Manny Pacquiao best pound-for-pound fighter ever?

by OldSchool

An argument can be made, and a darn good one, that if Manny Pacquiao wins his seventh weight-class title Saturday in a welterweight championship fight against Miguel Cotto, Pacman legitimately could be considered as the best pound-for-pound fighter ever.

I’ve got a lot of admiration for Pacquiao, but I have to point out that (through no fault of his own), his achievements are somewhat watered down.

There are so many weight classes, champions and sanctioning organizations, it’s hard to take the word “champion” seriously.

Even if Pacquiao wins on Saturday, he will be only one of five recognized welterweight champs.

Of course none of this is Pacman’s fault. He fights in this era and this era is watered down. As a fighter, Pacquiao is anything but watered down.

But pound-for-pound the best? That’s a tall order. I hate to sound like an old-school old fogie here, but when it comes to pound-for-pound greatness, Pacquiao — and anyone else — would be hard-pressed to match up with Sugar Ray Robinson.

In an era when there was only one champion for just eight divisions, Robinson won the welterweight and middleweight titles, and he was on his way to winning the light-heavyweight championship when he was overtaken in the 13th round by heat exhaustion.

Source: http://oldschool.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10505/manny-pacquiao-best-pound-for-pound-fighter-ever/