Veteran boxing commentator Larry Merchant rates Filipino boxing superstar Manny ?PacMan? Pacquiao as among the best boxers of all time, a reputation that he bolstered with an awesome victory against Antonio Margarito on Sunday. ?I think Manny ranks now among boxing?s all-time best, among his generation?s very best,? Merchant said during a telephone inter- view from his Santa Monica, California, home.
The veteran HBO analyst thinks that Pacquiao, who won a record eighth world title, belongs to the same league as the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson, who is regarded as the best fighter of all time, and the equally illustrious Henry Armstrong.
Merchant, known for his incisive insights into the sport of boxing, said that Pacquiao?s legend began with his stunning demolition of boxing?s former top draw Oscar De La Hoya two years ago.
Pacquiao has since racked up additional world titles at junior welterweight (140 pounds), welterweight (147 pounds) and junior middleweight (154 pounds) to add to his previous trophies at flyweight (112 pounds), junior bantamweight (122 pounds), featherweight (126 pounds), junior lightweight (130 pounds) and lightweight (135 pounds).
Robinson?who Muhammad Ali described as ?the king, the master, my idol??won titles at lightweight, welterweight and middleweight. He is considered the best all-time boxer in the world.
Armstrong was the only fighter in history to hold three world titles simultaneously?featherweight, lightweight and welterweight?and that was during an era when there were only eight weight classes and a single sanctioning body for boxing.
Merchant said that there are few fighters like Robinson, Armstrong and Pacquiao who move up in weight and still carry with them their significant power.
?Most fighters lose their power and become vulnerable to the power of bigger foes when they go up in weight,? he added.
For all of Pacquiao?s tremendous success against bigger opponents, Merchant thinks that the Filipino icon would be more challenged fighting fighters with speed and skill.
He mentioned junior welterweight stars Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander and Amir Khan as some of the rising fighters who could challenge Pacquiao, who Merchant stressed, ?is a natural lightweight.?
Not many people know that Merchant started as a well-regarded print journalist.
Before joining HBO Sports in 1978 as an analyst, he was a sports columnist of The Philadelphia Daily News and a general assignment reporter of The New York Daily Post.
He has also written three books, and his quick wit probably stems from his long background as a newspaperman.
Speed and skills
When asked for his thoughts about Pacquiao-Margarito, Merchant said that the outcome was pretty much as what had been predicted by experts who thought Pacquiao?s tremendous speed and boxing skills would make Margarito look old.
?Let?s put it this way, Pacquiao got tired punching; Margarito got tired being punched,? Mer- chant chuckled. He said that a good puncher-boxer like Pacquiao would give trouble to big opponents who are slow, like Margarito is.
?The highest form of a boxer-puncher is one who can box and is relentless offensively, without being reckless?one who commits and takes risk while defending himself,? Merchant added.
?The best fighters are like that, and Pacquiao is one of them.?
