Archive for the ‘ Manny Pacquiao ’ Category
I’m not out to change your opinion. If you scored each round and saw that Juan Manuel Marquez was the winner, I respect that. However, if you just “felt” that Marquez won, if you forgot to score the fight round per round, we need to talk.
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(Tihs appears in my gmanews.tv column)
Manny Pacquiao doesn’t need more accolades; however, this will not stop entities from showering the best pound-for-pound fighter with more entries for his already loaded résumé. Pacquiao, for the second time has been voted as ESPY’s Fighter of the Year.
Since its inception in 2007, only Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have won this award. This year Pacquiao was up against two other boxers and two MMA fighters.
Pacquiao didn’t have the best year of his career. He had a tremendous performance against Antonio Margarito but had a lackluster win over Shane Mosley, though the lackluster part was no fault of Pacquiao. When he last won the same award in 2007, it was because of three huge knockout wins over David Diaz, Oscar de la Hoya, and Ricky Hatton. This was, without a doubt, the best stretch of Pacquiao’s career.
The other contenders for the award were WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, UFC Welterweight champion Georges St.-Pierre, and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
Now let’s break down the accomplishments of the other four competitors to see why Pacquiao won the award.
Hopkins’ last two fights were both against Jean Pascal. The first fight was ended in a draw and the second was a win for Hopkins which also put him in the record books as the oldest fighter to even win a championship.
Martinez defeated both Kelly Pavlik and Paul Williams in the past 12 months; the former by unanimous decision and the latter via a devastating knockout victory. Both were impressive wins and the second was even named as Ring Magazine’s Knockout of the Year.
St.-Pierre was his usual dominant self, defeating Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields. However, what hurt his chances of winning was that he failed to give exciting fights. He was dominant but he didn’t appear to be going in for the kill at any point in those fights.
Among all the contenders, only Jones fought three times in the past 12 months and he clearly had the most devastating results. He knocked out UFC veteran Vladimir Matsyushenko in a single round, submitted Ryan Bader via guillotine choke in round 2, then won the UFC light heavyweight title by dominating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and stopping him in the third round.
Although cases may be made that the other fighters had better years than Pacquiao, the Pacman will be tough to beat when it comes to these awards. The UFC is slowly gaining a following, but boxing is still the bigger sport worldwide and Pacquiao is, quite simply, the most well-known fighter in the world today.
Pacquiao-Mosley may have been a dud but the fact is that Pacquiao is still the most visible fighter out there. The fight sold more than a million pay-per-views and received a lot of attention from mainstream media. What Hopkins did was impressive but people are not inclined to support a fighter as old as him and Martinez, as good as he is, is still a relative unknown outside boxing circles.
As long as Pacquiao keeps winning, accolades such as the ESPY Fighter of the Year award will continue to go his way. Pacquiao has built a huge fanbase and it will take a herculean effort for someone not named Floyd Mayweather to take this award from him. Even though the ESPY Fighter of the Year award should be judged solely on the performance of fighters in the past 12 months, fans who flock ESPN’s website to vote still take the fighters entire career into consideration.
I was underwhelmed by the four episodes of Showtime’s Fight Camp 360. I thought they would bring something new to the table but they ended up using many of the things that HBO did with 24/7 and they did it with much less drama.
However, I have to give it to Showtime. Making one more episode AFTER the fight is an insanely good idea.
Watch it before it gets taken down!
Watch them now before they get taken down!
One of my worries about the switch from HBO to Showtime was that the latter was not capable of creating drama through their weekly documentaries about the fight. I wrote about it on an article a few weeks ago.
The first episode came out this week and I have to say that there were no surprises. HBO 24/7 is indeed much better. Heck, even Manny Pacquiao himself did not know what the name of the program was. Anyway, for those who have not seen it yet, here is episode 1.
After I watched the first episodes HBO 24/7, I could not wait to see the fight. HBO 24/7 gave out a palpable sense of excitement. Maybe it was because of the poetic lines or the good narration or even the shots they chose. There was something there that got me excited for the fight.
