Not since the late ?70s to the early ?80s have we seen so many outstanding combatants gathered together in the 122-130 pound region.
Salvador Sanchez, Wilfredo Gomez, Carlos Zarate, Azumah Nelson, Lupe Pintor. The list goes on.
Classic fights such as Salvador Sanchez v Azumah Nelson, Wilfredo Gomez against Lupe Pintor, and Danny Lopez v Mike Ayala resulted, and can never be replaced.
But already, the Barrera-Morales trilogy, the first Brodie-Chi fight and the Marquez-Pacquiao draw have more than lived up to them. The excitement won?t stop there, however, not when Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales step up to face one another, in what should be the most dangerous fight of both men?s careers.
Morales, Marquez, Barrera and Pacquiao are a formidable line up. But is Manny Pacquiao the leader of the pack?
While his distinguished contemporaries are Mexican, Pacquiao is from the Philippines. And whereas the Mexican legends (OK, Marquez hasn?t got that far yet) have exhibited silky skills to refine their violence, Manny is raw aggression personified. This has made him the most popular current boxer in the world.
His endless stamina, combined with his formidable hand speed and perpetual two-fisted attacks, distinguishes him from the pack. Pacquiao, indeed, reminds one of the great Thai fighters of the 1980s, such as Sot Chitalada and Khaosai Galaxy who secured their legacies in the lower weight classes with similar styles.
It is a relentless style that forces opponents out of a comfortable pace, and can cause even the best to cave in. What makes ?Pac Man? even more of a handful is his tendency to throw needle sharp combinations, from unexpected angles out of the southpaw stance. It is a difficult style to deal with, and has carried Manny to early success.
Pacquiao won the WBC flyweight belt from Chartchai Sasakul in 1998 at the age of 20 and made one successful defence. Manny then lost his belt on the scales, and was stopped in three by Medgoen Singsurat before moving up three divisions (seven pounds) to super bantamweight.
Moving up a few pounds might not seem like much, but it can be a huge factor in the lower weight classes. It is a factor that can decide the outcome of evenly matched fights, and is at least partly responsible for 118 pounder Lupe Pintor?s cave in against Wilfredo Gomez back in 1982 at super bantamweight and Gomez? thrashing at the hands of featherweight Salvador Sanchez a year earlier.
Pacquiao?s power, so crucial to his aggressive style, remarkably moved up with him. After stopping Reynante Jamili in two for the WBC International belt, he made five defences of his lightly regarded title before stopping Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in 2001 for the IBF?s more legitimate super bantamweight championship.
The Ledwaba fight was Manny?s first in the States, and he promptly hooked up with distinguished trainer Freddie Roach. Roach added several nuances to the champion?s all out aggressive style, such as lateral movement and combination punching, and prepared him for three more title defences (all by knockout) that took him into 2003 and the biggest fight of his career.
Moving up to featherweight, he was offered a shot at ?People?s Champion? Marco Antonio Barrera, a man now acknowledged as one of the all time great Mexicans. Barrera was on a roll; having beaten both Naseem Hamed and Erik Morales in recent fights, but Manny gave him no respect and drew him into a war.
Fighting the best opponent of his entire career, Manny used his superior speed and reflexes to nail his man with rapid combinations before using his quick feet to carry him out of range. It was a clever tactic – every time Pacquiao landed, a frustrated Barrera was unable to come back with counters. Pacquiao repeated the exercise – for 11 whole rounds.
In a massive surprise, Manny dominated throughout. He knocked Barrera back with head jarring combinations, hurt him several times, and knocked him over in the third and eleventh. A battered Marco appeared discouraged throughout, and was feeling very sorry for himself before his corner saved him in round 11.
It was a superlative performance that endeared Manny to the mainstream public and established him as one of the biggest stars and most dangerous fighters in the sport. The momentum of the win carried him straight into another big fight, against WBA/IBF king Juan Manuel Marquez; a friend of Barrera?s who vowed revenge.
Marquez was an excellent fighter and had been the number 1 contender for Naseem Hamed?s WBO title (before Barrera beat him) who avoided his mandatory for a couple of years. Although highly skilled, he always fought off the back foot and many felt that he?d wait too long for Manny to punch and get simply get overwhelmed.
It appeared that way in the opening round, when Pacquiao floored him three times with long left hands. After the third knockdown Marquez looked finished, but he survived the round and went on to give Manny severe problems.
Marquez, if nothing else, is a master counter puncher whose style ultimately adjusted to Manny?s aggression. By the third round he could see Pacquiao?s deadly left coming, and used deft upper body movements to slip the shot before planting hard right hooks to the body and slashing crosses to the face.
Manny?s pressure tactics were then thwarted throughout. Frustrated, he abandoned his busy style and combinations and gave Marquez too much time to think. The Mexican boxed brilliantly throughout the middle stages. A late Pacquiao rally earned the draw, but it should have been a devastating knockout win.
Every style has a weakness and ?Pac Man?s? flaws became magnified. Like many aggressive types, he is vulnerable to smart boxers. When his aggressive rhythm is messed with, he has difficulty adjusting. And when he throws single shots rather than combinations, he is vulnerable to counters.
In spite of this, Manny has claimed that certain factors prevented him from ?showing up?. In the first round he claimed to have injured his left hand, which he was unable to use effectively afterward, and suffered painful blisters in his feet that prevented him from cutting off the ring properly.
One of the key problems of that fight was Pacquiao?s decision to throw only one punch at a time – perhaps because he hurt his hand, or maybe that he had Marquez down early and often.
Despite being a puncher, he can?t just go looking for the one big shot, but needs the more reliable route of throwing combinations. This has been addressed in Manny?s preparation, which his trainer Freddie Roach has been keen to focus on.
As such, one hopes to see Manny at his devastating best against Morales, a fierce warrior who nonetheless has never been difficult to hit.
