Manny Pacquiao’s enthralling win over Mexican rival Erik Morales in Las Vegas last month proved once and for all that the perfectly formed favourite son of the Philippines really does belong among the pound for pound elite.
He broke Morales’ nose and then his will before finally stopping his game Tijuana rival in the 10th.
It was the first time the thick-chinned Morales has ever been stopped as a pro, and even though he is only 29, after yet another gruelling war, you wonder just what he has left given that this was his third loss in his last four fights?
The amazing Pacquiao however, now 41-3-2, may at 27 be just entering his peak years.
Having already beaten another Mexican modern great in Marco Antonio Barrera back in 2003, it seems the boxing world is now his oyster and the Philippines’ richest ever sportsman can expect more lucrative showdowns in 2006.
A return with Barrera wouldn’t take much selling, but given that Pac Man is in truth only a featherweight (he was well under the super-featherweight limit against Morales), a return with Juan Manuel Marquez could be his next port of call.
The pair fought a ferocious battle back in 2004, with Marquez climbing off the floor no less than three times in the opening stanza to secure a creditable draw that plenty of people though he had won.
There is certainly unfinished business between the two, and the methodical, calculated style of Marquez does seem to match up well with the whirring, buzz-saw hell for leather strategy of Pacquiao.
There will be a few frowns when certain readers learn that Marquez remains above Pacquiao in our latest ‘pound-for pound’ ratings, but until Pacquiao drops Marquez and the latter stays dropped, he will remain a short neck ahead of his great rival in my eyes.
One man dropping off the ‘pound-for-pound’ radar is Zab Judah, who lost shockingly against Carlos Baldomir in what will surely prove to be the biggest upset of the year when the dust finally settles on 2006.
For all his gifts Judah can be lazy and one wonders if his training had been spot on over the festive season for Baldomir, an honest if undistinguished pro who had lost no less than nine times going in.
I’m in the minority of thinking that Judah can rise again, and in Floyd Mayweather he could have the perfect vehicle for redemption.
Mayweather, still our main man ‘pound-for-pound’, looks as though he will be out again in April, and despite his loss Judah seems to still be very much in the frame as a possible opponent.
If it materialises the fight could prove a classic, and while ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd would start as a rightful favourite Brooklyn stylist Judah wouldn’t be without hope.
Looking ahead it seems Winky Wright’s on-off middleweight unification tussle with Jermain Taylor is off for the time being, while Ricky Hatton could be facing blown up super-featherweight Acelino Freitas in his first US fight.
Freitas is world class and can punch, yet he has done most of his best work at 9st 4lbs and if that fight comes off I struggle to see how he could make inroads against Hatton, who is massive for a light-welterweight.
Joe Calzaghe’s superb super-middleweight unification tussle with Jeff Lacy on March 4 is certainly not a fight to be missed.
The fight should tell us about the ‘pound-for-pound’ potential, or otherwise, of Lacy and just how much fire big-punching Welshman Calzaghe, who admits he has been left frustrated by not getting the big fights or the recognition he deserves in the last 12-18 months, has left to breathe.
I, like the bookmakers, see this as something of a pick ’em fight but at this stage am leaning towards the experience and quick hands of Calzaghe over the raw power of Lacy.
One thing is for certain though. The man who is left standing at the MEN Arena in Manchester can expect to move up more than a notch or two on our next ‘pound-for-pound’ list.
Pound-for-Pound World Top 10:
1 – Floyd Mayweather
2 – Ronald `Winky’ Wright
3 – Juan Manuel Marquez
4 – Manny Pacquiao
5 – Marco Antonio Barrera
6 – Jermain Taylor
7 – Ricky Hatton
8 – James Toney
9 – Joe Calzaghe
10 – Jeff Lacy
Honourable mentions: Antonio Tarver, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito, Diego Corrales, Bernard Hopkins and Jose Luis Castillo.
