Not a retarded p4p fight, but greatness for greatness. Who deserves to rank higher all-time, and why?
It depends on which you value more: Pac's success across 8 divisions along with his longevity, or the fact that Spinks ruled over a VERY deep light heavyweight division, and was more dominant at 175 than Pac was at any single weight. For me, a compelling case can be made for Pac being greater. But if you ask me who was the better fighter? I'd say Spinks without hesitation.
I'm not sure Spinks was all clean either, tbh. 1980s was the decade of steroids in all sports, and in boxing there was huge money involved without any testing
Really hard to tell. The tyson fight is a huge minus for spinks, but the rest of his career is simply magnificent. I think pac slightly edge him, but its debatable
And let's not pretend that pac team has discovered the jouvence fountain. Bar bhop, nobody else had succes at this age during this era. Pinning is longevity simply on ped is misguided
Yeah wasn't just any old man though was it. And this is coming from somebody who thought that fight was a joke.
I looked into 'is eyes and I could tell 'e was sewious... little wondah they never accepted 'is challenge
I don't think any case for Pacquiao being greater needs to be even presented or argued in order for it to be considered "compelling". I think it's pretty clear. The Tyson debacle isn't the main issue, but it's a pretty large one that can't be simply brushed aside. No, Spinks wasn't a true heavyweight, but he did move up and beat the lineal champ twice along with a faded galoot who had at a minimum dangerous power. It went beyond an experiment. Spinks was the champion. If he went up and challenged Tyson and the same outcome occurred history would see it more kindly.
Spinks beat better fighters than Pac, in their actual primes. That has to count for a lot. Taking Holmes' 0 also means a lot... eveb though Holmes was considerably past it. It still means more than wins over a shot Oscar, and wins over Hatton and Cotto, neither of whom were ever great fighters.
Aren't Pac's best victories over Barrera, Morales and Marquez though? Very comparable to Spinks' light heavy reign, in fact most would say better Plus if you take into account all of Pac's oversized victims, DLH, Hatton, Cotto, Margatito and Clottey is a better line-up than what Spinks did at heavy?
Even if they fought in a hypothetical P4P match, Spinks would win in 13 rounds because Roach would throw in the towel after the 12th round ended
Indeed. If Pacquiao was ahead by a huge margin with a ton left in the gas tank Roach still wouldn't risk Manny hearing that bell anyway. Never mind fighting, just the sound of it would cause immense psychological trauma and a lifetime of PTSD.
Spinks had an EXTREMELY high ring IQ. Much higher than Manny's. In a P4P matchup, I see Pac's speed building him an early lead, but Spinks figuring him out by the mid rounds, and outclassing him.
You forgot Shane. That’s the way I saw it too. I’m still sitting here trying to figure out how this is a landslide for Spinks.
Dubblechin posts regularly on Eastside. Still makes weird, outlandish, left field statements. I remember a few months ago he argued that Danny Garcia is better than Donald Curry.
Michael who? Pacquiao made history and is a legend even among non-boxing fans. Spinks is remembered only by hardcore boxing fans.
