One of the very oldest adages in the old glove game and one that still rings true among many fight veterans is that ‘a good big ‘un always beats a good little ‘un’.
Manny Pacquaio will try to disprove this theory on December 6 when he goes in with boxing’s ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya.
But history will be against him.
Time and again throughout the annals of the sport fighters who have dominated in a certain weight class have found it all too much when venturing north a division or two.
From Billy Conn boxing rings round a certain Joe Louis before flying too close to the sun in round 13 to Michael Spinks trying to unify the heavyweight division against Mike Tyson only to be banged out in 93 seconds, there have been countless examples of champions who fell short when trying to step up.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Henry Armstrong once held world titles in three separate weight divisions. But men like ‘Homicide Hank’ are few and far between.
There are fighters who have won world titles in multiple weight divisions of course. De La Hoya himself won his first world title at super-featherweight but I can’t think of a fighter in the history of the sport who has been as audacious with the scales as Pacquiao.
It’s worth remembering that 10 years ago this very month Manny was knocking out Chatchi Sasakul in eight rounds…for the WBC flyweight title.
He was an unknown then outside of his native Philippines but in the last decade has cut a swath through the super-bantam, feather, super-feather and lightweight divisions to become one of the biggest names in the sport.
In his last fight he looked sensational in stopping David Diaz to win the WBC lightweight crown but I have to wonder about the wisdom of him now jumping up a further two weight classes to face De La Hoya?
On paper it looks an intriguing battle between the biggest cash cow in the sport and the man generally regarded as the best ‘pound-for-pound’ fighter in the world.
But the reality is Pacquiao, who began his pro journey as a 106-pounder, may well have bitten off more than he can chew in De La Hoya, who won a WBO title at middleweight in 2004.
Depending on your viewpoint this fight is either a courageous and intelligent bit of match-making on the part of ‘Team Pacquiao’. Or an accident waiting to happen.
I can see why Manny has taken the fight. De La Hoya is the fighter that generates more dollars than any other and at 35 he is also a few years removed from his prime.
Should Pacquiao win he’ll have another Hall-of-Famer in his resume and he’ll be able to look forward to another mega-money match with Ricky Hatton at some point in 2009.
If he loses the fight scribes will merely say that he was just too small for the ‘Golden Boy’.
Make no mistake about it, while Pacquiao risks taking a severe beating on Saturday night, the irony is he’s in something of a no-lose situation as the pressure is all on De La Hoya.
Oscar has probably already done enough to go down as one of the modern greats basically because he has stepped up to the plate and been fighting at the very highest level for well over a decade.
However his record in big fights is lamentable.
From losing a questionable decision to Felix Trinidad for all the welterweight marbles in 1999 Oscar has also been beaten by Shane Mosley (twice) as well as being stopped rather ignominiously with a body shot by Bernard Hopkins in 2004.
In his last big fight in 2007 he covered himself in glory but was outworked down the stretch by Floyd Mayweather Jr and lost a split decision on the cards.
His best wins remain those two stoppages of a faded Julio Cesar Chavez, a split decision verdict against Ike Quartey in a fight plenty had him losing and an admittedly impressive KO against Fernando Vargas.
He goes into this one having lost three of his last six and those wins have come against less than stellar opposition (Felix Sturm, Ricardo Mayorga and Steve Forbes).
On top of all that he hasn’t made the welterweight limit since banging out Arturo Gatti back in 2001.
Despite this he remains a warm betting favourite with the Las Vegas sports books to take care of the marauding ‘Pac Man’.
It seems that Oscar, and the odds men, are hoping one of the sport’s oldest adages holds true once more this Saturday night.
