EDITORIAL - Has Manny achieved boxing greatness?

His promoter declared that when the whole story is written, he will be recorded as the greatest boxer ever lived. And sports commentators from the around the world hailed him one of the greatest pugilists in his generation.

But has Manny Pacquiao achieved boxing greatness enough for him to stand alongside the likes of Mohammad Ali, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinsons and those all-time legends?

A day after his battering of British brawler Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas, Nevada exactly a week ago, a national broadsheet immediately declared Pacquiao as a boxing legend. Almost all sports pages around the world hailed his latest achievement as a feat worthy of a place in history.

While Pacquiao’s exploits in the ring had been amazing, his achievements had taken him to the record book. Except for Oscar de la Hoya, Pacquiao is the only boxer to win six division titles. And he is the only pugilist in the world to earn four lineal world titles.

Basing his records, it is easy to conclude that Pacquiao has entered the realm of boxing greatness. His every performance not only brings unprecedented excitement to millions of spectators but displays the courage and valor of a true warrior who defies the odds as well.

Certainly, Pacquiao’s rare achievements had enabled the world to take a peek at the man who could be the greatest sweet scientist in the future. From a one-dimensional fighter who always relies on the brutality of his left hand, Pacquiao evolves into a two-fisted killing machine working on an exceptional speed.  

 Yes Pacquiao has done tremendous things for boxing. He has become the face that countless experts say will save the great sport that is now in desperate need of a redeemer.   

Despite reaping all these superlatives on what he had done to boxing, the world as of this moment has yet to find the answer to the question as to whether Pacquiao should be elevated to the status of one of the greatest of all time.

Some boxing experts would say Pacquiao should produce more superb performance to validate his claim to all-time greatness. But one thing for sure, he has undoubtedly become the greatest pugilist Asia has ever produced.