With Super Bowl 54: San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs quickly approaching us, I was thinking of how certain athletes will get mainstream praise and recognition in the media.
The NFL praises the Quarterbacks who are still playing at the elite level in their 40s like Drew Brees and Tom Brady, but that is also a team sport, it’s an entire team that wins not just one individual.
In boxing it’s man versus man, and if you lose there is nobody to blame but yourself.
Boxing is considered a young man’s game, and when you see a 40-year-old fighter like Manny Pacquiao still beating the young champions, you can’t help but be amazed.
Even sports like Golf and Tennis get more mainstream praise than the sweet science of boxing. I don’t know many people who actually play golf or tennis, growing up those were considered rich people sports.
I know that boxing is a niche sport and it seems it’s losing popularity to the UFC in the United States, but Manny Pacquiao deserves to be recognized by these mainstream media outlets for his achievements.
Pacquiao is an incredible fighter and a once in a lifetime athlete who keeps proving people wrong and achieving great feats in boxing such as being the only 8-division world champion, only fighter to hold a world title in 4 different decades, and eldest boxer to win a welterweight title. I strongly believe he should have won the 2019 BWAA “Fighter of the Year” award but got snubbed.
He is a short 5 feet 5 inches tall, and is always outsized by his opponents, but refuses to back down no matter how big or strong the foe. He is like a honey badger and he will fight you with no fear.
Pacquiao is a proud warrior and he reminds me of the ancient times when tribes and civilizations had to live by a warrior code which includes honor and bravery. Pacquiao comes from that bloodline and always carries the country of the Philippines on his back whenever he enters the ring.
Even at the age of 41, he trains hard and fights hard. There is no quit in him. I still remember when he fought the giant welterweight Antonio Margarito in 2010 at Dallas Cowboys stadium. In the sixth round, Margarito was hitting him with body punches, you could see two consecutive hard body shots that landed making Pacquiao wilt in pain but he refused to take a knee and still kept fighting until the round was over.
It was unreal seeing this former featherweight fighter going toe to toe with a junior middleweight who towered over him and outweighed him significantly in the ring. Most fighters would have quit from the type of pressure Margarito applied but not Pacquiao he fought fire with fire.
Manny Pacquiao lives up the old Mark Twain quote, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
Manny Pacquiao isn’t just one of the greatest boxer’s ever, he is one of the greatest sportsman ever and his name belongs with likes of Lebron James, Tiger Woods, and Tom Brady.
I am an avid fan of boxing and video games. My first fight of memory was watching Prince Naseem Hamed destroy Kevin Kelly. I enjoy all aspects of the sport. My favorite current boxer is Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. My favorite boxing match is Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo 1. I love watching boxing on Pay-Per-View more than being there live because you can really enjoy and watch the action from the best view.