Manny Pacquiao is boxing's pound-for-pound king; will Floyd Mayweather answer the call?
By David Mayo | The Grand Rapids Press
November 15, 2009, 12:50AM

LAS VEGAS -- This wasn’t only the fight of the year. It was the fight of just about any year, the fight of a lifetime. It hearkened memories of Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo earlier this decade, or Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns two decades ago, for its beautiful viciousness. And it sent a message to Floyd Mayweather that can not, better not, be ignored.

Manny Pacquiao is the pound-for-pound king of boxing, at least until Grand Rapids native Mayweather answers the call and proves otherwise. He boxes. He fights. He is the complete ring machine.

And when he disintegrated Miguel Cotto with a 12th-round technical knockout Saturday night at MGM Grand, this was not a dehydrated Oscar De La Hoya, or a blown-up and tenderized-by-Mayweather Ricky Hatton. This was a full-fledged middleweight, fighting at the welterweight limit, who was prepared and willing to match punch for punch, until he found out that he wasn’t fast or powerful enough.

Referee Kenny Bayless finally used his discretion to do what Cotto’s corner could have much earlier, stopping the fight at 55 seconds of the final round -- 125 seconds before it would have reached a distance conclusion -- with Cotto’s back on the ropes under a Pacquiao assault.

But the foundation for victory was laid much earlier.

In the third round, Pacquiao knocked down Cotto, who recovered and dominated the rest of that round.

In the fourth round, Pacquiao did it again, except this time it was late in the round, and Cotto really was hurt, and never really recovered at all.

And in every round, Pacquiao’s speed, and cunning, and guile, and courage -- some attributes which Mayweather possesses, and at least one, the latter, in which he never has been remotely tested in the way Pacquiao has -- carried the fight against an outstanding and willing man.

Cotto’s ability can not be questioned, nor his heart, nor his preparation, nor his belief that he could win.

Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KOs) simply was able to take away the most important of those attributes -- self-belief -- with a series of well-placed shots and a well-thought strategy, fighting when Cotto wanted to box, boxing when Cotto (34-2) wanted to fight, slugging and scoring knockdowns when Cotto never saw them coming.

The turning point came late in a fourth round which began with Pacquiao landing a series of combinations before a sizzling left hook by Cotto forced the Filipino back to the ropes, hands up, taking shots upstairs and downstairs. But with 20 seconds left, Pacquiao’s speed and precision caught Cotto with a left hook to the chin and sent the Puerto Rican down, badly hurt, but with enough time to survive the round.

Cotto, 28, almost finished the fight because he is gladiatorial, despite ample opportunity to save him from himself. His face looked like he spent the afternoon with his head in a beehive.

He streamed blood from his left eye, his nose, his mouth. Bayless deprived Cotto the opportunity to avoid the technical knockout, but the legend of this fight long since had been cemented.

There is only one fight in boxing that matters now, Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather. There are no more delays, no more claims by Mayweather that he ducks and dodges no one which will satisfy anyone on the planet. If that’s your stance, then prove it. Make the deal, 50-50, not a haggling mess.

Fighters have turned down fights with Mayweather with unreasonable salary demands before. If Mayweather refuses Pacquiao because he doesn’t get a 60-40 split, he’s doing the same.

That goes for Pacquiao and his promoter, Top Rank, too. No one wants to see a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in March, not after Mayweather devalued Marquez with a one-sided beating two months ago, any more than we want to see Mayweather against some tune-up foe, possibly in January, possibly in England.

Nor does Pacquiao deserve more than half the purse split against Mayweather. Nor should personalities prohibit the fight, regardless Pacquiao’s political aspirations.

It’s time to do what’s right.

nope

Its a done deal now. PBF has no other fight out there. He would have to leave the country if he didnt take the fight. And trust me this is the fight that he wanted. I am one of Pac's biggest fans but no way he beats Floyd. Floyd will do him like he did Judah when Judahs speed bothered him. He's gonna walk Pac down. The size and the toolchest of skills. Will be a step too much.

Ask Oscar ,Hatton and Cotto what happens when you try to do that

No Flyod will not anwser the call.

WTF ??????????????

