Manny Pacquiao: Only hurting the depleted.

by Joseph Landini
High Heat Network

To few, Manny Pacquiao is the greatest boxer pound for pound ever, but to most he is just a decent boxer in an era begging for a savior. Manny Pacquiao has been criticized his entire career for being overrated, because of the competition he faces. It is not Pacquiao’s fault that there is no Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, or Tommy Hearns in his era, but at the same time he is currently refusing a fight against the biggest opponent of his career.

Floyd Mayweather Jr wants to fight Pacquiao, and has said it time and time again. The catch is that Mayweather will fight Pacquiao only if there is random blood and urine testing. Since the time that Mayweather made comments about the testing, Pacquiao has brought his counter part to court for defamation of character. Pacquiao’s claim is that Mayweather has accused him of performance enhancing drugs. His camp has also stated that they will accept a fight, only if testing is at certain times.

By the sounds of all the information, it seems like Pacquiao is hiding something. That something is most likely performance enhancing. Pacquiao not agreeing to the random testing is doing two things, hurting his own legacy more, and stopping a boxing super match, which could save the sport. Lets face facts, boxing has been dwindling in the eyes of many because of the emergence of ultimate fighting, and the lack of great boxing as a whole. Pacquiao and Mayweather are great fighters, and would most likely hold their own against the great Welterweights of the past, but the rest are not even close. Their division is the only worth watching, and that is a stretch. The Heavyweight divisions are owned by two guys with the last name Klitschko, but I would go as far as saying that Mike Tyson would known either out by the third round. Mike Tyson right now, that is. The last Heavyweight championship bout is so unentertaining, that the last Klitschko fight was on HBO… LIVE! Not even on Pay Per View! If your boxing Heavyweights cannot even draw enough to gain Pay Per View time, then what does that say about the sport?

Aside from the fact that Pacquiao is hurting, because of lack of competition, he is now faced with whether or not he is legitimate. If the allegeded comments of Floyd Mayweather Jr are true, then Pacquiao is just a fake paper champion hiding behind the steroid needle. Not only would would his believers turn on him, but the Pacquiao haters would have even more reason to criticize him on a daily basis. Nothing god has come out of performance enhancers. Ask all of the caught baseball players. Now ask them how their records and accolades are looked at. Pacquiao would lose all credit for every match won, record earned, and championship achieved. “Pac-Man,” if taking performance enhancers, would be the biggest disappointment to the sport since the demise of Tyson in his prime.

Plain and simple, this fight needs to happen. Pacquiao and Mayweather are the only two fighters left in the sport with any sort of skill to call themselves great. This fight has the ability to save a sport, which has been struggling hard since Lennox Lewis hung up the gloves and title. The answer of whether or not this match will happen is on Pacquiao. It is only a matter of time until he answers two questions. One, are all of his accolades and achievements legitimate? And two, what would happen to this already struggling sport if this super fight never occurs…