Once every decade, a boxer gets to dominate the sport. Not only through his ring exploits but also by his drawing power at the gates before pay per view became the standard of box office success.
I was too young follow the sports in the turbulent era of the 1960s when wars of national liberation were sweeping across Asia.
But the 1970s ushered the dawning of boxing as a popular crossover sport, no longer the exclusive domain of the shady and seedy characters of underworld.
The advent of live television coverage also gave boxing a mass appeal.
The flower generation of the 70s came to see Cassius Clay rename himself Muhammad Ali and lifted the sport to unprecedented popularity so that close circuit television became the closest thing to what cable TV is right now.
Ali was not only a popular and charismatic boxer, he also carved his lofty niche in boxing by taking all comers in the heavyweight division which was loaded with perhaps the greatest array of heavyweight fighters of all times.
If there was no Ali in ’70s, the likes of Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Ron Lyle and latter George Foreman would have legitimately claimed they were the best in that era. Unfortunately, Ali was there and all of them suffered defeats against the man who proclaimed himself, and rightfully so, as ‘The Greatest.’
When Ali faded towards the end of the decade, a void was left in boxing.
Along came another sleek and sweet-punching boxer who, like Ali, was an Olympic gold medalist.
Sugar Ray Leonard’s ascent to boxing superstardom and greatness came in 1980’s, when satellite TV became a popular fashion statement and status symbol of the rich and famous, when young professionals of the ‘I’ generation became lovers of the sport.
Leonard broke through the barrier that limited rich purses to the exclusive domain of the heavyweights.
Leonard captured the imagination of American boxing fans who lamented the demise of ‘The Greatest’ and were still hurting from the numerous political and military debacles of their government throughout the world.
Leonard was also helped by the presence of three of the biggest names in the history boxing whom he each fought during his era.
Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearn.
Along with Leonard, they comprised the last of the dynamic quartet to dominate the boxing world through their ring savagery and crowd drawing power.
Leonard’s reign as boxing’s main draw and top macho, however, also ended like Ali. He stayed too long and suffered defeats that somehow spoiled his excellent boxing resume.
Just as Leonard was on the decline, skills-wise, along came dynamite and enigmatic Iron Mike Tyson.
Tyson, who packed the meanest wallop there is in the history of the heavyweight division, came bulldozing his way into superstardom.
He became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time and raked in purses unheard of and unprecedented in all of boxing. His fall from fame and fortune however was in marked contrast with Ali and Leonard.
Tyson became an embodiment of the excesses ’90s and was unable to handle his success. He ran afoul with the law and was incarcerated for raping his girlfriend.
He was given a second chance after his monumental upset by Buster Douglas in Tokyo and briefly reclaimed his prominence. But like some good things in life, they never last.
But the loss of Tyson as big draw in boxing also ushered the entry of Oscar de la Hoya who became boxing’s Golden Boy. Like Ali and Leonard, he too was an Olympic gold medalist.
De la Hoya was the quintessential American Dream poster boy image.
Born to immigrant parents from Mexico, Oscar’s good looks and Latino ancestry helped fuel interest in boxing outside of mainstream American sports fanatics.
He became boxing’s first and true crossover superstar.
While his skills may just be a notch or two above the average, Oscar nevertheless fought the best of his generation but with mixed results.
Losses notwithstanding, Oscar was able to draw boxing aficionados who were fixated with heavyweight bombers.
His pay per view buys and record purses set the bar in the lower weight divisions and today still stand as the biggest of all time outside of Tyson’s career income.
But like the men who dominated the sports before him, Oscar overstayed his welcome.
He boxed beyond his time and was clobbered into retirement by Manny Pacquiao, who himself has earned so many monikers that many sports scribes are at a loss with superlatives.
When Manny forced Oscar to quit on his stool in December last year, it symbolized the passing of the torch.
Manny inched his way into the top of boxing not with aplomb but by trading mitts with unknowns and journeymen in seedy gyms.
He burst into international scene with a spectacular conquest of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba in the undercard of Oscar’s lackluster defeat of Javier Castillejo.
Speaking of significant intertwining of paths and twists of fate, Manny Pacquiao’s rise to stardom would come two years later when he pummeled Mexican superstar Marco Antonio Barrera into submission to earn the second looks from boxing experts and aficionados.
The rest is history. Or should I say still in the making.
Without doubt, Floyd Mayweather Jr. included, this first decade of the new millennium is Manny’s turn to capture the distinction of being the best in this era.
Whatever happens to his title challenge against Miguel Angel Cotto of Puerto Rico this Saturday evening (Sunday morning in most of Asia), Manny will always be in the mix in the discussion of all time boxing greats.
We have already seen a decade of Manny. Or shall we say Manny’s decade.
