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View Full Version : Modern Day Greats Mayweather and Pacquiao take a lesson from the legends of old



KIDWCKED
01-03-2010, 07:35 PM
this is a c\p
By Shaun Campbell: Roberto Duran (103-16-0), Sugar Ray Leonard (36-3-1), Thomas Hearns (61-5-1), Marvin Hagler (62-3-2). Warriors with no fear. They all faced each other, leaving their mark on the other. Not one rained supreme, and not one was outclassed. Duran was beaten by Leonard, Leonard was beaten by Duran. Duran lost to Hagler. Hagler lost to Leonard.


Everyone that loves boxing will have heard of or watched possibly one of the greatest fights in history, in which Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns gave it 100% for three rounds, resulting in Hagler knocking out Hearns. The point is that these fighters didn’t care about undefeated records or pound for pound titles, they wanted to fight the best out there. This is something that boxing is lacking in the modern era.

So Pacquiao vs Mayweather is officially off then, meaning that the boxing world will have to sit through and watch two amazing fighters face opponents that are not on their level. Mayweather and Pacquiao are arguably the only two fighters on the planet that have the potential to beat the other. Manny Pacquiao looked unstoppable under Freddy Roach in 2009, and Floyd Mayweather made his battle with Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez look like a sparring session.

Marquez was ranked number two in the pound for pound listings at the time, and Mayweather dominated him. So why won’t these two meet? A disagreement over olympic style random drugs test seems to be too insignificant to be the only reason why this fight isn’t happening. They fighters probably aren’t scared of the other fighter, but scared of losing their legacy. Floyd Mayweather may not want to risk the possibility of becoming 40-1. Manny’s team have decided to look elsewhere now for another opponent.

What makes Bob Arum think that any other top class fighter will not ask for Pacquiao to take a drugs test? The only fighters that won’t ask Pacquiao for a random drugs test are those that know they are lucky to be getting a shot against the pound for pound king. For example, people like Shane Mosley know they could get a mega fight with Mayweather if that is what they want, where they wouldn’t have to risk tricky negotiations with Pacquiao and his promoter Arum.

These little problems that seem to be testing their loyalty to support Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather didn’t matter in the days of the fighters mentioned earlier in the article. Duran, Leonard, Hagler, Hearns were all boxers that couldn’t be accused of ducking anyone. They fought the best and that’s why so many people loved them. Not one of them had an undefeated record, but the fans appreciated that they were always prepared to give their all, win, lose or draw. The reason many UFC or MMA or whatever it is called at the moment, argue that boxing is destroying itself is because the top fighters don’t always want to fight the best. Look at the heavyweight division at this moment. It can only be described as a disgrace. David Haye seems to be the only man in the division that wants to fight the best.

Pacquiao vs. Mayweather needs to happen, and to be honest it probably will happen. But it reminds fans of the Tyson/Lewis fight that happened about 5 years too late. These two pound for pound kings can afford to wait much longer, people’s patiance is running out. It seems like the true boxing fans are being ripped off by the promoters asking them to pay for Pacquiao/Malignaggi or Mayweather/Mosley. Malignaggi and Mosley are both great fighters, but they cant really be put into the same league made up of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. The two fighters should look back at the legends of old and wonder how the fans feel and what they want to see.