe tied up there is nobody else out there. Unless of course he wants another go with crafty ‘Road Warrior’ Glen Johnson, which I’m pretty certain he doesn’t.
The only way I reckon we would ever see him in the ring again is if Jones were to beat Calzaghe. If that happened, and it’s a big if, a return fight between the two would be a natural (Jones beat Hopkins on points in an IBF middleweight title fight in 1993 and still feels he has some unfinished business with the Floridian).
It’s my guess though that Calzaghe will see off Jones leaving Hopkins with no dance partner. At 43 he is financially secure and estimates that he made more than $20million since coming back after his defeats to Jermain Taylor so if it is the end he won’t be short of a few bob and will stay in the sport as a partner to Oscae De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions outfit.
With Hopkins out of the ‘pound-for-pound’ reckoning then there is a vacancy at number 10 and Antonio Margarito is the man to fill it this month.
Margarito again looked sensational as he smashed Puerto Rican banger Kermit Cintron to defeat in six frenetic rounds in Atlantic City.
Margarito had handed Cintron the only previous loss of his career with a fifth-round stoppage in Las Vegas back in 2005 and despite losing to Paul Williams last year he remains one of the very best welterweights out there.
‘Toni’ is 36-5 (26) now and while he re-enters the ‘pound-for-pound’ fray on the strength of that Cintron win he is going to have to go some to stay at the top table.
This is because on July 26 he has signed to meet the brilliant Miguel Cotto.
Cotto was also out the same night Margarito blasted Cintron to defeat and did a demolition job of his own on the hapless Alfonso Gomez.
Gomez found out, just as Peter Manfredo had done against Calzaghe last year, that the gulf between Contender and champion is a big one. He was in over his head against Cotto, who at 27 is now entering his fighting prime.
Cotto dominated with the jab and broke Gomez down in ruthless fashion before closing the show impressively in the fifth round.
His fight with Margarito should be a real hum-dinger and the latest in the long line of great battles between Mexican and Puerto Rican fighters.
And if the 32-0 (26) killer from Caguas prevails in emphatic fashion in that one he will surely be knocking on the ‘pound-for-pound’ door of a certain Floyd Mayweather.
Sportinglife.com Pound-for-Pound World Top 10:
1 – Floyd Mayweather
2 – Joe Calzaghe
3 – Manny Pacquiao
4 – Miguel Cotto
5 – Juan Manuel Marquez
6 – Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright
7 – Israel Vazquez
8 – Ricky Hatton
9 – Kelly Pavlik
10 – Antonio Margarito
Honourable mentions: Christian Mijares, Juan Diaz, Mikkel Kessler, Wladimir Klitschko and Juan Guzman.
