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Since becoming the pound for pound king, Manny Pacquiao has received challenges from just about every decent fighter between lightweight and light middleweight.
There are all kinds of names floating about out there at the moment, but which of them would actually have a decent chance of beating Pacquiao? Equally which of the fights is the Top Rank star actually likely to take?
The Good
While not necessarily the easiest fights to make, these fighters would give Pacquiao the greatest challenge and perhaps even beat him.
Perhaps the man with the best chance of beating Pacquiao would have to be his nemesis and one time pound for pound champion Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather relies on an impenetrable defense and his lightning quick hands and feet to frustrate and outpoint opponents, and thrives on aggressive attackers like Pacquiao.
How well his defense would hold up against a southpaw like Pacquiao, as well as Manny’s blistering all out attack is a matter of speculation for the time being. One thing for sure though is that the fight would be a huge seller and would serve to cement the legacy of both men.
Tall Paul Williams is a fighter few are keen to take on, having a huge size advantage at virtually any other fighter at welterweight. Against Pacquiao his height advantage would be even more telling than usual, with Pacquiao being naturally shorter than most welterweights having risen through the weight classes over the years.
Would his team ever allow Pacquiao into the ring against tall Paul? Probably not, while Williams is gaining recognition slowly but surely he isn’t a huge star just yet and unless he gets the right fights he never will be. Despite the lack of commercial appeal for this fight right now though, with the right marketing and another big win or two from Williams, Pacquiao would have another impressive scalp to add to his resume.
Another fighter with a sizeable height advantage over Pacquiao is junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman. The Rabbi in training looked impressive against Daniel Santos in gaining his title, and faces a high profile defense next against Miguel ‘last chance saloon’ Cotto. Should he win, but struggle with the smaller Cotto, then the talk of Pacquiao challenging for an 8th world title in an 8th weight class will no doubt resurface. If he loses, then Cotto might get the chance to face Pacquiao again at his new weight class and possibly a slightly bigger weight advantage than before.
Does tall Paul or Floyd make the best opponent? (AP Photo)
The Bad
These fighters aren’t bad necessarily themselves, but at this stage make a bad fight for Pacquiao to take for one reason or another.
A returning Antonio Margarito looks to be the most likely opponent for Pacquiao later this year although many feel he doesn’t deserve it.
The (alleged) Tijuana wrap tamperer would make for an exciting fight against Pacquiao for the at least the first half of the fight, but his lack of movement would probably end up costing him yet again as the Filipino maelstrom would slowly but surely drag him down under a hail of blows from all angles. The main reason the fight shouldn’t happen though is that Pacquiao could face a backlash from the fans by taking on Margarito.
The fast rising Andre Berto is another fighter who has to be placed in this category for the time being, purely because he is a high risk low reward opponent for Pacquiao at the moment. Although he looked impressive in beating Carlos Quintana last weekend, he needs both bigger fights and more exposure before the champion of the division needs to worry about him.
Berto is a good fighter now and might become great someday, but falls into the same category as the likes of Tim Bradley, Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana in that the risk, even if only a punchers chance, is not worth the money Pacquiao would make for the fight.
Valero joins the ranks of the hopeless (AP Photo)
The Hopeless
Juan Manuel Marquez was tipped as one of the favorites to face Pacquiao later this year behind Margarito, but gets added to this list because he doesn’t have much to offer Pacquiao these days.
Not only has Pacquiao beaten him already, but Marquez showed against Floyd Mayweather than he is simply not big enough at welterweight for the elite of the division. Also at his age fighters can tend to age overnight, and there isn’t any telling what a welterweight JMM would be capable of in a year or two.
The fight might be a decent draw, although would probably sell less than Mayweather vs Marquez. Following ion Mayweather’s foot steps is only ever going to leave Pacquiao in second place in terms of pay per view sales, and he can do better than Floyd’s left overs.
Sadly the still undefeated Edwin Valero enters the ranks of the hopeless after his recent troubles have all but ruled out a future Pacquiao bout.
Although the fight would no doubt be exciting, Valero is still two weight classes below Pacquiao and needs to prove he can carry the extra weight moving to welterweight would bring while staying on top of his game. As his list of brushes with the law only gets longer though, Valero pushes himself further and further away from becoming a real star of boxing.
Add that to his brain scan troubles, questionable personal life and rather strange actions before U.S visa appeals (travelling to Cuba and of course his tattoo, see above left) and the story of Edwin Valero is probably only going to end up one way.
Steve, Pittsburgh: “Whatever happened to the Pittsburgh kid Paul Spadafora? Isn’t he still undefeated and he used to be a champion”
He had some trouble of the Edwin Valero kind and went to prison, although he’s making a comeback and fought recently in Florida. He’s now training with Pernell Whitaker although hes a long way off the top of the rankings now.
Gary, Pittsburgh: “Is Pacquiao going to be fed Top Rank cans until Mayweather becomes available and if that doesn’t work out then retire?”
Herman, Pittsburgh: “Williams, Mayweather and Foreman would all beat Pacquiao easily. That’s why hes taking on hand picked opponents from Bob Arum’s stable. Refusing to take the drug tests was because he wants to wait until Mayweather is old and slow before he fights him. When he can see Floyd is not in his prime he will have a change of heart about the testing and make the fight”
