| |
|
Supreme honor for Manny Pacquiao
By Recah Trinidad PhilBoxing.com Wed, 03 Jun 2020
 Thomas Hauser.
THE eminent boxing scholar and authority Thomas Hauser, a Hall-of-Fame writer, said very few of today’s fighters have earned the right to be called great.
He blamed blind, excessive commercialism and loud, shallow publicity.
“The business of boxing today is as much about publicity and hype as it is about merit,” Hauser stated in an exclusive commentary for BoxingScene.
Greatness has to be earned, he said.
**
So how is greatness (in boxing) achieved?
“Greatness is forged in adversity,” Hauser said.
What else?
“It takes a body of work,” he added.
**
So does this make Floyd Mayweather a certified greatest of all time with his magnificent unbeaten record?
“No, a fighter doesn’t have to be unbeaten to be great,” Hauser stressed.
He readily added that Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard proved that.
**
Hauser pushed hard and referred to the great Angelo Dundee, trainer of Muhammad Ali.
“It’s what fighter does after he loses that makes him great,” Hauser quoted Dundee as saying.
Rating a fighter before his career is over is a perilous exercise in quantifying greatness, Hauser explained. Being immensely talented is different from greatness.
**
Hauser, who wrote the iconic Muhammad Ali biography, considered the greatest book on The Greatest, said not every fighter who has been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame was great.
“He must possess the inquisitors that are necessary to prove greatness,” Hauser said, before zeroing in on the core of his thesis:
“Among active fighters today, Manny Pacquiao clearly meets the standard for greatness. In many ways, he’s a throwback fighter. Pacquiao has boxed almost 500 rounds over the course of 71 professional bouts. He has fought 18 times against ten fighters (including Floyd Mayweather and Oscar dela Hoya) who are either in or will be in the Hall of Fame.”
Great, indeed.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Recah Trinidad.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
WEIGHTS, IMAGES, RUNNING ORDER AND THE LAST WORDS AHEAD OF ADAMES VS. WILLIAMS IN ORLANDO , Sat, 21 Mar 2026COPPER BOX ARENA FIGHT NIGHT: WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND RUNNING ORDER CONFIRMED AS LIDDARD AND DENNY FACE-OFF FOR FINAL TIME , Sat, 21 Mar 2026Weights From ‘Martinez vs. Aleem’ Event from the NOS Event Center in San Bernardino and Broadcast live on ProBoxTV , Sat, 21 Mar 2026Jordan Orozco Training Camp Notes , Sat, 21 Mar 2026Towns vs. Bordin for PAT Belt; De Barbo, Nancholas, Samiei in Supporting Bouts at Brico Santig's Exciting Show in Pattaya Beach, Thailand By Carlos Costa, , Fri, 20 Mar 2026YOENIS TELLEZ TRAINING CAMP QUOTES , Fri, 20 Mar 2026Lebron James ties the most game played in NBA history By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Fri, 20 Mar 2026Pichay supports GM Antonio's Australian chess circuit campaign By Marlon Bernardino, , Fri, 20 Mar 2026LIDDARD-DENNY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES IN FULL: EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAID AHEAD OF SATURDAY'S COPPER BOX FIGHT NIGHT , Fri, 20 Mar 2026Round 12 with Mauricio Sulaiman: The WBC Continues the Fight for the Good of the Sport By Mauricio Sulaimán, , Fri, 20 Mar 2026AMMO: ADAMES FIGHT WILL BE EXPLOSIVE , Fri, 20 Mar 2026Carlos De Leon Training Camp Notes , Fri, 20 Mar 2026The Highly Anticipated Box Fan Expo Invitational 2026 Returns with A USA Boxing Amateur Show , Fri, 20 Mar 2026Placibe, Sales tops Sprint Challenge By Lito delos Reyes, , Fri, 20 Mar 2026Lester Martinez vs. Immanuwel Aleem Los Angeles Media Day Quotes , Thu, 19 Mar 2026MAPUA, PSKAI R-10 to play in Best of Best By Lito delos Reyes, , Thu, 19 Mar 2026IIEE Metro East dominates the 4th D’ Engineers’ Darts Cup 2026 By Marlon Bernardino, , Thu, 19 Mar 2026LIDDARD: WHY I'M RUNNING MATCHROOM HALF MARATHON AFTER TITLE DEFENCE AGAINST DENNY , Thu, 19 Mar 2026Press Conference Notes: DAZN and Top Rank Sign Multi-Year Rights Deal , Thu, 19 Mar 2026DAZN and Top Rank announce a landmark multi-year media rights deal bringing elite events and a storied archive to DAZN users worldwide , Thu, 19 Mar 2026Sampson Boxing Signs Top Junior Lightweight Contender Charly Suarez to a Promotional Contract , Thu, 19 Mar 2026THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 17 MARCH 2026: Collazo Stops Haro; Fundora KO Ruiz; Barboza Outpoints Sims; Cacace UD Dickens By Eric Armit, , Wed, 18 Mar 2026Tapales Near Peak Form Ahead of April 3 Tokyo Showdown with Oguni , Wed, 18 Mar 2026MILLER AND PERO CLASH IN HEAVYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN IN LAS VEGAS ON APRIL 25 , Wed, 18 Mar 2026Middleweight Championship Battle Between (C) Khamzat Chimaev and (#3) Sean Strickland Headlines UFC® 328 at Prudential Center Live on Paramount+ , Wed, 18 Mar 2026 |

|
|
|
|
|