Atlas slams Pacquiao, questions his legacy
By Chris Williams: ESPN2 analyst Teddy Atlas was less than impressed with Manny Pacquiao with his recent win over the nearly 40-year-old Shane Mosley recently. During Friday’s ESPN 2 telecast of the Julio Diaz vs. Kendall Holt bout, Atlas took the opportunity to chime in with his thoughts about Pacquiao’s legacy in the fight game. Atlas isn’t impressed with what Pacquiao has done since 2008 starting with his win over Oscar De La Hoya. Atlas sees that fight and the ones since being a case where Pacquiao has beaten guys with a bit of a flaw in their game at the time he fought them.
Here is what Atlas had to say about Pacquiao:
“It [Pacquiao's legacy] a bit of a question mark. It [a win over 39-year-old Mosley] doesn’t do a lot for it. It’s either a neutral or a negative to be quite honest with you because it opens up the question. These last four or five fight that have made him [Pacquiao] an icon, who have they been with? One of them was with Oscar De La Hoya, who looked like a shot fighter, dead at the weight; Another was with [Miguel] Cotto, a fighter who was a damaged fighter psychologically and physically after [Antonio] Margarito did what he did to him. And then with [Joshua] Clottey, who didn’t fight and just covered up all night long. [Ricky] Hatton was made to order. Margarito looked like he had no strength. He was dead at the weight. It makes you think that. And, of course, Mosley, who was almost 40-years-old, came with no effort to try and win the fight, and looked like he was there to just get a paycheck. It makes you start to wonder about his [Pacquiao] legacy. Has he been built up with guys that have been perfectly picked, perfectly matched where they had problems and that’s why he was able to win so convincingly and that’s why he became such a star? I know he’s a terrific fighter with terrific talent, but it kind of asks that question. Has he been in with a bunch of set ups? People will say, [Floyd] Mayweather didn’t want to fight him, but Mayweather was ready to fight him but he wouldn’t give up a tube of blood and take Olympic type testing for performance enhancing drugs. So that fight isn’t being made. You got Tim Bradley out there. Some people will say Bradley isn’t big enough, but Bradley is quick, he’s undefeated, he’s a real game son of a gun. He will do much more than 40-year-old or close to 40-year-old Mosley. I’m saying the guys [Pacquiao] fights were perfectly set up for him. It’s not maybe his fault, but they were guys, one way or another, had a little bit of a flaw.”
I agree with much of what Atlas says here. Pacquiao has fought a lot of guys that had question marks about them at the time he fought them. Pacquiao hasn’t faced Bradley, Mayweather, Timothy Bradley, Paul Williams, Andre Berto, Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams. I would have picked all of them in the past three years rather than the guys that Pacquiao has been matched against.
By Chris Williams: ESPN2 analyst Teddy Atlas was less than impressed with Manny Pacquiao with his recent win over the nearly 40-year-old Shane Mosley recently. During Friday’s ESPN 2 telecast of the Julio Diaz vs. Kendall Holt bout, Atlas took the opportunity to chime in with his thoughts about Pacquiao’s legacy in the fight game. Atlas isn’t impressed with what Pacquiao has done since 2008 starting with his win over Oscar De La Hoya. Atlas sees that fight and the ones since being a case where Pacquiao has beaten guys with a bit of a flaw in their game at the time he fought them.
Here is what Atlas had to say about Pacquiao:
“It [Pacquiao's legacy] a bit of a question mark. It [a win over 39-year-old Mosley] doesn’t do a lot for it. It’s either a neutral or a negative to be quite honest with you because it opens up the question. These last four or five fight that have made him [Pacquiao] an icon, who have they been with? One of them was with Oscar De La Hoya, who looked like a shot fighter, dead at the weight; Another was with [Miguel] Cotto, a fighter who was a damaged fighter psychologically and physically after [Antonio] Margarito did what he did to him. And then with [Joshua] Clottey, who didn’t fight and just covered up all night long. [Ricky] Hatton was made to order. Margarito looked like he had no strength. He was dead at the weight. It makes you think that. And, of course, Mosley, who was almost 40-years-old, came with no effort to try and win the fight, and looked like he was there to just get a paycheck. It makes you start to wonder about his [Pacquiao] legacy. Has he been built up with guys that have been perfectly picked, perfectly matched where they had problems and that’s why he was able to win so convincingly and that’s why he became such a star? I know he’s a terrific fighter with terrific talent, but it kind of asks that question. Has he been in with a bunch of set ups? People will say, [Floyd] Mayweather didn’t want to fight him, but Mayweather was ready to fight him but he wouldn’t give up a tube of blood and take Olympic type testing for performance enhancing drugs. So that fight isn’t being made. You got Tim Bradley out there. Some people will say Bradley isn’t big enough, but Bradley is quick, he’s undefeated, he’s a real game son of a gun. He will do much more than 40-year-old or close to 40-year-old Mosley. I’m saying the guys [Pacquiao] fights were perfectly set up for him. It’s not maybe his fault, but they were guys, one way or another, had a little bit of a flaw.”
I agree with much of what Atlas says here. Pacquiao has fought a lot of guys that had question marks about them at the time he fought them. Pacquiao hasn’t faced Bradley, Mayweather, Timothy Bradley, Paul Williams, Andre Berto, Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams. I would have picked all of them in the past three years rather than the guys that Pacquiao has been matched against.
