Manny Pacquiao Takes the Easy Road Again, Will Fight Juan Manuel Marquez

With ESPN's Dan Rafael reporting that a Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight is now imminent, it is now time for everyone to come to the realization that Manny Pacquiao might just be a paper tiger. 

A very good fighter, to be sure, but not the great fighter that almost everyone would try and have you believe.

This will mark the sixth straight fight since his star turning performance against a washed-up Oscar De La Hoya that Pacquiao will face someone that is completely outclassed and non-competitive. 

And it will mark the third fighter that has already been dominated by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at a younger and more competitive place in their boxing career (Mayweather also beat De La Hoya before Manny did).

While this might sound like I am trying to prop up Mayweather at Pacquiao's expense, that's not the case.  I think that Mayweather has been ducking Pacquiao for a few years now and, Mayweather's perfectly reasonable request for random Olympic-style drug testing aside, has looked for any excuse in the book to try and avoid the fight everyone wants to see. 

Now, with his current legal troubles looming, we might never see these two fight and most of the blame will have to fall on Mayweather's shoulders.

That being said, one can't just ignore the elephant in the room when it comes to the competition that Pacquiao has faced since becoming the biggest star in boxing.  Don't believe me, just look at the fighters Pacquiao has fought since beating De La Hoya. 

Ricky Hatton

Ricky Hatton was a hot prospect from England who had ran his record to 43-0 before facing Mayweather in 2007. 

After being dominated by Pretty Boy Floyd, Hatton then struggled to win his next two fights against Juan Lazcano and Paul Malignaggi, nearly getting knocked out in the Malignaggi fight. 

Hatton hasn't fought since meeting Pacquiao and has battled substance abuse and weight issues.

Antonio Margarito

Margarito was thought to be a violent machine after his amazing victory over Miguel Cotto, but it turns out he may have just been a fraud the whole time after he was caught with illegal hand wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley. 

While he can still take a punch, without the firepower that the world thought he had in his hands Margarito is really nothing more than a punching bag these days. 

Since the Cotto fight Margarito got destroyed by Mosley, won a fight against a no-name journeyman in Mexico and got destroyed again against Pacquiao.  Margarito hasn't been a threat since being forced to fight clean. 

Joshua Clottey 

Give Clottey credit, at least he never gets knocked out.  Of course, he really doesn't like to throw many punches either and he never stood a chance against Pacquiao when they met last year. 

Clottey seemed to simply be there for the paycheck and the experience as he "turtled up" all night long and just looked to be trying to avoid getting hit.  Watching the Pacquiao-Clottey fight was like watching me hit the heavy bag in my own basement, and I've never come close to losing that one either. 

Clottey isn't a total joke and has had a good career, but when he faces the big names he never comes out swinging.  This fight was no different. 

Shane Mosley

Pacquiao's most recent fight, Mosley was thought by many to be the biggest challenge of Pacquiao's career—or many who don't pay attention I should say.  To the passionate boxing fan, the Mosley fight was an absolute joke. 

Just last year Mosley had been thoroughly dominated for all but one round of a matchup with Mayweather, and aside from one punch (a lucky one perhaps) that wobbled Mayweather in the second round Mosley was never a threat. 

In fact, anyone shocked at how timid Mosley was against Pacquiao needed only to have seen the Mayweather fight to know where this one was headed.  If Mosley was afraid to throw with Mayweather (he was) then there was no way he was going to let his hands go against a power puncher like Pac-Man. 

Mosley couldn't even do better than a draw with Sergio Mora...was he really going to test Manny?

Miguel Cotto

Miguel Cotto was probably the best guy that Pacquiao has fought since De La Hoya and was a great win on paper. On paper. In reality there are many in the boxing community, including I, that think Cotto is a broken fighter post-Margarito and his more than likely illegal hands of stone. 

Cotto hasn't been nearly as sharp as he was in compiling his undefeated mark before the Margarito fight, and looked downright dreadful in the Pacquiao fight. 

Some of that has to obviously be credited to Pacquiao of course, but when Cotto subsequently looked less than stellar against Yuri Foreman one had to think that maybe his days of being near the top of any pound for pound lists were over.

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Now, Pacquiao is said to be nearing a fight against what will surely be an out-manned Juan Manuel Marquez.  Marquez is currently one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world at lightweight and has already fought Pacquiao evenly over two fights. 

With a draw and a controversial decision loss to Pacquiao already, Marquez seems to be the only legitimate threat to defeat Manny.

However, all of those fights were below the welterweight limit where Marquez thrives.  In his only foray into the world of the welterweights, Marquez has already been demolished by none other than Floyd Mayweather, Jr.  Do you sense a pattern yet? 

Trust me, I can't wait for this fight because I love watching both of these guys go at it.  But I already know what the outcome will be because I've already seen how much fighting above his his normal weight slows Marquez and makes him nothing more than a slightly above average fighter.

What we are being stuck with is another fight that can be sold based on the names and the history of the fighters, but that has almost no shot to be competitive.  And while it is not all Pacquiao's fault, at some point he has to demand that he gets to fight someone in their prime or close to it at a weight closer to his own. 

No more slow punching bags like Margarito and guys blowing up in weight and sacrificing their skills. 

Pacquiao needs to fight a Zab Judah who is back on top of his game as of late and still close to his prime or a Timothy Bradley, the young undefeated light welterweight champion. 

Pacquiao needs to fight someone that isn't an aging name from the past or someone the Mayweather has already pummeled.  Pacquiao needs to fight someone that may not be the best selling fight out there, but the best fight available.

Again, he may not be able to get Mayweather in the ring and it's not all his fault.  I get that.

But until he beats better people than he has, he's still a paper tiger to me.