Yeah Floyds gonna walk away from a minimum 15mil ha ha ha. I love Pac but I know when there is a bridge to far to be crossed. I actually picked Pac over everyone he has moved up and fought....... And yes I am gonna go there with out naming it------There is a certain type of fighter that his camp has kept him away from (play dumb if you want to) everyone knows it, Floyd is gonna make an easy payday folks will be pissed and say he needs to fight freaks of nature like PW in order to have a legacy.

You Floyd fans might say Floyd will beat Pacman, But deep down you guys are scared because you know Pacman could shut little Floyd up for good. By KNOCKOUT!

This makes perfect sense, becus hoping and praying this fight happens is that of a scared person. Why should anyone be scared? Its not like anyone on here will be taking the asswhupping.

Well knowledgeable boxing fans know Floyd has been ducking fighters for years. Now he has no choice - casual fans will know the truth as he will not face Manny, not after what happened tonight, not after knowing that he cannot hurt Manny.

Floyd will demand 60-40 as an excuse for ducking him, but we all know the truth. Heck Floyd does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with Manny until proven otherwise.

Who cares anyway? We should all be thankful for we have in our midst one of the top 5 greatest boxers of all time.

"Hail the king, long live the king"

Does anyone knowhow to search my old messages, in particular my response to the fight announcement of MANNY v MIGUEL.

Other than that, I feel bad for MIGUEL that no one in his corner stopped the fight much earlier, and in fact, stopped his dad from stopping the fight in the 10th.

My prediction now is that it is MANNY* & his trainer who will avoid FLOYD in deceptive, and under-handed ways to make it appear FLOYD is the one avoiding them, as they have already begun to do months ago.

My actual fight prediction if they meet, is FLOYD wins easily. The more courageous MANNY gets, the greater the possibility FLOYD wins by KO. I picked up some handsome cash betting on MANNY tonight, and am prepared to win betting on FLOYD when and if they meet in the mis-match.

* Did you not notice how during the post fight interview, MANNY's speech, which had been calm and confident, suddenly becomes hurried, nervous, and quickens when asked about a fight with FLOYD?

No!! because too much Bob Arum not enough Pacman

duh?!?!?!?

i think you're crazy,don't compare him to the braggart,boastful floyd jr.(like father,like son)...pacquiao just let his fist and actions do the talking,your prediction sucks.......GO PACQUIAO!!!

So him just getting out a a big fight, adrenaline, and it being the biggest fight of his career AND WIN, and actually winning it, doesn't have anything to do with it

I didn't see nervous or hurried he sounded like all his other interviews, and he doesn't call out fighters, much less disrespect them.

I've said a long time ago I didn't think Pac belonged at 147, and that FLOYD would be to big for him, but after what PAC did to Cotto, I'm just going to shut up. If PAC/FLOYD is made, I think FLOYD wins, but after this fight I think PAC actually has a chance now of beating FLOYD.

If Judah/Hatton/DLH (and even Marquez landed at least 2-5 good shots) had their moments against FLOYD, MANNY will have his and MANNY to date is showing when he lands he hurts you. I give Manny a really good shot of beating FLOYD if he has his moments in the first 1-3 rounds, before FLOYD figures him out. But if he doesn't get FLOYD in trouble and allows him to just sit back and wait, FLOYD gonna pick him apart.

sorry k_matias,i was talking to antking...you're actually correct,so true...

not going to happen 2 reasons..

1st 60-40 at best split for PBF

2nd must happen at the max WW limit 147

Dude why don't you come up for air when your zits have melted a bit.........your teenage trash-talking reminds me of Happy Days. Floyd is going to fight Pac - so WTF is your problem. What are you going to say when he beats Pac ? .......that's what's going to happen - then what are you going to do with your sorry asss then? Prolly scurry under the baseboards of your under-equipped mind like a disease infested cockroach.

Has Floyd ever faced anyone the likes of Manny? NO. Does Floyd have trouble with south paws? YES. Will Floyd demand more money like, 60-40 even though Manny is the True P4P King. Yes. Will Floyd go any Lower than 147? NO. That we all know. We also know that Manny faces anyone, anywhere, because he is a true champ. In this ERA of Floyd and Manny. Manny has outshined Floyd. The Cherry on top will be a MEGA fight between those two and by the results in their fights the Floyd fans might sound sure of themselves, but we all know what could happen. Pacman by KO in the 9th or 10th.

