Since Manny Pacquiao beat Antonio Margarito on Saturday night in Dallas, there's been debate as to whether the 31-year-old Filipino is the best fighter of all time.
Many NESN.com users were quick to say "yes," with 92 percent of respondents voting for him as the best ever.
Bob Arum, who knows a bit more about the sport than the average fan, agrees. The promoter even went as far as saying that Pacquiao is better than Muhammad Ali.
Of course, as a promoter, Arum's job is to create hype for the fighters, which doesn't necessarily require 100 percent truthfulness. Still, the words of the 86-year-old certainly carry a bit more weight, and he points to one major difference between Pacquiao and the rest of the great fighters.
"I look at Manny as being the best that I've ever seen, including Ali," Arum, who's been involved in boxing since the '60s, said, according to Reuters. "Ali was a great fighter and had great, great attributes and it's really unfair to compare a big guy like Ali with a little guy like Pacquiao.
"But when you look at the skill sets, Pacquiao is faster," Arum said. "Now you could say he is a little guy so he should be faster, but Ali essentially had just the right hand. His left hand could jab and everything but it wasn't power punching. … [Pacquiao's] left and right hand hit with equal power and that is what destroys his opponents."
Arum said that the ability to hit with equal force with each hand makes Pacquiao more dangerous than Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.
