THE LEGENDARY BOXING WRITER POST-FIGHT ASSESSMENT

Bert Sugar is the the boxing writer and historian. He is the best in his profession and here is his post-fight analysis of Diaz-Pacquiao match days ago.

Fighting for the first time at the lightweight level, Pacquiao not only carried his weight well, but also his punch North as well. Almost from the git-go he began dissembling Diaz into small and tidier places as he threw non-stop punches from every angle known to boxingkind, much like a contortionist finally coming into his own, thwacking Diaz almost everywhere but on the soles of his shoes with lead lefts, double and triple right-hand hooks and rapid-fire combos. By the end of the second round his non-stop punching had opened a cut on the bridge of Diaz's nose and left Diaz looking as if he were interested only in catching the first train going south, his bull-like rushes as effective as a fig leaf at a nudist convention.

Later, like red wine blushing at the certification of purity on its label, Pacquiao modestly said, "I feel much, much stronger and more powerful at 135-pounds." Indeed he was, having ventured Columbus-like into the 135-pound class to put on a performance worthy of a Sugar Ray Leonard--or even a Sugar Ray Robinson. And in the process proving himself again "The Mexicutioner," having added another Mexican fighters pelt to his belt, and proving himself to be boxing's "Best Pound-for-Pound Fighter"--as well as proving Aesop's hare-brained moral was all wrong: "slow and steady" never beats speed and strength. This time the tortoise wasn't there at the finish. For Full Story

Coming from Bert - a legendary sports writer - that says a lot about Manny's ring competence. By the way, Sugar Ray Robinson is the universally recognized best pound for pound boxer of all time.