Before this fight, I would've not picked PBF hands down, but I would've said that there was no legit proof that Pac could hang with PBF. After this I'm wondering how Dela Hoya lasted as long as he did! I am without question a Pacman believer now! Pac is like a faster, more accurate version of the man PBF always mention when he talks about his P4P favorite... Arron Pryor! Not to mention he's a southpaw! I'm a PBF fan, but but every time I watch him and Judah w/o the sound I see a draw(taking away rnd 10), Pacman is Judah on steroids wearing a football helmet! I"m not counting PBF out, but Pacman is a machine!

P.S. If Mosley dominates Berto, I'd take Sugar over either one of them

another emotional response from a floyd groupie...

Ever heard of a guy named Shane Mosley? Andre Berto? Hell.....if Floyd unexpectedly developed a sack, he could move up to 154 and fight PW.

what's with all this floyd fan pac fan, shit in here all the time? s no one given the benefit of the doubt of actually picking a fight impartially? I am not a floyd fan but i think floyd wins easily, not everything in here should be based on who a poster is a fan of, or at least it shouldn't be.

It happens all the time. I think I'm rated #2 on the Floyd hater list behind Duran Legend, yet I favor Floyd to beat everyone from 154 and below except for PW.

What's the chances you think we see Williams at 147 again? I think it's pretty much 0.

Dave, STOP IT !

Being that I said 154, I think that should give a clue about what I was referring to.

Oh I know I was just thinking there's no way Mayweather would move up to 154 to fight him he's knows just like you and I know thats a fight Floyd would have an extremely hard time winning.

How could you say He wins easily? Did you watch that 4th round? Do realize the was Cotto at his best or maybe 2nd best? Floyd has Never faced an opponent as balanced as Pacman ever and Always has issue w/ southpaws. I'm a Floyd fan who'll admit that this is a coin toss fight leaning toward Pacman. I almost don't believe I just said that!

i dont care what anyone thinks about floyd or pac, this fight will happen, there is too much money to be made for it not to.

3 years ago Fraud fans were making these exact same posts.3 years laters and he's fighting lightweights

Respectfully disagree brother.This fight wont happen anytime soon,maybe when they are both shot and past thier primes looking for a pay day but not anytime soon imo

The sad thing is he'll probably fight Cotto next.I pray he doesn't duck Pacman

He would be willing to fight Cotto now I agree with that

I totally agree with the writer of that article.

Floyd if you are ever reading DHB or any publication with an article similar to this then you have NO excuses and you must fight Pac or the winner of Berto vs SSM.

No more passes for Floyd and no bicering about purses or splits of such.

Real question for you Duran is if Floyd taxes Pac's azz and Pac is claimed to be an ATG, where does that put Floyd on the ATG list?! You always argue that ATG's have to have a victory over other ATG's. Pac is no shrimp like I have been telling you for years now, so spit it out, lets see what the hater has to say

Nowhere near pac on that list.

and another empty reply from a Floyd hater....

keep crying bitch. you haven't made a bit of sense on here in years.

If mayweather beats pacquiao, he's higher on whatever list you could come up with.

Maybe on yours. Not on mine and most other sane peoples' lists.

This is how legends are made.

Other then one thread on Joe Louis he has never made sense

then boxing has a problem.

Still IMO and the opinion of most others PBF will have to at least knock off the winner of SSM vs Berto to get neck and neck with Pac on the ATG list and to pass him then he'd probably have to knock off PW at WW or JR MW.

Yup. ATG lists are not about perceived talent. Its about accomplishments. A similar scenario would be rating Roy Jones above SRR. Would Roy beat SRR? Absolutely. Doesn't mean Roy's top 2 or 3 ATG.

there will be a pac vs. pbf as soon as one promoter can get both guys a guaranteed 25 million.

Floyd would rather fight 2-3 no hopers for 10-12 million to make that 25 million.Hes done it many times before

You should talk Homer....you've never made any sense in here... ever.

Why don't you stop the juvenile name calling and stick to boxing rather then being your usual shitt-disturbing self.