In boxing we often here the quote “future hall of famer”, some fighters achieve enough during their career they are being touted as future inductees while they are still competing in the ring.
In other cases it takes time, to look back in retrospect to recognise the achievements of a fighter is a common occurrence. Manny Pacquiao’s fellow countryman Flash Elorde was inducted into the hall of fame in 1993, 22 years after his retirement from the sport and 8 years after his death in 1985.
Some active fighters are guaranteed a home at 360 North Peterboro Street, Canastota, NY, even if they where to never win another bout. Two names that spring to mid are Roy Joner Jr and Bernard Hopkins who have surely done enough in their illustrious careers to secure their legacy; even if they where to never win another bout. I would place Manny Pacquiao in this bracket.
Before the rise of Pacquiao it was Garbriel (Flash) Elorde, also from the Philippines who was widely regarded as the best fighter to come out of the Asia-Pacific region. In today’s game many; if not all believe Pacquiao has surpassed his fellow countryman. Others lay the claim that the Filipino icon is most likely the greatest ever southpaw to grace a ring.
It could be argued that Pacquiao surpassed the achievements of Elorde around the same time he was being labelled “The Mexicutioner”. The Filipino fought two wars with Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez, and an unforgettable trilogy with Erik Morales, Overall Pacquiao came out on top. Other Mexicans or fighters from Mexican decent to fall to the fists of the Filipino post millennium Include Lucero, Velazquez, Larios, Solis, Diaz and De La Hoya.
With this the sensation from the Philippines had surly cemented a legacy, but what came next was the Golden key to the door at Canastota. In 2008 we witnessed the accent of a feat never before witnessed in the sports long history. The Pac-Man was on the move and decided to compete in yet another weight calss, the Filipino fought at Lightweight, Junior Welterweight and Welterweight. Winning titles at the first timer of asking in each division Pacquiao had become the sports first seven divisional champion (Flyweight to Welterweight).
During this reign of terror Pacquaio sent each fighter to a deep dark place where they re-evaluated their career in the ring. David Diaz remained inactive for 15 months after losing his WBC lightweight title to Manny Pacquiao, in a bout where the Filipino was totally dominant before stopping Diaz in the ninth. Oscar De La Hoya retired after the beating he suffered against Pacquiao. Ricky Hatton has been out of the ring for over a year since his devastating second round knockout loss to Pacquiao at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Miguel Cotto has taken an unusually long hiatus. We while await the ramifications on Pacquiao’s most recent victim, Ghanaian Joshua Clottey,
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