Ernie Sanchez

Manny Pacquiao is not perfect. He's not unbeatable. He's not impossible to root against. Imagine that. In the last seven months, nothing has quantitatively changed for Pacquiao, who is still on a winning streak and still one of the most insanely famous people in the world. And yet it feels like things are on the precipice of changing. There's no need to trot out the "oh, how the mighty have fallen" cliché for him just yet. But there's something vaguely in flux about the Filipino living legend's aura, and the idea of the mighty falling is suddenly conceivable.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV was held on December 8, 2012, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, billed unofficially as deciding the WBO 'Champion of the Decade' belt. Pacquiao was knocked out with one second left in the sixth round by a right to the jaw, sending him toppling face-first into the canvas.