Pacquiao is the greatest boxer and I have seen them all, says Bob Arum
The scalp of Floyd Mayweather Jr is the final evidence Pacquiao needs to take the title of the world's best pound-for-pound fighter
Manny Pacquiao celebrates after defeating Miguel Cotto in their WBO welterweight fight at the MGM Grand. Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
Manny Pacquiao was in extraordinary form last night, both inside the ring, where he dismantled Miguel Cotto to win a world title in a seventh different weight division (a record), and outside the ring, where he interrupted his jovial post-fight press conference to sing a love song. "I'm just ordinary," the always humble Manny had said earlier in the proceedings. As a singer, perhaps. As a boxer, not a chance.
It is always hard to separate the reality from the fantasy in the world of professional boxing, especially when ageless circus barkers like Bob Arum are involved, but one of the many beauties about having Pacquiao around is that he makes everyone's life easier.
He is hyperbole made flesh, the man for whom no claim is too outlandish. So it is that when Arum, who promotes the Filipino's fights, steps up the microphone and says Pacquiao is the "Tiger Woods of boxing" those who are listening are inclined to give the suggestion a fair hearing. Likewise when Arum stood up and said, as he did in the aftermath of last night's display, that Pacquiao is the greatest boxer he had ever seen "and I've seen them all, including Ali, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard", no one laughed, they simply started debating.
Is the Filipino that good? Well, the truth of it is we will never know. Cross-generational comparisons in sport are the every definition of futility– like trying to catch a deluge in a paper cup, as a wise songwriter once decreed.
Is he better than Ali? You might as well ask if Arkle was better than Sea The Stars. Same animal, different sport altogether.
Still, there are some things we can say about Pacquiao that are surely beyond debate, the first being that as a boxer he has exceeded all expectations, perhaps even his own. He certainly made fools of those, like Ricky Hatton, who suggested prior to last night's contest at the GM Grand in Las Vegas that he would have neither the stamina to go the distance with Cotto, far less beat him.
Not only did he beat the Puerto Rican, he humbled him, just as he had humbled the aforementioned Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya in his two previous appearances in the same arena. Those victories illustrated Pacquiao's ring mobility and hand-speed, securing his reputation as the most naturally gifted boxer of his generation. Last night's fight proved he is also one of the toughest and strongest. As for the unofficial title best pound-for-pound fighter in the world? Well, the jury has all but made its decision, although wise counsel suggests that one more piece of evidence in required.
The mercurial Floyd Mayweather Jr was nowhere to be seen around the MGM Grand last night, but his presence was felt everywhere and it will be demanded when the world of boxing gathers assembles once again for one of these occasions. Pending the usual behind-the-scenes horse-trading and front-of-house finger-pointing, it is unimaginable that the American and the Filipino will not meet in the ring sometime within the next year. The appetite is too great for it not to happen, and so are the financial rewards for the two protagonists.
Who would win? Both will have their supporters, but if Pacquiao emerges victorious yet again Arum could step up to the microphone and describe his man as the Second Coming and no one will argue.
Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao is new dream fight on the cards
• Pacquiao wins world title at seventh different weight
• Mayweather's money problems make welter bout possible
- guardian.co.uk, Sunday 15 November 2009 22.27 GMT
- Article history
Manny Pacquiao lands a right hand in his 12-round stoppage win over Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas. Photograph: KPA/Zuma / Rex Features
Manny Pacquiao had barely won his latest world title, at a seventh different weight, in Las Vegas in the early hours of this morning when the boxing world turned its attention to the next challenge facing the Filipino many were prepared to call the "greatest ever" after his stunning victory over a brave but outclassed welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto.
"We want Floyd,'' chanted the crowd in the 16,000-seater arena at the MGM Grand casino. "I want Mayweather," said Freddie Roach, the trainer credited with transforming Pacquiao from a good boxer into a great one. "Mayweather's people know who to call. They've got my number," said Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, who has been around the boxing business since the halcyon days of the 1980s but was still prepared to make a bold claim on behalf of his client: "I would go on record as saying that Manny is the greatest ever, better than Ali, Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard."
The only voice missing from the choir was that of Floyd Mayweather himself. Bedevilled by financial problems, the unbeaten American welterweight recently returned to the ring and, despite his reputation for having an over-cautious approach to choosing his opponents, it is hard to see how he could sidestep a contest that could conceivably surpass the hype.
As always the money men will have the final say. "Benjamin Franklin [the former US president whose face adorns the $100 bill] is the most important personality," said Ross Greenberg, the head of sport for the US television network HBO, which broadcast Saturday's contest into American homes. "Franklin's face brings people to the table. Each guy needs to look at the big picture and the big picture is a boatload of cash and a fight too important for the sport."
Negotiations for a fight between the Filipino and the undefeated American will begin tomorrow. They will be hard-nosed and probably acrimonious but Greenberg is right; the appetite for a meeting between the two best boxers in the world is too great and so are the rewards. It will happen in Vegas, sometime in the new year.
The only remaining uncertainty is the identity of the eventual winner. Despite Pacquiao's two previous victories, over Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, there were some who doubted his talents, or at least his chances of defeating Mayweather, who is the naturally bigger man.
However, the Filipino's performance yesterday in stopping Cotto in the 12th round erased all such doubts. Many prominent figures, including the likes of Hatton, had picked the Puerto Rican as the potential winner, believing he was too big and strong for Pacquiao, who fought his first fight in the 106lb weight division – over three stone below the limit – for yesterday's contest.
Yet within four rounds Cotto had been on the floor twice. His face was bloodied and his repertoire of moves exhausted by efforts to avoid his opponent's punches. By the time the referee, Kenny Bayless, halted the fight midway through the final round Pacquiao was so far ahead he was almost in the next state. The only blemish on a well-nigh perfect performance was the first round, which all three judges awarded to Cotto.
"Manny fought Cotto's fight too much in the beginning. He stayed on the ropes too long. But as the fight went on, Manny's speed was too much for him," Roach said.
Cotto was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons while the champion headed off to a casino where he was to perform a set of eight songs with the house band. "I'm just ordinary," Pacquiao said when asked to assess his talents. As a singer he may be. As a fighter – on the evidence of this performance – he could not be more wrong.
Fans across he globe ask for a Maywaether - Pacquiao fight
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Pacquiao has sent fight fans into a frenzy (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)
When The Boxing Truth opened up its phone lines to fans from across the world Sunday night, one thought reigned supreme, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather must fight each other.
From hip-hop recording artist and Mayweather antagonist R.A. The Rugged Man to a Pacquiao fan by the name of GlenSEO chiming in via SKYPE from the Philippines, the fight on every one's mind is a showdown between Pacquiao and Mayweather.
Listen in as dozens of fans give us their thoughts of Pacquiao's destruction of Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, and his next move inside the ring.
Some fans think Pacquiao is unstoppable, while other argue Mayweather will have a walk in the park - but all want to see the showdown, with no excuses due to difficult negotiations.
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