The other day, I received an email from prolific STAR blogger Jerome Levi Reyes who lives and works for an accounting firm in London.
Jerome wrote to share what the British press is saying about Manny Pacquiao. With talk going around that British favorites Ricky Hatton and Amir Khan are being lined up for future fights against Pacquiao, Jerome said Pacman?s rise to fame as a global phenomenon is beyond dispute.
Here?s Jerome:
?British boxing media just can?t get over Manny Pacquiao. More than one month after his fight with JMM, the UK had one interesting boxing story after another to write about: Amir Khan beat Martin Kristjanssen (TKO7) to become the WBO lightweight top contender, Brit champ Gavin Rees lost to Andreas Kotelnik (TKO12), Welshman Joe Calzaghe beat Bernard Hopkins and the forthcoming fight of Ricky Hatton against Juan Lazcano, just to name a few. Still, Pacman has become the darling of the British press lately and has simply arrived into the consciousness of boxing fans in this part of the world.
?Two of the most well-read boxing magazines in the UK have, in their latest issues, talked about Manny?s win over JMM and his impending invasion into the lightweights. As these boxing magazines do not carry online versions and unless one subscribes to their weekly or monthly issues, most of Pacman?s fans in the Philippines and in the US do not have the opportunity to read the heaps of praises and criticisms Pacman has generated from hard-to-please British media.
?In its latest issue, Boxing Monthly carried one of its cover stories ?Anything but Lightweight? by Steve Farhood dissecting the now-exciting lightweight division. Of course, there is some British interest in the division because of Ami but at the same time, the author just couldn?t avoid mentioning Pacman in the equation.
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?Farhood said: ?After June 28, the big dollars?and the direction of the division?could be controlled not by Casamayor or Campbell but by Manny Pacquiao who challenges David Diaz in Las Vegas. It is remarkable that Pacquiao who turned pro at strawweight and won his first world title at flyweight, could be a force in lightweight but he?ll be favored to win the crown.?
?And the author, quoting Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, added: ?The lightweights are already interesting and competitive but Pacman?s addition gives the division a true superstar and added depth and an opponent everyone will want to fight. It?s amazing that he?s been able to carry his power and continue his success from flyweight to junior lightweight. That?s a huge jump, almost 20 pounds, which is a ton when you?re that small. He?s a freak of nature.?
?The same article also sees Manny to rule the division 18 months from now. The projected standings ? 1. Manny Pacquiao, 2. Juan Diaz, 3. Amir Khan, 4. Yuriokis Gamboa, 5. Joan Guzman, 6. Anthony Peterson, 7. Michael Katsidis, 8. Edwin Valero, 9. Urbano Antillon, 10. Jose Amado Sta. Cruz. Because of what Pacman provides in the box office, the author intimated an exodus from the superfeatherweights with the likes of current champs Guzman and Valero jumping to the lightweights. Strangely, too, Joel Casamayor, Nate Campbell and David Diaz, the current titleholders in the division, did not make the list. By the looks of it, Boxing Monthly has predicted that Manny Pacquiao, Juan Diaz and Amir Khan will hold lightweight titles along the way.
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?Also in the same issue, Boxing Monthly had a centerfold story entitled ?The Fat Lady Hasn?t Sung? by Graham Houston who watched the MP-JMM II at ringside. And Graham did not mince words at how a third fight should be held once and for all to settle the issue.
?He said: ?If Pacman wins a lightweight title as seems very likely and Marquez stays unbeaten in his subsequent bouts, the third fight seems sure to happen given the financial and artistic success of this meeting.? As a parting shot, he wrote: ?All we?re talking about is the timing,? said Bob Arum ? timing, no doubt, that will best increase Pacman?s chances of beating the most dangerous of all Mexican big-fight rivals.?
?Another British publication Boxing News, in a regular column ?10 Seconds Out? ranked the Greatest Southpaws of All-Time with Marvin Hagler at the top spot. Pacman landed No. 4, just one rung lower than Thai Khaosai Galaxy but ahead of Calzaghe (6) and Filipino legend Flash Elorde (7). Here?s the complete list ? 1. Hagler, 2. Pernell Whitaker, 3. Khaosai Galaxy, 4. Manny Pacquiao, 5. Vicente Saldivar, 6. Joe Calzaghe, 7. Flash Elorde, 8. Tiger Flowers, 9. Michael Nunn, 10. Laszlo Papp.
?Manny Pacquiao has indeed conquered the Pacific and both sides of the Atlantic. And a fitting farewell match with fellow banger Ricky Hatton at the O2 Arena in London may just be the proverbial icing on his illustrious boxing career.?
