14.06.06 – By Sean Ocampo: After years of waiting, Bobby Pacquiao (27-11, 12 KO’s) finally stepped out of his brother Manny’s shadow on Saturday night when he stopped the 38-year-old Kevin Kelly. For the most part, unfortunately, Pacquiao, 25, has been overlooked and underestimated by people, but finally after all these years, he proved them wrong, and is no longer just the other Pacquiao or the younger brother of Manny. Prior to his recent victory against former WBC Featherweight Champion Kevin Kelley, Pacquiao has been a subject of criticisms because of his controversial win over Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez, which many people believed that Famoso won.
Sure, Famoso Hernandez might have come out on the wrong side of a tough decision, but you can’t take the fact that Bobby showed a great performance in his own right.
Without a doubt, I thought Pacquiao’s performance against Hernandez was his best performance to date, controversial or not. Not only that, Pacquiao was the 2nd guy to knock down the very durable Hernandez, which is a remarkable accomplishment when you consider the tough oppoents that Hernandez has been in there with. Pacquiao was able to utilize his speed advantage against a charging Hernandez, but unfortunately, Pacquiao ran out of gas in the later rounds, letting Hernandez narrow the margin of victory.
Recently, Pacquiao signed a nine fight deal with Top Rank, a promotional group that will definitely give him more exposure, something that he is in need of considering his vast talents. More importantly, after seeing him win against top caliber guys in his last 3 outings, I think he’s ready for bigger things.
There have been reports that Bobby Pacquiao is challenging WBC Champion Marco Antonio Barrera, a tough fighter that his brother, Manny, demolished in November 2003, stopping him in the 11th round. So, what are Bobby’s chances against the great Barrera? Well, probably slim but there’s always a chance, who knows? For one thing, Bobby has Freddie Roach, the trainer that deviced a plan for Bobby’s brother, manny, to beat Barrera. Plus, you must consider Barrera’s poor performance in last outing against Houston native Rocky Juarez in May 2005, where Barrera won a very controversial victory, in the minds of many people in the boxing public.
In terms of boxing abilities, I consider Bobby to be better than his brother, Manny. For example, Bobby is a better boxer, with a greater variety of punches to throw, whereas, Manny is just physically gifted with power and speed. However, Bobby is improving and at the still tnder age of 25, he has a lot more time develope his skills. Bobby is fast becoming a great threat to the Super Featherweight division, and is improving every fight.
They call him “the Sniper” and he’s going to gun his way to the division.