Pacquiao is a much smaller man than De La Hoya. At the time of their last weigh-ins, the difference between the two was 16 pounds. Were the two to fight tomorrow, the tale of the tape would show Pacquiao giving away 4" in height and of more concern, 5" in reach to De La Hoya.
As attractive as the prospect of seeing these two greats go at it may be, these are not solid statistics on which to build a good fight.
Fights fans wish to see the best boxers take on each other, and it is excusable for them to overlook such matters as unimportant in the face of such exciting fare.
However, there is no such excuse for knowledgeable promoters, coaches, and others who know the dangers of ignoring these factors. As great of a fighter as Pacquiao is, the Filipino would be taking a serious risk in taking on bigger men such as De La Hoya or the previously suggested Ricky Hatton.
Though gambling is at the very heart of the sport, proposed fights such as these again raise the question of when a risk to a boxer's health becomes too unacceptable to take.
Perhaps of all the criticisms made by Jose Sulaiman, the most striking is his assertion that, "It is time that some people in boxing stop thinking about names and money."
When someone who has a reputation—deserved or not—for being as notoriously rapacious as Sulaiman accuses the boxing world's big-time operators of greed, then maybe there is a problem to address.
The search for money-making superfights has, in the last few years, produced many excellent bouts between the biggest names in fighting—a welcome change for boxing fans fed up of years of alphabet title corruption and cowardly ducking of big rivals.
However, we must not allow our appetite for fights of the ages to ride roughshod over common sense and ethics.
Difficult as it may be for his detractors, we should heed the words of Jose Sulaiman.
Two men the size of Manny and Oscar shouldn't fight, no matter how many PPV buys it would garner. To those still in need of persuasion, it is being reported that most of the details of the fight have already been agreed. Venue? No problem. Weight gap? Not an issue. Only thing still being bickered about...money.
And therein lies the problem.
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