Retired Associated Press boxing writer Ed Schuyler Jr. likes to tell the story of the first time he saw Roberto Duran, who was virtually unknown in the United States until the Panamanian fought in Madison Square Garden in 1971 and destroyed rawhide-tough Benny Huerta inside of one round.
“I remember thinking, ‘Damn, who is this guy?'” Schuyler said. “He can really fight.”
I had much the same reaction in Las Vegas the night of June 23, 2001, my first exposure to Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino southpaw, filling in on short notice for the injured Enrique Sanchez, stole the show from headliner Oscar De La Hoya by capturing the vacant IBF junior-featherweight championship on a savage, sixth-round knockout of heavily favored South African Lehlo Ledwaba.
