Six degrees of separation is a theory that everyone in the world is separated by no more than six social connections.
In other words, you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows Queen Elizabeth. Or so the concept goes.
We’re borrowing the six degrees concept – well, sort of loosely – to connect fighters from the past to their more contemporary counterparts in our new occasional feature, “Degrees of Separation.”
Example: Let’s connect Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Super easy; we did it in two steps. Senior fought Grover Wiley, who fought Junior.
In this installment of the Boxing Junkie feature, we decided to feature Manny Pacquiao a second time. Earlier, we linked the future Hall of Famer to Filipino great Flash Elorde. We’re going back farther this time, connecting Pacquaio to the first Filipino to hold a world title, Pancho Villa.
Villa became flyweight champion when he stopped an aging Jimmy Wilde in 1923 and held the title until he died two years later, at only 23. Villa last fought in 1925, 95 years ago. So it took us 13 steps to connect him to Pacquiao.
Check it out:
Pancho Villa fought …
Jimmy McLarnin, who fought …
Lou Ambers, who fought …
Henry Armstrong, who fought …
Ray Robinson, who fought …
Joey Archer, who fought …
Emile Griffith, who fought …
Bennie Briscoe, who fought …
Marvin Hagler, who fought …
Ray Leonard, who fought …
Hector Camacho, who fought …
Oscar De La Hoya, who fought …
Manny Pacquiao
Could you do it in fewer steps? Let us know via Twitter or Facebook. Or you can contact me on Twitter. And please follow us!
Read more:
Degrees of separation: Connecting John L. Sullivan to Deontay Wilder
Degrees of Separation: Linking Filipino greats Flash Elorde, Manny Pacquiao
Degrees of Separation: Linking Japanese greats Fighting Harada and Naoya Inoue
Degrees of Separation: Linking Tyson Fury to first U.K.-born heavyweight champ
Degrees of Separation: Connecting Canelo Alvarez with Mexican legends