Showtime's Al Bernstein speaks on Manny Pacquiao and his transcending ways

May 7th is fast approaching.

On that date the sport will once again slow down as its premier star, Manny Pacquiao, returns to the ring to face off with Shane Mosley inside of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Defending his WBO welterweight crown for a second time, the Filipino star will look to add to what has been an incredible run up the higher weight classes over the past few years.

In an interesting twist, Showtime Pay-per-view will be televising the event, a change of pace from the numerous HBO showcases that we are used to seeing Pacquiao grace. Al Bernstein, analyst to the network since 2003, is a man of insight on many levels and he is welcoming the change with open arms.

"You always want to be a part of something if you know that everybody is going to be looking at it," Bernstein told me earlier this week. "The thing about a Pacquiao fight is that everybody in the sport, and many beyond that are just casual fans, end up watching a Manny Pacquiao fight. That being said, it's very exciting to be able to do it because you want to be a part of it."

Pacquiao became boxing's first eight-division champion last November when he decisioned Antonio Margarito in Dallas, Texas for the vacant WBC junior middleweight crown but that particular win is only a small part to the incredible story he has produced the last two and a half years. I asked Bernstein just how important of a figure Pacquiao has been during that time.

"I think the person we can most easily compare him to is Oscar De La Hoya," Bernstein claimed. "Because Oscar De La Hoya was probably the last person in the sport to transcend the sport. To reach out to casual fans. Floyd Mayweather's a great fighter [but] I don't know if he ever did that. He might have done it, to some degree, but not to the degree that Pacquiao has done. I think Pacquiao has meant a lot to boxing. Boxing always has to always have one marquee fighter that for some reason transcends the sport. He's the one that occupies that space right now."

If you take a look back at Pacquiao's career five or six years ago it's astonishing just how much more refined his arsenal has become. I questioned Bernstein on what exactly his impression was of Pacquiao during his run between 122 and 130 pounds, a time when he was gaining notoriety by challenging the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Erik Morales.

It was then that the General Santos City fighter endeared himself to the American public and Bernstein admits just how much that period moved him.

"Well, there's two things," he continued. "First of all, let me say that the era of Pacquiao, Morales, Marquez and Barrera, I think that those four men created an era that equals Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Duran. That's how good I think those men were. Having said that, Manny Pacquiao back then was about 70% of the fighter he is now. Maybe 60%. After that period he completely reinvented himself and became the very definition of a boxer-puncher and added so much more to his repertoire."

Pacquiao made a huge splash with his December 2008 thrashing of Oscar De La Hoya, a fight in which he moved up from the lightweight to welterweight class. It was a resounding performance that thrust him to super stardom but Bernstein never could have imagined him pulling off such a feat.

"I thought it was a mistake," Bernstein said bluntly. "I thought 'Oh my God'. It was a big jump and I thought it was too big of a jump. Even though De La Hoya of course wasn't at his very best. If I remember I think he was going into that fight a favorite. Obviously it turned out to be the right decision."

I finished our talk off by asking Bernstein what exactly he attributes Pacquiao's ability to fight at the higher weight classes to and he was adamant with his answer. While many have pointed their finger towards the 32-year old while hurling accusations at him of taking performance enhancing drugs, the modest Bernstein simply believes we are witnessing a fighter with uncommon ability and a man who is still evolving late into his career.

"Obviously some people think he's enhancing that with, whether it's steroids or some other designer drug that helps him with it, I personally don't think so. I think that what's made him a great fighter at these higher weights is not extra strength, even though he's powerful; it's been the way he fights. He knocked out Ricky Hatton with one punch but other than that he's not knocking people out with one punch. He's hitting them with hundreds. The reason he's hitting them with hundreds is that he's worked very hard to alter who he was. When I weigh in on that debate I think that going up in weight has been achieved through hard work and he's kind of a freak of nature. He's able to function at those higher weights."

Source: http://www.examiner.com/