Manny Pacquiao is already considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world by most boxing analysts, but if he beats the bigger, more famous Oscar De La Hoya on December 6, what will that do to his reputation?
According to the longtime boxing writer and TV commentator Larry Merchant, “It would mark him as one of the great fighters ever.”
Merchant made that comment in a profile of Pacquiao on the ESPN show E:60, and although it might sound like hyperbole, I think it’s absolutely true. Beating De La Hoya would be a transcendent victory for Pacquiao, moving him beyond just being the best boxer of this era and establishing him as one of the best boxers of any era.
The E:60 profile, which followed Pacquaio through the streets of General Santos City and into his first boxing matches (when he would put metal in his pockets before he stepped on the scales just to reach the minimum weight to fight), was a good look at a boxer who is already a superstar in his home country and could be one win away from stardom in the U.S. as well.
