There is no question that former world class trainer and current ESPN Friday Night Fights commentator, Teddy Atlas has a working knowledge of the sport beyond the grasp of most. There is also little question of the fact that Atlas is regarded by most as a rare, trustworthy figure in a sport full of shady individuals and questionable dealings.
So, when Atlas speaks, it makes sense to listen to what he says and, at the very least, take it into serious consideration.
Labeled as a “Pacquiao Hater” by Manny Pacquiao’s legion of fans who often choose to only surround themselves with glowing accounts of their hero’s exploits, Atlas has been the target of several campaigns to have him fired and/or discredited for his honest analysis of the Filipino sensation.
Most recently, Atlas has received criticism for his post-Mosley fight comments made on ESPN’s weekly boxing telecast.
“Has he been built up with guys who have been perfectly picked, perfectly matched where they had problems?and that’s why he was able to win so convincingly? That’s why he’s become such a star?” Atlas said during a live segment on Friday Night Fights last Friday, May 13. “I know that he’s a terrific fighter and a terrific talent, but it kinda asks that question? Has he been in there with a bunch of set-ups?”
In boxing, the match-up means everything. Forget the names on a resume. If fans really want to see the value of a career, they need to see how many prime, fresh fighters with varied styles are on the fighter’s career list.
Manny Pacquiao’s last six opponents had suffered recent career-defining or career-threatening losses before stepping into the ring with the fighting Congressman from General Santos City. As a matter of fact, eleven of Manny’s last sixteen opponents entered their fights under similar circumstances.
As Atlas would mention in his segment, Pacquiao’s last several opponents have limped into the ring as damaged goods. Limited by fatal technical flaws, emasculated by crushing, brutal losses, and worn down, either by Pacquiao weight demands or just the natural drain of an aged fighter’s debt to mother nature, the Pacquiaio “hit list” reads like a who’s who of fighters looking for just one more pay check.
Names on a ring record are simply not enough. Boxing’s pound-for-pound best needs to fight these names when it actually makes sense to do so.
Instead of fighting Mosley when Mosley was riding high off his upset TKO over Antonio Margarito, Pacquiao gave Margarito the shot and only went back to Mosley after Shane looked horrible in a one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather and a draw with Sergio Mora. This kind of shady matchmaking has been the norm for the over-130 lb. version of Manny.
This is not to say, of course, that just any fighter could do what Manny has done. Even greatly diminished versions of Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley belong in the top 10-15% of the sport. But it’s not enough for a fighter, being mentioned in the same breath as all-time legends like Henry Armstrong and Sugar Ray Robinson, to merely dedicate himself to pushing fighters off the proverbial cliff.
All of the greats have had their greatness affirmed by facing prime, fresh talent. Pacquiao is good enough to have taken those risks against the big names when it made sense to fight them. He just never pushed for that path, opting, instead, to earn his name as a quaint special interest story while riding the wave of glowing media coverage from a sport so, so desperate to have a mainstream star.
