Manny Pacquiao: Why Pac-Man's Legacy Still Needs a Boost

Manny Pacquiao may or may not be the greatest fighter of this generation.

I say that because we really don’t know the definitive answer. It’s not his fault Floyd Mayweather continues to dance around the idea of agreeing to the fight of the century, but until then it’s hard to get a handle on Pacman’s career.

His last seven fights were all pretty lopsided. I’d argue that only Miguel Cotto was a legitimate champion contender, as the rest were best fit for Pacquiao’s style, and he made them play.

Credit Manny for taking care of business in all of those fights, but there is still something left to be desired.

This isn’t just Pacman’s problem either. Mayweather will forever have an asterisk to his name if the fight doesn’t go down as well. We need to see who is the best in the sport. It’s essentially the Super Bowl of the sport.

Every other generation gave us as much. Boxing is a very black and white sport. There is very little gray area. After watching two men in the ring for 12 rounds, you almost always know who the better fighter was.

When we match two men who continue to obliterate the competition, but have yet to jump into the ring to face each other, naturally we as boxing fans are not satisfied.

Maybe Bob Arum is the problem. The super-promoter is cherry-picking Pacman fights to ensure his flawless legacy stays intact. Ask top trainer Emanuel Steward about how much longer Pacman will fight, and he provides an extremely blunt answer: as long Bob Arum wants him to fight. Bob controls him.

In the end, Pacman doesn’t need a win against Mayweather to prove he is a great boxer. With eight titles in different weight divisions, he will go down in history as one of the greatest of this generation.

Yet there will forever be question marks surrounding his legacy as the champion of the boxing world in the 2000’s if a Mayweather fight doesn’t happen.