The way Manny Pacquiao has morphed into a full welterweight evokes memories of Roberto Duran, the Panamanian great who once lorded it over in boxing with the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler.
Duran was a lightweight who moved up in weight, terrifying and subduing opponents with his manos de piedra ? hands of stone ? en route to winning titles in four different weight categories. In his prime, Duran was a beast inside the ring.
Marvin Hagler on the other hand is another slugger whose relentless pressure and powerful punches sent 52 of his 67 opponents to dreamland. Hagler, a southpaw like Pacquiao, took everyone brought into the table, retiring only after he lost to a controversial decision to Sugar Ray Leonard.
Leonard however tops the four of them having owned wins over the three which the others were not able to record.
They fought a common opponent in Thomas Hearn, feared not only for his ?The Hitman? moniker but because of his awesome and unforgiving power.
Pacquiao?s rise to stardom has parallels in Duran and Hagler. Duran for trailblazing the modern day era of boxers fighting in different weight divisions and evoking fears in their opponents. Hagler for similarly demolishing all comers with his crowd-pleasing style.
The two are products of what boxing as a sport is all about ? fighting the best competition available.
On Sunday (Philippine time), Manny Pacquiao will go up against Antonio Margarito, a big welterweight who already has fought as a middleweight.
Manny, on the other hand, will be fighting at a weight nobody thought he would be able to fight at competitively. And for the first time, at that.
While Margarito isn?t in the class of Hearns, people are wondering if the freight train that is Manny may have finally found his immovable wall in the Mexican.
Margarito is as dangerous and vulnerable as Hearns. Against smaller opponents, Hearns has the uncanny ability to bully every one of them.
He did it to Leonard over thirteen rounds only to be knocked out in the 14th round. He smashed Duran into the canvass for good in just two rounds.
But Hearns ran into Hagler whom he thought he could match power for power. The two fought what is now considered the greatest three rounds of boxing ever. The two inflicted damage against each other. They were like sworn enemies who did not want to take prisoners alive. In the end, it was the strength and the power of Hagler that prevailed. Hearns was knocked out cold before he could hit the canvass in the closing seconds of the fateful third round.
The Pacquiao-Margarito has the making of another classic if both hold on to their fighting styles on fight night.
This will be hell and the end could come quickly.
But I would rather see Margarito falling in the later rounds, probably in the 10th round if he cannot stop Manny inside the first four rounds.
Manny will have to be both Hagler and Duran, a hungry little man who fears no one and who believes in his own ability to knock out any opponent to see him self triumphing over the Mexican.
