Manny Pacquiao vs Errol Spence: Filipino icon picking young lion solidly places him in GOAT conversation

On Friday night, Manny Pacquiao announced via Twitter that he’d be fighting Errol Spence Jr on 21 August in Las Vegas. The news was greeted by delight and disbelief by fans of the Sweet Science.

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— Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) May 21, 2021

My first reaction was to laud Pacquiao’s utter fearlessness. After all, this is a 42-year-old living legend challenging a 31-year-old Spence, arguably the top dog at welterweight (though Terrence Crawford would strongly disagree), one of boxing’s glamour divisions. This is the type of bout — extremely high risk for relatively moderate rewards — that modern fighters simply don’t take. In recent years, one can only think of two such examples: In 2017, when Wladimir Klitschko took on Anthony Joshua and in 2014 when the ageless wonder Bernard Hopkins took on then feared puncher Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev. Notably, both legendary pugilists went down to the young lions who were either arguably in or about to enter their prime. To that list one can also add Floyd Mayweather Jr’s masterful dismantling of current boxing king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in 2013 (slightly undercut by the Mexican’s then comparative lack of ring savvy, no doubt why Mayweather made the match-up in the first place). Pacquiao has, arguably more than any other modern fighter barring Oscar De La Hoya, consistently taken on the best available challenger. The wars with Erik Morales as a young fighter, the dismantling of Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito in a historic run, the back-and-forth quintet with Juan Manuel Marquez, two bouts with the world-class Timothy Bradley. Not to mention his last two fights against top PBC contenders Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman at the age of 40! But signing to fight Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence is a new high even for Pacquiao. Pacquiao, remember, began his career at 106 pounds before beginning his upwards climb as an eight-division champion. Spence, on the other hand, is a massive-sized welterweight, with most expecting him to eventually move up to super welterweight or even middleweight in the near future. What’s worse for Pacquiao is that Spence is a southpaw. And even worse, he’s extremely good. From hanging with Mayweather during a sparring session to dutifully disposing of name fighters such as Danny Garcia, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia, Kell Brook and Lamont Peterson while ascending the boxing ranks, Spence has caught the eye of boxing critics and fans alike. This is a truly dangerous fight for Pacquiao which could see his career brought to a swift and destructive end. Which is why Pacquiao’s selection of Spence is the type of move a Sugar Ray Robinson or a Muhammad Ali might make: Bring me the biggest, baddest monster to slay. Compare Pacquaio signing to fight Spence to what his contemporaries are doing. Alvarez, the reigning money man in boxing, is cleaning out the super middleweight division, but isn’t exactly fighting killers. Terrence ‘Bud’ Crawford’s career has stalled and he may never achieve the lofty heights that once seemed his destiny. Mayweather, Pacquiao’s ‘Fight of The Century’ dance partner, is preparing to fight a YouTuber. Only world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is showing the same desire to take on the best challenges as the ‘Pac Man’. While Mayweather may have won their head-to-head bout, Pacquiao picking Spence — perhaps to close out his glittering career — vaults him over the head of Mayweather when it comes to the all-time great category. And solidly places him in the conversation for the greatest of all time (GOAT).