Manny Pacquiao stopped David Diaz to win the WBC lightweight title on Saturday in Las Vegas and in doing so he captured a title in his fourth weight class. With Floyd Mayweather Jr. in retirement, the talk now is that Pacquiao should also be adorned with the mythical title of best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the sport of boxing.
Maybe.
Pacquiao, a southpaw, is a fantastic action fighter. He throws punches in bunches but not of the pitty-pat variety. The man can hurt you. Like Naseem Hamed of yesteryear, he's awkward and much of his power comes from his foundation -- strong legs.
But this corner can't help but wonder if timing has played a major role in Pacquiao's ascension to the top. His biggest wins have come against Marco Antonion Barrera and Erik Morales, when both men were on the downside of their careers. His recent win over Juan Manuel Marquez came against a 34-year-old champion.
HBO will air the PPV fight on Thursday and Saturday. Interesting, Pacquiao sparred for the Diaz fight with rising Cuban prospect Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Look at photos from the Manny Pacquiao-Diaz fight.
Read the AP report of the Manny Pacquiao-Diaz fight.
-- CASSIDY
Comments (5)
Cass,
I’m gonna have to wait for Thursday night to watch this one...
What you said about Manny is spot on, he has a solid core and is a hard hitter.
Your comparison between Manny and the Prince reminds me of my brother Pete
He had Naseem penciled in as one of the greatest not only his punching power but his showmanship.
I really think now he is pound for pound the top dawg since the premature Floyd Mayweather Jr. retirement. Which is totally a ridiculous situation, and a whole other story.
Louie Vag out..
Pacquiao MADE Morales and Barrera go to a downside spin. He is, no doubt, the best fighter in the world right now. No amount of nit-picking could take away that fact.
No Andrew. Morales and Barrera took each other to the downside. They had two very tough fights against one another before Pacquiao entered the picture. I like Pacquiao very much, but both Morales and Barrera have fought a higher level of competition for a longer period of time. Thanks for reading and writing. Bobby
well just got around to write this....
that fight was a travesty at best, Diaz was out classed out fought, out punched and the crowd wasn't even with him.....
it should have been stopped 3 rounds before the knock out..
Who's next for Manny?
no one i can think of wants to lose....pound for pound best in the game today....
Louie Vag
well just got around to writing this....
that fight was a travesty at best, Diaz was out classed out fought, out punched and the crowd wasn't even with him.....
it should have been stopped 3 rounds before the knock out..
Who's next for Manny?
no one i can think of wants to lose....pound for pound best in the game today....
Louie Vag