What if I said both...?
Pacquiao is a legit champ and an all time great. In my mind though, his titles won vs Cotto at a catchweight their promoter forced Cotto to take and vs Margarito for a vacant title when neither guy did anything at 154 for a title shot there were inflated legacy builders. That was hype.
Is he one of the best of this era? Yes.
Is he a hall of famer? Yes
Is he in the top 10 all time...greater than Robinson? No
Many similarities to Mike Tyson. Their boxing ability was legit but their careers were in the hands of a greedy overprotecting boxing promoter who didn't allow them to reach their potential.
PAC like RJJ and Terry Norris was an athletic fighter who relied heavily on their natural athleticism rather than skills. The athletic fighters have a smaller window and less longevity to reach their potential cause speed is the first to deminish where technicians who have their fundamentals like Mayweather, Marquez, James Toney, Mike McCullum, B Hop etc.. Their skills don't deminish with age that's why they enjoy longevity compared to athletic fighters.
PAC at his peak was very hard to beat cause he had extremely fast hands and mobile with his feet (doenst mean great footwork BTW) had a very strong left hand. All those combined make up for his lack of technical ability. So again his boxing ability at his peak was legit but his resume is terrible thanks to Bob Arum. PAC would fight anybody but Arum won't risk his cash cows unless to cash them in.
Btw even with that freakish natural athleticism he will always struggle againt elite counterpunchers like Marquez or Floyd of they fought. Still that don't mean he wasn't good
He was very legit, for a couple of years he was the best pound for pound boxer in the World, Mayweather was literally on the run for Manny for years, because he knew he would lose.
The reason he's deteriorating now, is because he's getting older, and all the shifting in weight-class makes his aging a little quicker, than boxers that stayed in 1 weight-class for most of their careers.
He won 8 world championships in 8 different weight classes, sound legit to you?
even top flomos here will nail "the answer" on your forehead for your impertinence!!
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