What a week of boxing it’s been. We saw the apparently nailed on Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua fight fall apart. We’ve seen Josh Taylor and Jose Ramirez turn nasty, when both guys had previously shown nothing but mutual respect for one another ahead of tonight’s great 140-pound unification clash. And the big one – we read how Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Errol Spence in August.
This news caught plenty of us by surprise and, all of a sudden, that big-fight buzz is back. Leave it to the little guys to give us a huge fight! But as we know, Pacquiao and Spence are not ordinary smaller-weight fighters. Far from it, these two are very special welterweights; Pacquiao in particular. With this fight, yet another risky fight from an all-time great who has shown time and again how he is not afraid to take risks, in fact the dead opposite is true, Pacquiao has earned the praise of the fans.
And what if Manny actually wins on August 21? Pacquiao’s legacy is already secure, it has been for some years, yet here is this remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime fighter daring to prove his greatness once again when nobody questions it and hasn’t done for a long time. In the unbeaten Spence, Pacquiao is going in with a prime welterweight, a big welterweight, a strong welterweight and a clever welterweight. The odds, once again, are against the greatest fighter of his generation (yes, I agree with Max Kellerman and others, Pacquiao, despite losing a past its sell-by date fight with Floyd Mayweather, is the overall greater fighter).
Can Manny do it, or is he pushing for too much at age 42, after over two years out of action, after such a long and distinguished career? Spence, 27-0(21) looked good but not great in his December 2020 fight with Danny Garcia, this his one and only fight back after that nasty 2019 car crash. Basing things on that performance from Spence, can the Pacquiao who defeated Keith Thurman win the fight in August?
No doubt plenty of different people will make many different predictions and calls as the fight gets closer. Right now, Pacquiao has the utmost respect and adulation of the entire boxing world once again. Pacquiao, 62-7-2(39) has shown he is a true champion – a born warrior who NEVER looks to take the easy route. This one will be massive, with the entire world watching. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you who the majority of fans will be rooting for. Fans many appreciate and admire Spence, but Manny Pacquiao has the love of the entire boxing world. And one of the big reasons for this, is Manny’s constant desire to test himself, to take all challenges, to go for ultimate, eternal glory.
Is it going too far to say that, if Pacquiao wins this fight, Pac Man is deserving of being rated as one of the ten greatest fighters in all of boxing history? What we do know is this: Manny is the last of a dying breed. Can you name any other 42 year old welterweight superstar who engaged in as big a world title fight at this late stage in their career? Manny is already a legend. If he can topple Spence, he will reside in a category that will have to be created just for him.
And with a Pacquiao victory, there would be no further debate about who is the greater fighter of the two, Manny or Floyd.