Pacquiao's meteoric rise impresses Bob Arum

LAS VEGAS - Even Bob Arum, in his more than 40 years in boxing, can’t find the answer.

“Let me tell you this. I have never in my 40 or 46 years in boxing seen anything like this. This is not supposed to happen,” said Arum at the main lobby of the MGM Grand in the morning of Tuesday as he waited for the arrival of the greatest boxer in the planet today, Manny Pacquiao.

Arum, a legendary promoter, said it’s just unbelievable, phenomenal, in fact, how Pacquiao has risen from the day he first fought professionally at 105 lb to those days he won world titles in the flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight and junior welterweight divisions.

On Saturday, the 30-year-old Filipino shoots for a seventh world title in a different weight class, the WBO welterweight crown being held tightly by Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. No boxer in history has won as many titles in as many divisions. And Pacquiao is on the threshold of that very rare distinction.

Arum raised a few more questions that should be answered at the MGM Grand Garden Arena three days from now.

“When somebody goes up, the question is does he take his punch with him? I mean does it have an effect when he’s fighting bigger guys? Manny is punching harder now so the question is how much of his speed does he lose as he goes up in weight? But Manny is getting faster and nobody has ever seen anything like that in boxing,” said Arum.

It’s not difficult to agree with the ageless Top Rank president and Harvard lawyer.

“This is a phenomenon we’re seeing before our very eyes. Here you have Manny Pacquiao going up in weight goes from one division and he’s fighting probably the toughest welterweight in the world. A guy who punches hard and takes a good punch -- a real, real top welterweight,” said Arum.

“And Manny’s going up against him (Cotto). Who knows what’s going to happen? People ask me all the time who’s gonna win? The truth is, ‘I don’t know. I really don’t know. If this fight is going this way or that way I don’t know.’”

Arum said he’d be waiting to find out if Pacquiao could take or handle Cotto’s punch. If he does, then good.

“The question is will Miguel be able to catch Manny with those devastating left hooks and if he does how will Manny handle that punch because I’m pretty confident that Manny, if hit, will never have been hit harder than he would. How does Manny react? Those are the questions,” Arum raised.

Pacquiao was asked how he managed through the years, going up from one division to the next, and in the process beating great champions like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, David Diaz, Oscar dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton.

“It just happened. I watched the tape [when a 105-pounder] and I’m a kid, cocky. I struggled to make weight and lost my flyweight belt because I couldn’t make weight. Now, I feel strong. Like David and Goliath, as an example. But if you believe in God and train hard, if you love your opponent and love everybody, it is good,” he told fightnews.com.

Arum needs a little more proof. And that should come Saturday.