Jim Lampley once remarked during a fight, "Manny Pacquiao is a storm!"That was years ago. Lampley nor anybody else knew just how devastating the Pacquiao storm would become in the following years. Here we are in 2009, and the former flyweight champion of the world currently sits on the 140-pound throne, has retired Oscar de la Hoya, been involved in two straight "Event of the Year" fights, demolished a game Ricky Hatton in under two rounds, and overall done things that would've been unthinkable even a few years ago.
On November 14, he'll go up to a 145-pound catchweight to try and capture Miguel Cotto's WBA welterweight title. I've said already that Cotto is a seriously dangerous opponent, no matter what anyone else might think, and he should be treated as such. A Pacquiao steamroll job would be jaw-dropping in this fight.
I also remarked at the end of the article that to some, it seems like all that would be acceptable is a time-traveling Pacquiao that battles Sugar Ray Robinson for all-time supremacy. In some ways, it's understandable that Pacquiao's opponents will be downplayed. There are precious few fighters that present a great danger to him these days. He's become that good. Sure, welterweight is legitimately the highest he could possibly go (I mean it has to be, right?), and bigger guys than that could have their way with him simply on size. I joked after the Hatton fight that if Pacquiao challenged 6'2" middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, I'd pick Manny. But realistically Pavlik would take his head off at some point (he'd have to, right?).
Read full story: http://www.badlefthook.com/2009/7/23/959696/for-pacquiao-the-list-has-gotten
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