Isn’t Floyd Mayweather‘s 50-0 record good enough to proclaim him as the greatest boxer of the current generation? One of the reasons that Mayweather was such a big star was that people would pay large sums to watch him lose. But it never happened. His undefeated boxing record includes wins over giants of the sport like Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto, Marcos Maidana, and Zab Judah, to name a few. However, that still isn’t good enough for certain boxing fans to call him the greatest boxer of his time.
A fight analyst on YouTube who goes by the name of ShowBizz The Adult believes that Floyd’s undefeated boxing record pales in comparison to the eight-division champion tag that Manny Pacquiao has accrued over his long career. Can Floyd’s spotless boxing resume only be attributed to good strategy? Let’s delve in as the boxing commentator brings in world champions Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford into the conversation to make his point about why Pacquiao’s historic feat is “almost impossible” to achieve even for the next generation of fighters.
50-0 or the 8-division conqueror? A conundrum for the ages…
Manny Pacquiao started his professional boxing journey at junior flyweight and made his way up to super-welterweight, winning major world titles in eight divisions in between defeating champions like Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Márquez, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Keith Thurman among many others. In one of his clips, ShowBizz The Adult gave due credit to Pacquiao’s resilience and boxing prowess to win titles in eight different weight divisions, a feat never before achieved by any boxer in history.
Making his argument for why Pacquiao’s historic feat is better than Floyd’s 50-0, he roped in skillful boxers with undefeated boxing records such as Rocky Marciano (49-0) and Joe Calzaghe (46-0) as well as the current crop of undefeated boxers like 2-division undisputed champions Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue. He believes that Crawford and Inoue don’t have much time on their hands or the grit to become champions in eight weight divisions. However, they could very well come closer to Floyd Mayweather’s 50-0 record.
“Now when I am looking at Inoue, I am looking at how much time he got. And I’m like that eight division that Pacquiao did is almost impossible to do. If Inoue is running out of time to do it, it is almost impossible to do,” the commentator said confidently. The 31-year-old fighter is currently a four-division champion, who recently became undisputed in the super-bantamweight division.
Making further embellishments to build a rock-solid case, he stated that an untainted boxing resume like Floyd’s is “accomplishable” if good “strategic” decisions can be made. The commentator also pointed out that four-division champion Terence Crawford is also “on his way” to an impressive 50-0 boxing record.
“That’s why I say Pacquiao’s achievement for eight-division world champion is greater than 50-0. You saw Joe Calzhage, you saw Rocky Marciano, you are going to see 50-0. Terence Crawford is damn near going to be on his way. And it’s hard to see him losing. And if he gets strategic, he can make himself 50-0. So 50-0 is accomplishable. But, eight division people don’t realize how difficult that is,” ShowBizz asserted confidently.
It must be pointed out that Crawford is 36 years old and is already looking for the Canelo Alvarez fight at the super-middleweight division and wind up his boxing career. So, any chances of ‘Bud’ becoming an eight-division champion is just non-existent at this moment. Safe to say, it will be very difficult for the current crop of world champions to reach Pacquiao’s historic milestone.
Moving on from the debate, although, Pacquiao retired from professional boxing in 2021 after losing to Cuban Yordenis Ugas, he is still quite active in the exhibition circuit.
Who is Manny Pacquiao fighting next?
The 45-year-old fought in an exhibition bout last month against Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo. Although Pacquiao looked like a shadow of his former self in the fight, it doesn’t look like he is willing to say goodbye to boxing anytime soon. Reportedly, Pacquiao is planning for another exhibition bout against lightweight sensation Ryan Garcia in December this year.
Ryan Garcia was ringside at the Super RIZIN 3 event in Japan last month where Pacquiao traded blows with Anpo inside the ring. After the fight, he challenged the legendary Filipino boxer for a potential showdown. Reportedly, Garcia might fight ‘PacMan’ at an event promoted by Japanese promotion RIZIN on their New Year’s Eve card.
During an appearance on a live stream with Vitaly, Garcia confirmed the fight with Pacquiao. “I was [in Japan figuring out] a fight date with Manny Pacquiao. Yeah, I’m going to fight him. This is the first time that it’s ever been announced. Yeah, it’s an exhibition. I am fighting Manny Pacquiao guys, let’s get it. It’s coming soon, I’m trying to work on [a date]. It will be at end of the year for sure,” ‘KingRy’ said.
Will you tune in to watch Manny Pacquiao fight Ryan Garcia? Moreover, do you think Manny Pacquiao is a better fighter than Floyd Mayweather? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
