Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao facing the formidable Gennadiy Golovkin has been likened to the Kazakh puncher agreeing to fight a heavyweight.
Pacquiao was linked to a battle with ‘GGG’ following words spoken by trainer Freddie Roach, although many took the notion of the bout in jest.
Campaigning at 147 pounds, Pacquiao could drop as low as super-lightweight. At the same time, Golovkin can also fluctuate between 154 and 168.
Therefore, it was suggested that Golovkin could boil down to super-welterweight if Pacquiao did what he did in 2010 against Antonio Margarito.
The Filipino Senator took on the Mexican for the world crown at 154 and arguably put in his best career performance. Pacquiao annihilated the bigger man.
That was a decade ago, though, and Pacquiao is now 41.
Justin Fortune, part of his coaching team, was recently asked his thoughts on Pacquiao potentially rolling back the years.
“I didn’t know if Freddie was joking. It’s a 147-pounder against a full-fledged middleweight. I mean, it’s not like an ordinary man away. Golovkin is a good, best at middleweight. So, I don’t know. I doubt it,” Fortune explained to The Manila Times.
“I will recommend against it. It’s a 147-pounder against, like I said, a full-fledged middleweight. And you know that Manny is very fast and punches very hard.
“But I think Golovkin punches very, very hard, too. If I were a middleweight, I wouldn’t fight a heavyweight. That would be silly,” he added.
ARUM ON MANNY PACQUIAO vs GGG
Pacquiao’s ex-promoter Bob Arum also labeled any Golovkin encounter with the same word.
“I know Golovkin appears to be over the hill, but it’s a fight that could be very dangerous for Pacquiao,” Arum said.
“He isn’t even a welterweight, let alone a middleweight. His best fighting weight is 140; at 147, I think he’s pretty much outsized by all the good welterweights.
“I know he fought Keith Thurman, who had lost his desire to fight and had been out so long. But he would have a real test against Terence Crawford or Errol Spence, guys like that.
“Maybe he could beat them. I don’t know. He thinks he can, but to go up any higher would be silly.”
