Manny Pacquiao defeated Antonio Margarito by unanimous decision during Saturday night’s bout in Arlington, Texas, pushing him to the forefront as the number one boxer in the world, according to HBO Boxing.
Pacquiao, who has now won eight divisional world titles (Oscar De La Hoya is trailing the Filipino with six divisional titles), can now make his claim to be the best in the world.
Even though Pacquiao made the fight look simple, he said that the fight was one of his toughest in memory.
"Margarito was my toughest fight,” he said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “He hurt me badly to the body and head in the sixth round. He is very strong and has a great heart.”
Despite that, the way Manny Pacquiao dominated over Antonio Margarito on Saturday night teaches upcoming boxers across the world a lot of lessons. The Filipino fighter attacked Margarito with unparallel determination and will-power, knowing absolutely and also sincerely admitting the inherent fighting talents of his opponent, Pacquiao dominated Margarito.
Pacquiao's dominance against a taller, heavier opponent also prompted some boxing observers to go a step farther, and ask: Is Pacquiao the best boxer of all time?
"Manny Pacquiao should be declared the greatest fighter of all time, even greater than Muhammad Ali," says boxing analyst Dennis Principe, as quoted in ABS CBN News.
What sets him apart is his versatility. While other boxing legends established their greatness by "beating fighters in the same division, in the same weight level," Pacquiao demolishes "great champions who are heavier and supposedly better than him," and he does it over and over again.
But it is not just one’s skill in the ring that determines his place in history.
Pacquiao's attitude showed he is a cut above every other boxing champ that has entered the ring but cutting the trash talk and displaying true sportsmanship by placing the well-being of his opponent ahead
Several times in the 11th round, Pacquiao looked at Cole as if to ask that the fight be stopped. He later told broadcaster Mario Lopez that he took compassion on Margarito after the Mexican was allowed to continue the fight.
“I didn’t want to hurt him because boxing is not all about killing each other,” Pacquiao said.
By saying that he did not want to hurt Margarito, some would it proves that he is the greatest fighter ever. He has done the sport a great favour by showing us that it can be a gentleman’s sport and technique and attitude is more important than the amount of blood shed in the ring. He could be the greatest fighter of all time but he is without a doubt, the classiest fighter the world of boxing has ever seen.
“No. But he is one of a select few.”
Who was better? Sugar Ray Robinson, probably. Sugar Ray Leonard, possibly. Muhammad Ali, perhaps. Joe Louis? Little Jimmy Wilde? Henry Armstrong? The debate just got more heated.
"Manny Pacquiao, surely, has every right now to be considered among the top two or three greatest fighters of all time," says Kevin Mitchell at The Guardian. What the "little man" did on Saturday night to a much bigger opponent was "extraordinary in many ways" — his commitment to his craft went "beyond mere boxing." Sugar Ray Robinson was "probably" a better figher, but Pacquiao is "already worth his place among boxing's all-time elite."
But is it fair to compare boxers from different eras?
Ideally, all-time lists in any sport should be era independent. But that is not possible in most cases. Athletes are reviewed even though they fought or played in different eras, with different game rules.
Boxing has not always been the same. In the earlier days, boxers endured throughout 15 rounds, if the fight lasted that long. Gloves have evolved. So have mouthpieces.
Fighters did not always inject their hands with Xylocaine, or have effectively engineered mouth guards or hand wraps to help them cope with the brutality inside the squared circle.
Different eras are just that: different. Other variables can distort the comparison. Athletes that played before the 1960s often enjoyed less media coverage. Thus, there tends to be less video footage of their feats. That makes it harder for fans and critics to conduct a true comparable analysis across eras, from "prehistoric" to modern.
Top athletes today have much more media coverage. Their athletic performances on the field are well documented, and videos of their accomplishments proliferate on sites such as YouTube.
Finally, there is an imperfection caused by lack of records. Boxing has existed for centuries. Records have not always been preserved. Is it possible that fights took place in which no one recorded the event.
“There is still one man he has to face.”
"It's hard to argue" against Pacquiao's sparkling record, says Andreas Hale at DrJays.com. But among current boxers, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is still "the man to beat."
And while many say Pacquiao doesn’t need Mayweather, the truth of the matter is, boxing needs this fight to know who is the better of the two fighters, and the best of this era. Mayweather has every right to claim he is one of the best ever. How can he not when he’s still undefeated? But if he dodges Pacquiao, his entire career will be in question.
In Pacquiao’s case, he has to beat the one man everyone knows is the “other” best fighter in the world. It would be tough to go to sleep at night wondering “what if.”
This fight needs to happen before either one of these fighters can be considered the greatest of all time.
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