Hyperopia

We said that Manny Pacquiao could not do it. We said that he could not move up in weight and still expect to compete- not when he started his professional career at 106 pounds. We said that Oscar De La Hoya was a washed-up old man, and that beating him didn't prove anything. We said that Ricky Hatton would beat him up, Ricky, who was bigger and stronger and heavier, whose chin was iron. Pacquiao would be unable to hurt him.

Well, no- he hurt Ricky worse than anyone ever had. But "Fatton" was a perfect match for Pacquiao's aggressive, slashing style. Pacquiao wouldn't have a chance against a more technical opponent, especially one who was even heavier. Cotto would beat him. Cotto would reassert the normal workings of the boxing ladder. Cotto would prove that the big man still has the advantage. Well, no- Pacquiao was simply too fast and too explosive for Cotto.

And, I suppose, a few of us might be saying that Floyd Mayweather is too smart, too technically perfect, and athletic enough to pick away at Pacquiao until the end. He won't be a rough, unpolished brawler like Hatton, and he won't be stupid enough to trade with Pacquiao like Cotto. He'll poke and peck, and Manny will be forced into inefficacy.

But I think this is symptomatic of two things: first, that Pacquiao amazingly, improbably remains underrated, and second, that we have a tendency to assume that no current fighters are as talented as the boxers of the semi-legendary past. We never expect to see another Muhammad Ali, and that might be true. But, if it is true, it is more a truth about the heavyweight division than about boxing in general. And if we assume that boxing is dying out, that only proves our ethnocentrism: boxing is dying in America, driven out by the ascendancy of football, basketball, and (increasingly) mixed martial arts. But boxing is growing in eastern Europe and remains popular in Latin America and other locations often overlooked by the American crowd.

There is, I think, a similar tendency in almost all fields that acquire a devoted fan base, in sports, film, literature, and music. Few people, if any, would say that Michael Jordan is likely to come again, or Jim Brown, or William Shakespeare, or Elvis Presley. There is something inherent in the human psyche that makes the past seem brighter than the future. But sometimes, every so often, a piece of that legend will resurface and make itself known. I believe that Manny Pacquiao is like that. The most obvious comparison is probably Roberto Duran, a lightweight with a deserved reputation for punching power but an overlooked set of technical skills. But I'm not even sure that such lofty praise is an exact fit for Pacquiao- in terms of his fighting style, he is very much like Duran, but his career arc is probably unique in boxing history. The only close analogue I can think of is Roy Jones, Jr., who rose from middleweight to heavyweight and won a title. Even this, though, falls so far short of the reality of Pacquiao- the fight with Cotto occurred at almost half again his original fighting weight, nearly 150 pounds against just over 100 in his debut, and he has won a title in just about every division between flyweight and welterweight, and he has done so in dominating fashion, forcing De La Hoya to throw in the towel, scoring one of the most brutal knockouts imaginable over Hatton, and forcing the referee to step in against Cotto in the twelfth, though, really, it could have been stopped in any of the last three or four rounds. Pacquiao is a genuine, living, breathing piece of history, whether he beats Mayweather or not. He has just put together one of the most incredible strings of victories in the history of the sport, and that ought to be recognized, because it will certainly be remembered.