He looked great last night, but against the weakest champ in the division. How do you think he does against Campell, Casamayor, Diaz and company at lightweight? Will he try to establish himself as the man at lightweight, or will he just go after big money fights from whoever's available in other divisions like Hatton?
Your getting either old, or careless Whisk, cuz I just opened the same thread last night!:warning: In any case, I'd give him a chance to beat anyone at 135. In fact it'd be safe to favor him over all of them. But I'd be surprised if he fought them. I think the plan is to match him with Valero in Nov. And provided he wins, and provided Hatton beats Paulie(neither of which is a guarantee), then he'll move up and fight Hatton next year. And Ive been calling it for awhile, but I think he can beat the current version of Hatton. Ricky is ripe for the taking right now.
Oops. I thought there would be a similar thread, i took a quick look but just missed it. A Valero fight would be interesting but nobody outside of hard core boxing fans know who he is. That would be a hard sell, especially if they are going to be greedy and try to make it a PPV. I hope they don't make Hatton-Pac. If Pac wins it's because Hatton is shot, and if Ricky wins it's because Manny is too small. I'd much rather see Manny try to clear out 135.
I would rather see that as well, but because of money, I think we'll definitely see Pac-Hatton in 2009. But if I had my choice, I'd like to see him fight either the Campbell-Guzman winner, or the Diaz-Katsidis winner. I might be in the minority, but I have VERY little interest in seeing him fight Marquez again.
Me too. Although both Pac-Marquez fights were great, i'd rather see both guys fight other opponents. If they are the only remaining guys left at 135, then bring on the rubber match.
I previously thought that Manny was just too small for Hatton, and this Pacman is not the force he once was, and had lost his warrior spirit. However, Pacman looked big last night, bigger than Diaz (though Diaz is a midget) and that was his first fight at lightweight against a career lightweight. The extra weight was nothing to him, and he looked strong and fast, pretty huge difference compared to say... Hatton at 147. So I think Pacman could well beat Hatton, partly because Manny looked better than expected at lightweight and partly because Hatton is borderline shot.
This is the thing about Pacquiao that is so unusual. His body fat seemed very low, his strength seemed well above average for the weight, and he gained plenty of weight after the weigh in suggesting he could move up yet again. I mean, right now, he visually doesn't look any different than Mosley did at 135.
That's because he was fighting another 5'5" fighter, Mosley is noticeably bigger and taller than Pac, no doubt about it.
I've noticed a lot of people are downplaying last night's fight for that simple fact. Titles aside, Manny virtually walked through a Top 5 lightweight, beat the shit out of him and scored a highlight reel knockout. Just this decade alone, he's traveled four weight classes and still looks like the best fighter in the world. That said, and to answer your question, sadly, I don't see Arum taking much interest in having Pacquiao establish himself against the rest of the lightweight field. Bob's milked enough sympathy over the past couple of years by playing good guy to Floyd's cherry picking and Golden Boy's greed, but will take the same exact route with Manny. He's already talking Valero, a fight that should've happened at 130; and Hatton , a mega payday in which Pac literally has nothing to lose. Had Soto not got fucked, that most likely would've been Manny's next fight - like Valero, a fight that should've already happened a weight class lower. So no, Manny won't establish himself as the dominant lightweight, just the one that represents the biggest payday for everyone else, which in effect could shut down progress at lightweight altogether beyond what's already scheduled in the next couple of months.
The pre-Floyd Hatton would beat Manny, but the one we saw struggle with old man Lazcano will get lit up by Pacquaio.
Good post. I'm a bit confused by that myself. Weakest champ or not, as you say Diaz is no worse than a top 5 lightweight, and Pacman made him look like a bum, gave him a severe 1 sided beating that culminated in a brutal 1 punch KO. And people don't want to give him credit for the win? :dunno: And this is a guy who used to be a flyweight? I mean wtf :dunno: Personally I thought it was incredible the way he just walked through Diaz, I really didn't expect it. Not because Diaz is good, purely because Diaz is a genuine lightweight.
Agreed, it is fucking weird isn't it? You look at him on saturday, he looks like a natural lightweight, and fought like one too, I was looking at him thinking, how the fuck was he a flyweight? Unlike almost every other fighter that moves up that many weights, somehow he doesn't look "blown up" in the slightest. Highly peculiar.
I don't consider david diaz a top 5 lightweight. lazcano wouldve destroyed that guy, and I also think lazcano would KO pacquaio @140. hatton will give pacquaio a horrific beating.
Don't get me wrong here. It was a very impressive performance by Pac. I was just pointing out that they took the "easiest" possible path to a title belt. I'm not trying to diminish him at all, especially after a great dominant victory like that. If i said "Casamayor/Campbell need to fight the new champ at lightweight" posters would have been saying Pacquiao didn't fight the real champ. The victory "doesn't mean anything". I'm not taking either position. The whole aim for the fight was to get Manny a belt @ 135. He did.
Pac was amazing against Diaz what a performance. He totally out classed and out boxed Diaz and finished him with a great shot. After the fight I think pac could take on the rest of the lightweight but Hatton could be a step to far. Did you see Manny's face when asked about fighting at welter... ::
Torres-Holt II on Saturday Predictions? I hope Torres knocks the fuck outta him! Torres is a guy that bring alot of excitement to 140 because of his power and style. Hopefully he stops Holt again, and non prematurely this time.
I know I don't think Manny can fight at the weight. That post for for my good old friend Attrachedtomales.
Manny looked like a fighter that didn't have to struggle to make weight,which has been the case lately.He looked as energetic and as strong as he did in the first Barrera fight,except he's become a complete fighter now(No longer one demensional,sorry haters).Pacquiao is a natural lightweight and I think he'll beat Marquez more convincingly at this weight.
he won't fight marquez again. arum has his path planned out sans marquez. fair enough tho because valero is an acceptable foe. unlike diaz, valero actually has talent.
NO he doesn't, Valero is a slow, sloppy bum. Well a bum is an exaggeration, but Manny would beat Valero as easily as he beat diaz. Valero is simply not very good.
Hatton should not take this fight it's a lose-lose if he wins... he beat a guy that started at 106!! if he loses.. and there is a very good chance he could lose... I'd love to see Pacman STRETCH Hatton though.. I just can never get tired of Hatton on the canvas
would have preferred it at 130 - but i still say that Pac v Valero is the most exciting fight to be made in boxing
