Manny Pacquiao vs Adrien Broner: A boxing legend, a presidential hopeful, Pacquiao’s genius is not done yet
The Filipino enters the ring for the 70th time this month, 20 years on and 40 pounds heavier than when he first won a world title at 112 pounds - the type of journey which will never be repeated
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.We know the tale about Manny Pacquiao’s father cooking his son’s dog, we know about Pacquiao the Filipino politician handing out free rice, the one about the karaoke-mad entourage of 250, the ceasefire by rebel warlords when he fights and in all the glorious telling and retelling we often now forget Pacman the fighter.
This Saturday at the MGM in Las Vegas, Pacquiao will enter the ring for the 70th time, he is 40, looks ancient in harsh light, has been a professional since he was just 17, when he was 40 pounds lighter than he will be at the weekend.
Pacquiao is a living legend in the boxing business, having won his first world title in Thailand 20 years ago and then moving from the flyweight limit of 112 pounds – that’s eight stone – to the light-middleweight limit of 11 stone during the type of journey that will never be repeated. Each year the old men retire from the sport with their old ways, taking away their very real connection to the men from the Forties and Fifties.
On Saturday, he defends his WBA welterweight title against Adrien Broner, a former champion with a tacky love of stupid acts, including flushing cash down the toilet and insulting workers at fast-food restaurants. Make no mistake, Broner without boxing ability would be lucky to get a job flipping burgers.
There is also a sinister side to Broner, a side that he struggles to conceal and there are various and accumulating charges of assault. However, when he wants to fight he can and he is nearly 12 years younger than Pacquiao. It is a good fight and part of Pacquiao’s seemingly endless list of proper fights.
There is one quite extraordinary sequence of 14 consecutive fights – he wins them all and moves through the weights, adding and dropping world titles between 2006 and 2012. Every single one of the men he beats during the run has held a world title, or would hold one again, and most would be considered the best fighters of their generation.
Pacquiao was majestic back then and left the glittering names to form a heap of the bloody, broken and bemused at his tiny feet. I know “My Dad Ate My Dog’ is a cool headline, but stopping, dropping and breaking Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in just eleven months is a trio of utterly compelling wins – the type of tiny sequence that ancient fighters have become legends with.
I saw their beaten faces up close, witnessed the shock and awe in their glassy eyes as they wandered off looking for answers in defeats they never dreamed of. At that point, late 2008 through the end of 2009, Pacquiao was the world’s greatest fighter and that is when Floyd Mayweather went running, slipping behind glib excuses and the occasional racist slur.
In the Pacquiao sequence he beats Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez. He slays the Mexican greats in fight after fight at different weights, for different titles, breaking the fighting hearts of the boxers, their backers and the fans.
In 2010 the nasty Mexican Antonio Margarito, an uncompromising beast of about eleven stone with a dark past, was given a boxing lesson in front of over 50,000 fans at the Cowboys stadium in Texas. It was a shock result in many ways because Pacquiao made it look so easy; he won a world title at his seventh different weight when he beat Margarito and the pay-per-view revenue was just shy of 80 million dollars.
At that point, Pacquiao was already a full-time congressman in the Filipino government, having won his seat at an election in May of that year. He is now a senator, one of 24 and is, at 40, eligible to run for president. Pacquiao’s political game is serious, it is not just a convenient banquet for personal riches and his ambitions are open: he fancies the big job. The boxing genius is not finished yet with defying odds.
Broner could beat this Pacquiao, this faded giant with the endless smile, but he would have been added to an earlier list as another victim. Pacquiao could expose a man at distance and up close with his feet and switches. He would have left hapless Broner ruined like so many brilliant fighters, bewildered by the fists of Manny Pacquiao, the boxing legend and 2022 Filipino presidential hopeful.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments