Is Manny a Superman

May 3rd, 2009

The announcing crew at HBO had only just got done making the point that WBC super featherweight champ Humberto Soto had not exactly done a bang-up job of making an argument for bigger and better fights as he labored to a 9th-round stoppage victory over Benoit Gaudet.

Then Manny Pacquiao showed them how it’s done.

Pacquiao is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world in the minds of many, and had been designated as such by some, even before the retirement of Floyd Mayweather. Such things are entirely subjective, and impossible to substantiate, but it can be said that few fighters who were in a position to make a case did so with such brio as the Filipino idol did in dismantling Ricky Hatton on Saturday night.

Not that it was any kind of a breakout upset. Yes, I felt Pacquiao represented a bargain in the odds, but he was indeed the -275 favorite at BetUS.com, for example, and was the overwhelming choice of most of the Boxing Insiders (see how we get the branding in?) that I talked to. I can’t speak for most of those people, but unlike a lot of these big fights, this wasn’t an opinion that was difficult for me to come by. I just didn’t see Hatton as being a fighter who belonged in the same class as Pacquiao, not that he wasn’t world-class. It’s just that Pacquiao had demonstrated with clarity that he is a cut above. The quality of his opposition was simply superior, And there was no question in my mind that Hatton was the right kind of style for him. Are you kidding? A guy who only really only knows to come forward AND is at a speed disadvantage isn’t going to catch shot after shot walking in? I expected Hatton to eat a lot of leather, but I did not anticipate that onslaught he sustained on Saturday night.

When I walked into the Wild Card Gym in L.A. one day back in 2005 and saw some kid with head gear jumping around the ring, throwing odd punches and generally getting the worst of it, I thought I was looking at a rank amateur. I was shocked to find out that it was Pacquiao (That goes to show you that appearances can be deceiving when it comes to sparring sessions, and ought to say a lot about the validity of “gym stories” you hear from beaming trainers about their respective charges). And you know, I don’t think it’s an optical illusion that this guy seems to be getting better, more comfortable and on an overall basis, more formidable with each passing fight. That would be impressive enough for anyone who has had a dozen championship fights (not to mention a slew of “non-title” fights that were actually of championship-level significance).

Those of you who know me are well aware that I am not given to hyperbole. But for a guy to be doing this while moving up in weight, and not so gradually either, to face world-class opposition, I truly think it borders on superhuman. Manny Pacquiao started his career at 106 pounds, which is where a non-title fight in the strawweight division would probably land today. he was a main event fighter in the flyweight class. In other words, he wasn’t just growing into where he would eventually be; he was. for all intents and purposes, there already, as far as anyone knew. One could understand a move to the bantamweights, maybe even the super bantams. Pacquiao has gone past that, to featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight, even to welterweight (for the fight against Oscar De La Hoya) with warp speed. You usually only see that from old, over-the-hill guys who can’t keep weight off or are too lazy to train.

Well, forget about the word “train,” this guy has come on like a locomotive as he’s moving up in weight class AND quality of opposition. Look – here is someone who was fighting as a featherweight only four and a half years ago. From the time he turned pro, leading to the fight with De La Hoya, he gained 36 pounds, which is 34% of his original body weight. That’s about the same percentage Roberto Duran increased from the 119 pounds he started at to the last weight at which he fought a legitimate title fight (unless you want to count the fights with Pazienza, which gets him to about 40%), but he is, of course, another remarkable case. James Toney started his professional life as a 160-pounder, and got a draw with Hasim Rahman in a heavyweight title fight 77 pounds (and 48% later), which was kind of amazing in its own pudgy way.

What you can’t say about either Duran or Toney, however, is that they were exhibiting peak form when they were at the height of that poundage arc. I don’t think anyone who saw Pacquiao’s fight with Hatton can say that he is not in great form, or that his skills have declined in any way. To the contrary – at age 30, he looks about as dull as a chainsaw, and ready for any Goliath who walks through the door..

Pacquiao is, depending on the way you interpret the term, the very epitome of what the “pound-for-pound” designation is all about.

And now that Floyd Mayweather is set to get back in action, that title is disputed once more.

Potentially speaking, it can’t be anything but a good thing for boxing.

(Charles Jay, author of the critically-acclaimed “Operation Cleanup” series, is an occasional special contributor to Boxing Insider, and proudly NOT a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America)