Why Manny still sells

Boxing experts are heralding the dawn of a new Golden Age in the 147-pound welterweight division. In the 1940s, the world celebrated the exploits of Sugar Ray Robinson, Jake LaMotta, Henry Armstrong and Kid Gavilan. In the late 1970s to mid-1980s, it was Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran, Wilfred Benitez and Pipino Cuevas who glamorized the welterweight ranks.

Today, there are four reigning welterweight titlists super WBA champion Sen. Manny Pacquiao, regular WBA ruler Yordenis Ugas, WBC/IBF belts holder Errol Spence and WBO boss Terence Crawford.

Pacquiao, 41, is considered the King of Kings. He hasn’t fought since beating Keith Thurman on a split verdict in Las Vegas in July last year and nobody doubts that he’s the leader of the pack. Ugas, 34, is the WBA’s great pretender. For commercial reasons, the WBA recognizes a “super” champion, distinct from a “regular” champion. Whether it’s a “super” or “regular” championship on the line, the WBA charges a sanction fee. The more title fights, the richer the WBA. “Super” champions are recognized for making at least five title defenses or if a challenger defeats a “super” champion. The confusion is a source of widespread disenchantment in the way boxing is governed by the WBA.

Ugas is a 2008 Olympic lightweight bronze medalist from Cuba and has a 30-4 record, with 12 KOs. His four losses were on points, three by split decision. Spence, 30, is a southpaw with a 26-0 mark, including 21 KOs. A few weeks after unifying the WBC and IBF titles in September last year, Spence survived a car accident that led to a six-day confinement in the hospital. He’s taking on Danny Garcia in his next fight in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 5. Crawford, 33, has a 36-0 record, with 27 KOs and is staking his WBO crown against English challenger Kell Brook in Las Vegas this Saturday.

“While it would be folly to argue the group competes with the 1979 top five welterweights, it is fair to say they are a talented and competitive collection that has made the division’s future a bright one,” wrote Ron Borges in Boxing Monthly magazine. “Pacquiao’s greatness was established long before he took apart Thurman, dropping him with a solid right hand late in the first round and hurting him again several more times, including with a 10th round left to the body that made Thurman wince and retreat as Pacquiao swarmed all over him with a barrage of punches in what became a pivotal round on the judges’ scorecards.”

Borges said Pacquiao remains the star attraction in the division. “Pacquiao is in a unique situation by virtue of the leverage he has as the leading pay-per-view salesman in the marketplace and the fact that everyone wants to be the man to do what Thurman promised but couldn’t deliver – to retire him,” continued Borges. “To do so would make you the fastest gun in town, at least until one of the other young gunslingers in the division steps in to face you. His command of the business side of boxing is a result of being the only fighter to win world championships in eight weight classes and of the massive size of his worldwide fan base. Pacquiao still sells. Pacquiao’s people have expressed a willingness to face Danny or Mikey Garcia if they can’t lure Floyd Mayweather out of retirement.”

Mikey Garcia recently said he’s available to face Pacquiao anywhere, anytime and wouldn’t back off from a duel in Manila. But Mayweather is whom the fans want for Pacquiao. In their 2015 fight that broke pay-per-view and ticket sales records, Pacquiao battled with a torn shoulder starting the fourth round and lost a disputed decision. Would a fully-armed Pacquiao have beaten Mayweather? Will Pacquiao be the man to stain Mayweather’s unblemished record in a rematch? Mayweather-Pacquiao II would cement the legacy of the millennium welterweights in a new Golden Age.