Manny Pacquiao and His Penchant for Old/Disadvantaged Opponents: Part One

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao has been in the spotlight long before he took the opportunity to fight Oscar de la Hoya. Those who have keenly followed Pacman's fights are very much aware that most of the opponents that made him a household name, relative to Pacquiao, have been mostly from either the old or washed-up variety.

Take the case of Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao took this fight thinking he was Superman after his stunning victory against Barrera. There is a four-year age gap between the two.

Pacquiao was supposed to be this 25-year-old spring chicken taking on the 30-year-old Mexican fighter who was the odd-man out in the scheme of things where Barrera and Morales were the staple names.

Little did Pacquiao know that Marquez was as tough as tough can be. Despite the three first-round-knockdowns, beginning at the second, Marquez recovered and schooled Pacquiao the rest of way but only to get a draw. That was truly a robbery and a heart breaker for the aging Marquez.

Pacquiao then took on Erik Morales. What was Pacquiao thinking? That he could just will his way against elite fighters with his lopsided victory against Barrera as his ticket?

Pacman was clearly employing the transitive relation of mathematics, but I doubt  he knew what it was. The transitive relation states that if A>B, and B>C, then A>C.

A is Pacman, B is Barrera (how apt), and C is Morales. That is one mathematics rule which comes off as somewhat common but which simpletons should not confuse in real world situations.

On fight night, Morales, who was still great but teetering on the brink of being washed up, made Pacquiao eat humble pie. For all the bravado and the boldness brought about by his Barrera win, Pac realised he still had long ways to go and went back to the drawing board to reassess his strategy.

Meanwhile, Morales, who mustered just enough of his waning greatness to dispose Pacquiao, was clearly over the hill having fought one too many a boxing match. That his height was not commensurate to the weight division he was fighting in added to his misery as he had difficulty making weight.

Morales was just two years older than Pacquiao, but he was an old two-year senior, boxing-record wise. Morales had been through a lot of wars and it finally took its toll.

As if that wasn't enough, Pac let Morales age another year before taking him on a rematch. With a little help from Zahir Raheem, who tenderized Morales' muscle and loins just enough for Pacquiao to will his awkward brawling style, Pac expectedly won against the  washed-up Mexican great.

Morales and Barrera were clearly overstaying their reign. Pacquiao, realizing he had the luxury of simply switching between the two Mexican legends to make his name look good, took advantage of the opportunity and made a dubious career out of those two.

Here was a young brute fighter in Pacquiao with the chance to make a name for himself by taking on two old and washed-up Mexican greats with the public nary a care to the real overstaying status of boxing's premier idols, and took on these two Pacquiao did.

If there was any indication of how Pacquiao squeezed the mileage out of the famous Morales name, it was when, just 10 months removed from their second encounter, Pacquiao gamely fought and defeated Morales to complete a haphazardly made trilogy.

With Morales thoroughly disposed, Pac took on Barrera but only after having him age for four more years since their last encounter  thereby ensuring that father time had taken its toll.

Of course, Pac was aging also but given the four year gap between the two, with Pac being the  younger fighter , he benefited from the four year wait by polishing his skills on the way to reaching his prime while Barrera dangerously regressed.