Pacquiao: Clear vision, dirty diamond, murky legacy?

As we all know, Manny Pacquiao now stands on the brink of doing something that has never been done in the history of the sport.

It took him 14 years to do it, but nonetheless, many careers have been started and have finished with no other man to ever walk the planet accomplishing this optimal feat of winning 7 world titles in 7 different weight divisions.

As we sit at the gates of this amazing feat, boxing pundits, (both left and right wing), have began to now examine the depth of this historical feat up close (and personal).

No one can deny Manny Pacquiao the great feats he accomplished of the past, but with Miguel Cotto adamantly denying Pacquiao this shot at greatness by refusing to stake his WBO welterweight strap and Arum having limited options to change that, the WBC has entered the equation by CREATING what they call the WBC DIAMOND BELT, which is awarded to fighters who find themselves attempting greatness by fighting at a catchweight.

In this equation, whether Cotto's belt is up for grabs or not, Pacquiao would be able to accomplish his same historical feat by winning a belt that no one in history has ever been awarded.

Now, think about what I just said ---- "No one in the history of the sport has EVER BEEN AWARDED".

This is a strap that was created out of thin air by an organization who has had Pacquiao as a major ambassador over the years, once carrying their version of the boxing strap in the Lightweight, Super-featherweight and Flyweight divisions.

WBC President Jose Sulaiman has adamantly professed a certain level of "affinity" to Pacquiao over the years, but many around the sport find the creation of a title which supports something (catchweights) that many of the boxing public have hated from day one to be a shot in the dark which fails miserably to hit the target.

Right now it means little, but looking forward, if Pacquiao were to win this newly created title, and Cotto's WBO strap isn't on the line, what would this do for Pacquiao's stellar legacy overall - as it relates to this historical feat.

The accomplishment is 7 world titles in 7 different weight classes, but the catch here is that a catchweight isn't a weight class, so would the proverbial 'asterisk' be forever summoned to Manny's name if he never wins a more official strap above the jr. welterweight limit?

This is where the division begins. To the Pacquiao faithful, this would be monumental, but trouble is, to those that prefer to stay more neutral on the matter, the catchweight title hasn't truly caught on, so the end analysis would be that Pacquiao indeed dropped the ball when it comes to achieving history.

Both sides of the fence have legitimate points. For Pacquiao fans, it's a strap above the previous weight division that he will have onw; While for his detractors, it would be a title that isn't in an actual weight class.

For now, there are no answers to how this will all pan out, but in the end, I surely wonder whether fight fans who talk about this to their grandkids one day will give a tale of history, or simply HIS-STORY.
Stay tuned.

Source: examiner.com