Bob Arum, who used to promote Manny Pacquiao, says Japanese boxer Naoya Inoue has become 'more legendary' than Pacquiao. That's a bold claim, considering Pacquiao's incredible career.
Pacquiao is one of boxing's biggest stars of the 21st century. He's the only eight-division champion in boxing history, winning world titles from flyweight all the way up to super-welterweight. He's also the only boxer to hold world championships across four decades. Pacquiao beat some of the best, including Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley, and Keith Thurman.
But Arum thinks Inoue, known as 'The Monster', has surpassed Pacquiao. Inoue recently defended his undisputed super-bantamweight titles, knocking out Ye Joon Kim in the fourth round.
"Boxers are unique. Manny Pacquiao was a great, great champion, was great for boxing. His career is legendary. Naoya Inoue's career is even more legendary because unlike Manny he has gone through one division after another without losing a fight."
Arum didn't stop there. He also thinks Inoue's got better technical skills than Pacquiao:
"I think that if it comes to the skillset, from a technical boxing standpoint, Inoue has it way over Manny Pacquiao. That's not to denigrate Pacquiao but it's just to say that in Inoue we have not only a ferocious knockout puncher but a very, very well trained technical fighter."
It's a big call from Arum. Inoue's undefeated record across multiple weight divisions is impressive. But Pacquiao's eight world titles in different weight classes will take some beating. What do you think? Has Inoue really surpassed Pacquiao's legendary status?
