AFTER watching pound-for-pound king Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao clobber legendary six-division world champion Oscar ?Golden Boy? de la Hoya yesterday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Cebu boxing?s biggest names believe that the Filipino icon can be one of the greatest boxers of all time.
?Manny was somebody of a totally different level. He can be the greatest. I watched the match in awe. He fought an excellent fight,? ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu.
?He could be the greatest fighter in history. Not only in the Philippines but the whole world,? he added.
Boxing benefactor Antonio, Michael?s father, feels that what Pacquiao has done will be a huge asset for Philippine boxing industry.
?Pacquiao was simply fabulous. He was great! His victory will boost Philippine boxing more. He is heaven-sent for the Filipino people. It was a mismatch,? the older Aldeguer in a text message after the Gen. Santos native was declared the winner.
Sammy Gello-ani of SGG Promotions, like Antonio, also feels that the victory will benefit Philippine boxing because it will motivate younger boxers, the boxing promoters and open the eyes of the sponsors.
?This would be a great help for the progress of Philippine boxing. Manny proved that no matter how small and inferior we are, we can be the best in the whole world,? said Gello-ani.
On the other hand, Michael thought that what he had witness yesterday was a very rare occasion because a smaller guy was bullying the bigger guy.
?He fought a big guy with a very impressive performance you can never see something like this in the decades to come,? said the ALA Promotions president.
?There wasn?t anything wrong with Oscar?s performance. Manny was just very impressive. He made Oscar look bad. I never really thought it would be this one-sided. I was very happy at the same time shocked at what he can do. He was super human. I never really thought he would win that way. Mayweather never did this to Oscar. It would be something that the Filipino people should be proud of,? he added
Meanwhile, Gello-ani believes that the former Olympian had a hard-time catching up with the speedy Pacquiao because when he would retaliate the Filipino world champion would easily evade the attacks.
?Oscar had a hard time. Oscar wasn?t able to adjust to the speed of Manny,? he commented.
Gello-ani also considers that if de la Hoya would have been knocked out by Manny if he would have continued with the match.
?I think it was the right decision by Oscar because if he would have continued for a round or two then he would surely have been knocked out because Manny was able to soften him up.?
