Pacquiao or Mayweather: Who's the Best of the Decade?

We may well get an actual fight before the end of the decade (which comes this year -- feeling old?) to truly hash it out, but for now, the debate rages on.

Recently, RING Magazine's Michael Rosenthal put up a "Greatest fighters by decade" post on their blog. For the 2000s, he put Pacquiao in the top spot, with Mayweather as the runner-up.

Rosenthal says that he got a lot of mail about it, and not all of it was kind. He then makes his case for Pacquiao, and it's quite the impassioned plea:

I think this is a great, great argument, and yes I put Pacquiao ahead of Mayweather as it stands now, too.

The difference, I think, is in a lot of what Rosenthal is saying: Pacquiao went out and sought the greatest challenges. Mayweather makes a show now of fighting men he admittedly deems "too small" to beat him. What kind of fighter is that?

I am not discounting Mayweather's skills, nor am I a hater. The man is absurdly talented, and he can be poetry to watch perform. He is a brilliant tactician who seems like he's generally two steps ahead of his opponents. And he is more than deserving of being called one of this decade's two best.

If Mayweather does it for you over Pacquiao, then I won't argue. But if the two of them finish out their careers as the two have gone so far, ask yourself this: Who's going to be revered for decades? It's Pacquiao. Mayweather will be respected (and I think respect will even grow over time for his skills). But Pacquiao has inspired, become a hero in both his native Philippines and in the sport worldwide.

He has become the beacon of light for a sport that has seen a depressed decade, if not the wasteland or cemetery it has been made out as by the misinformed. Mayweather doesn't have that sort of fire, that passion in him. He could have never been That Guy.

In some ways, I question if it's not plainly related to the fact that relatively speaking, boxing came easy for Mayweather. His father was a fighter, his uncle a better one. He was born, as they say, with boxing gloves on. And both his father and uncle are great teachers. Pacquiao fought his way out of poverty, going from scrawny flyweight world champion to ripped, fully formed junior welterweight champion of the world. It has not been "easy" for Pacquiao to get where he is. He wasn't backed from the moment he entered an amateur ring, groomed for success. He fought. Mayweather performed as a great artist might, rarely missing a note on stage.

It's all sports romance, really; cold, hard skill is very debatable, and no doubt Mayweather's has been at the highest level for longer. But that's not all we're talking about. Yngwie Malmsteen can shred; Stevie Ray Vaughn bled through his guitar. The comparison here is similar.

Source: badlefthook.com