Meet Manny Pacquiao. WBC Lightweight Champion, WBC Super Featherweight Champion, 47-3-2 with 35 KOs (75%) and perhaps the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world now that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has retired.
He's lightning fast, can take a punch and, most importantly, is proven and tested. Pacquiao has fought against solid and strong competition for the last five years and most recently won the WBC Lightweight Championship from David Diaz (34-1-1, 17 KOs) on June 28.
He has fought as low as Light Flyweight (106 lbs.), and is considering moving up to 140 lbs. to fight Ricky Hatton (44-1-0, 31 KOs). Considering the popularity of both, fighting Hatton could be big money for Pacquiao. He has won four major titles in four weight classes and would have a legitimate shot of winning. He is also considering a fight with Nate Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KOs), the WBA, WBO and IBF Lightweight Champion as soon as November.
But, before any of that, Pacquiao will be representing the Phillipines at the 2008 Bejing Olympics and will even be the flag bearer for his country. It has gotten to the point that people are wondering who he will beat next and how bad it will be.
While MMA has grown in popularity recently, boxing has made strides of their own. Pac-Man, Kelly Pavlick, Ricky Hatton, a final match for Oscar De La Hoya and the possibility of a unified Heavyweight Champion in Wladamir Klitschko are all blright spots, and boxing could begin to make a comback if solid fights with good opponents and title defenses continue occuring.
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