Manny Pacquiao tends to surprise his fans with his performances, and has done so recently
with his choice of boxing opponents too.
Fighting Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman while he's past the age of 40 is one of the
greatest achievements ever by a boxer past his prime.
But now he's gone and done it again, Manny Pacquiao will face Errol Spence in
a megafight on August 21st on Fox Sports pay-per-view.
I am sure you were as shocked as I was when I saw this announcement.
At 42 years old, the Timeless legend will face a young
Errol Spence who reigns in his prime.
If Manny Pacquiao were to beat Errol Spence there is no question we must put him up there
with the likes of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson when we're talking about the
greatest legendary fighters of all time.
If Pacquiao beats Spence, he's one of the greatest ever.
He just has to be.
Actually he's already on that list, he's already top 10, with or without fighting Spence.
Ever since Pacquiao beat Thurman to become the oldest welterweight champion in history
he's solidifed his standing as an all-time great.
Take a look at Pacquiao's boxing record, his boxing career can be broken up into decades,
with each year telling it's own story, each year a new brand of opposition, a new challenge,
a new step on the path towards greatness.
From his beginning days in the Philippines to taking over the states with the dismantling
of Lehlo Ledwaba, to his epic rivalries with Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez, to his
crushing victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, to the conquering of a giant
with Antonio Margarito, to the blitzing victory over
Miguel Cotto, the man has seen it all.
A fight the world desperately wanted to see was Keith Thurman versus Errol Spence, unfortunately
it never happened.
Pacquiao's last two fights will now be against those two fighters,
Manny Pacquiao still carries on the age-old tradition of fighting anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Errol Spence is undefeated, and so was Thurman, these two consecutive fights are really telling
of Pacquiao's willingness to take on not only the best of his generation, but the generations
that come after him.
Errol Spence will be a very tough fight for the Pac-Man.
Spence is an excellent fighter with high physical strength.
It's no surprise that Errol Spence is the favourite to win this fight.
But Thurman was the favourite too, and we all know how that went.
Spence is one of two boxers highly regarded as the absolute best in the welterweight division,
of course the other fighter being Terence Crawford.
Spence may not hit as hard as Thurman, but when it comes to endurance and ring presense,
Spence is definitely stronger.
He's not a small welterweight, whereas Pacquiao isn't even a welterweight
at all.
Spence is an excellent inside fighter, he's able to remain calm under fire, and he packs
one hell of a punch.
Another interesting thing about this fight is that Spence will be the first southpaw
Pacquiao has faced since David Diaz.
Pacquiao dismantled Diaz in that fight, but Pacquiao
is not the same man now, and Spence is better than David Diaz.
Pacquiao has faced many men who are like Errol Spence, but Errol Spence has never fought
anyone like Manny Pacquiao.
The element of familiarity may work in Pacquiao's favour, as he relies more on experience as
opposed to speed and power at this stage of his career.
If Spence wants to slow Pacquiao's movement he will need to cut the ring off effectively
because leaving Pacquiao exit out to the side will allow Pacquiao to set up new attacks,
which is what he's reknowned for.
Luckily for Spence, he's a great body puncher.
Flat footed boxers are almost always in a position to attack and they are less obvious
in their decisions to manipulate positions.
A quick ability to catch Pacquiao coming in will
work in Spence's favour as he stands his ground with flat feet.
This truly is such a crazy fight.
And then you have Pacquiao who's already a living legend with the neck to defy the clock.
You've got the power of Spence, but you've also got the speed of Pacquiao.
You've got the youth of Spence, but you've also got the experience of Pacquiao.
I think most people will agree that the best outcome for this fight will be a closely contested
decision.
Pacquiao is the underdog, he is fighting a very dangerous man in Errol Spence,
no one wants to see Pacquiao go out in a bad way.
I hope it is a good fight, may the best man win.
Who do you guys think will win, let us know in the comment section below.