For all the eight boxing titles in as many weight divisions that Manny Pacquiao has won, which among them represents his best and for which he will be measured up against the others?
No doubt, his seminal achievement as a boxer is being ?crowned? the best pound for pound boxer in his generation. And it is his body of works that will someday be the measuring yard for any boxer that will come after him ? or the others taht came before his record setting feat. The one that will separate him from the rest of the boxing world.
But division by division, at which weight class did Manny stomped his best ? all things considered?
Manny?s forays into the bigger class, while phenomenal, represent a small sample size with very limited number of opponents.
He recently fought for the only super welterweight (up to 154 lbs) fight that he ever did ? a 12-round unanimous decision win over Antonio Margarito.
He fought thrice as a welterweight, beating the likes of Oscar de la Hoya (KO 9), Miguel Angel Cotto (KO 12) and Joshua Clottey (UD 12).
His only fight as a super lightweight was against Ricky Hatton whom he knocked out cold in the second round.
Pacquiao fought the most bouts as a flyweight with 15 fights where he also won his first world title.
The second most fights was at super bantamweight with 11 where he captured his second world crown.
But it was in the featherweight division when the world began to take notice of him after he knocked out then Mexico?s top pride Marco Antonio Barrera.
Perhaps the most significant division where Manny cemented his status as a future Hall-of-Famer was at the super featherweight where he demolished the likes of Erik Morales (twice by stoppage after a loss), repeated over Barrera and traded punches with Juan Manuel Marquez registering a draw and a win ? both close decisions.
From there, Manny jumped 20 pounds more in fighting Margarito.
Competition-wise it is in the lightweight class (super featherweight) where Manny fought the best boxers in a single division. Aside from the troika of Hall of Fame bound boxers in Barrera, Morales and Marquez. Manny also dispatched Oscar Larios, Hector Vasquez and Jorge Solis in the same weight limit.
Manny?s defining moment as a crossover boxing and sport superstar, however, was when he humiliated Oscar de la Hoya over weight rounds ? forcing the former Golden Boy of boxing to quit on his stool.
They fought at the 147-pound limit where Manny is likely t toil around before he retires four or five bouts from now as he said.
If Manny gets to fight and win over Floyd Mayweather Jr, Shane Mosely, Andre Berto or a bulked up Tim Bradley, he will no doubt be ranked high in the list of fighters who fought in the history of the division.
But I still believe it is in the super featherweight class where Manny reigned supreme on the basis of competition. Unless of course Mayweather loses his mind and decides to trade punches with Pacquiao.
