Manny Pacquiao a boxing’s immortals

Pacquiao’s performance made me reminisce about the all time greats. Three years ago I thought any comparison to Flash Elorde and suggestions that Pacquiao has surpassed the accomplishments of Pancho Villa and Elorde was a bit blasphemous. But Pacquiao’s performance this year – fighting in three weight divisions and winning world titles in two of them – has truly earned him the right to stand side by side with boxing’s immortals.

Pacquiao vs Mayweather Countdown begins

No one has really taken the Mayweather retirement serious so far, and one has to think “Pretty Boy” realizes his biggest win was just made to look pedestrian.  Boxing heads have wanted another Leonard-Duran for years, forcing the mantle on fights unworthy.Pacquiao was an all-time great before Saturday night on the basis of his accomplishments at Flyweight, Featherweight and Jr. Lightweight as World Champion, the first man ever to post those marks in a single career.  A win over World Champion Ricky Hatton at Jr. Welterweight would give him a claim to being the first man in history to capture four lineal World championships and a sixth overall major divisional title.

A fight of Pacquiao vs Mayweather would give him to chance to push past the brink to outright comparisons with names of a different breed.

Pacquiao: “Twenty years from now,… I want my name to be at the top level of boxing history”

Precisely why Team Pacquiao believes a victory will be a turning point for the feisty southpaw who is a national hero in his native Philippines.

“Twenty years from now, 30, 40 years, I want my name to be at the top level of boxing history,” Pacquiao says. “That’s why it’s really important for me to win this fight. It’s the biggest fight of my career..

“The point of this fight is to DO SOMETHING that people will never forget.”

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s longtime trainer, says a victory “would elevate Manny to superstar status. He’s not quite there yet. This is definitely a turning point.”