What if a Young Manny Pacquiao Did Not Bypass The Bantamweights? (Part 3 of 3)
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 18 Jul 2020
Pacquiao and Sahaprom (R).
Manny Pacquiao actually fought six bouts from the time he moved two divisions up to the super bantamweight from flyweight before he got his big break against Lehlo Lebwaba by June 2001.
Manny debuted at 122 lbs by scoring a spectacular crushing second round technical knockout of world rated Reynante Jamili in December 1999 winning the WBC international super bantamweight title. He would defend the belt five straight times, beating among others world rated Arnel Barotillo and Nadel Hussein before meeting Lebwaba.
So as early as a few months after losing his WBC world flyweight belt, Manny had proven that he could not only compete at super bantamweight but dominate as well.
Hence, there would have been no question about Manny's ability to fight for and win a world title at bantamweight had he and his handlers opted to make a pitstop at 118 lbs prior to his move to the featherweights.
Except in the matter of effectively managing his weight given his growing and maturing body which would have spelt the difference between success or failure.
A stint at bantamweight for Manny would therefore have to be short but worthwhile, meaning a possible immediate crack at any of the world title.
The easiest and most immediate prospect at around that time would have been for Manny to vie for the WBO title vacated by the popular American champion Johnny "Mi Vida Loca" Tapia who was moving up to 122.
Panamanian Mauricio Martinez was the then leading contender who, as what actually happened, was paired against an unheralded but undefeated Argentine Lester Fuentes, proceeding to win the vacant title by 5th round knockout.
Murad Muhammad, through his wife, Miriam, could have lobbied for the WBO to pick Manny, a former WBC flyweight champion who already had a name and reputation to serve as Martinez foe for the vacant title.
The WBO at that time was craving for more prestige and recognition and would have deemed it fitting to welcome a more known former world champion as Manny to fight for its bantamweight title left by Tapia, one of its few popular titleholders.
Had that happened, Manny could have fought Martinez for the vacant WBO bantamweight crown in the main event of a Murad Muhammad promotion in the USA sometime in the middle of 2000. It could have been Manny's fight debut in the US.
What could have been the result of that fight?
No doubt in my mind that Manny would have lost no time in dispatching Martinez, probably inside the first three to four rounds.
The Panamanian was building a reputation as a knockout artist, coming off a series of KO wins but he had earlier been stopped by American Freddie Norwood in one of his only two previous losses.
Martinez, buoyed by his series of knockout wins and facing a bantamweight debutante in Manny would have come out swinging. He would have been confidently competitive until a well placed left hook by Manny put him in the seats of his trunks, dazed and badly hurt near the end of the second round.
He would not recover even after the one minute break as Manny would have pounced on him, flooring him two more times in the third, the last after a flurry that would have forced the referee to stop the fight and save him from more grievous damage.
Thus, Manny would have won his second world championship in as many weight classes at bantamweight in his very first fight moving up from the flyweight.
What could have been had Manny and his camp pursued a different course against the other world champions in the division?
The next best option would have been to go after WBC titlist Veerapol Sahaprom as being a former champion at flyweight in the WBC, Manny could have petitioned the sanctioning body for a world title crack.
But he first would have had to fight and defeat a WBC rated contender to earn a ranking and a crack at Sahaprom. The easiest way to achieve that could have been a fight against fellow Pinoy, the veteran Jess Maca for the OPBF and/or the PABA regional title/s.
I have no doubt about Manny beating Maca by knockout or at the very least, lopsided decision in order to get a chance at revenge or redemption against another Thai in the person of Sahaprom in a world title contest.
I think Manny would have been extra motivated in chasing after Sahaprom had he fought at bantamweight. Aside from being a Thai, Sahaprom was the more popular of the bantamweight champions being the holder of the more prestigious WBC title. He was also an accomplished fighter and titleholder, beating Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, the ex champion twice and future super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka four times!
A fight against Sahaprom therefore could have been a difficult, more challenging one for Manny.
But given the fact that Manny was already showing the potentials of a future uber competitor and terror in many weight classes, I think Manny could have overcome early difficulties against Sahaprom, eventually pounding and wearing the Thai down to a technical knockout defeat by the middle rounds.
Thus, Manny could have added the WBC bantamweight title to his former belt at flyweight.
I don't think any of the other champions Paulie Ayala and Tim Austin would have fared any better against Manny at that point, barring any major weight issues saddling the then up and coming boxing's version of the Pacman.
With the bantamweight title secured, Manny would have eventually proceeded with his world titles blitzkrieg still on schedule by 2001.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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