This episode of Fight Camp 360 had none of that. The only good thing about it is that I saw my ugly mug at 7:23 of the second part 
.
Kidding aside, I hope the next ones will be better than this. The fans deserve better.
Yes, Sir!
Manny Pacquiao has made his way to MTV Cribs.
I used to watch this show a lot in my high-school days. I’d marvel at the lavish ways rich people decorate their homes. I’ve seen my share of rooms just for their shoes, flat screen TVs in the bathroom, rotating garage plates so you won’t have to turn your car, and of course game rooms with all sorts of arcade stuff in there.
The intro was priceless. “Hi I’m Manny PAH-kyaw. Come into my crib.” Slang!!!!!
There were a few quarters that were adamant about boycotting the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley because they felt it was a sham. One of the most vocal detractors of the fight was Yahoo! Sport’s Kevin Iole. (Check out this piece from Dennis Guillermo about the whole thing). Iole wrote that Bob Arum basically called Mosley as a shot fighter after his loss to Floyd Mayweather and his draw against Sergio Mora.
But now that Arum can make money off Mosley, he changed his mind about the American being a shot fighter. Iole called on boxing fans to boycott the fight but Pacquiao didn’t take it sitting down as he quickly threw a counter.
It appears that the boycott didn’t work. 16,000 tickets for Pacquiao-Mosley have been sold in the first three hours.
“Incredible. Simply incredible,” said Bob Arum when he heard the news today. “I have never promoted a fight that has sold so many tickets so quickly. Manny Pacquiao never ceases to amaze the world with his achievements. The excitement he generated today with the initial ticket sales makes it feel like fight week already!”
Add that to the fact that Showtime and CBS will be promoting the living shit out of this fight and we have a potential gold mine coming up. If Pacquiao-Mosley surpasses the 1.4 million views that Mayweather-Mosley had, Pacquiao will officially dislodge Mayweather as boxing’s cash cow.
I hope he does. And I hope Mayweather get so pissed about it that he’d want to face Pacquiao.
As most of you know, Pacquiao-Mosley in heading to Showtime. Bob Arum had a falling out with HBO because he felt he was disrespected when HBO chose to give a certain date to Sergio Martinez over Miguel Cotto.
I’m a big fan on HBO 24/7 docu series. I love how they sell the fight by making the fans feel connected to the two fighters. With the move to Showtime, it seems that Pacquiao-Margarito will be the last 24/7 for the Pacman.
Since their pioneer documentary series to promote the fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., HBO improved 24/7. They have made it an essential for big fights. It creates buzz and excitement. It riles you up for four weeks and it culminates on the day before the fight itself.
Even though Pacquiao has been on four 24/7′s (de la Hoya, Hatton, Cotto, and Margarito), I still feel that HBO can still make interesting documentaries about him.
Another sad part is that we will no longer hear Michael Buffer’s “Let’s get ready to rumble” line in Pacquiao’s fight. Buffer is connected to HBO and Showtime has its own ring announcer in Jimmy Lennon Jr. I have nothing against Lennon but a big fights just doesn’t feel like a big fight when it’s not Buffer on the mic.
I still don’t know what to expect from CBS and Showtime but I hope Arum made the right decision for Pacquiao. I wish that he didn’t do this for his personal gain alone.
Freddie Roach is getting his own reality show. Yup. The head honcho of the world-famous Wild Card Gym of Los Angeles will be receiving a five-figure paycheck for every episode and as of now there are 13 episodes planned for the first season of, hopefully, many.
It will be shot on a cinema verité or direct cinema format which means there will be little or no script or voice overs. Cameras will be following him around, shooting every aspect of his life from his family to his gym to his battle against Parkinson’s disease.
I’m very happy for Roach because he deserves all the accolades he’s been getting. He is one of the best minds/tacticians that boxing has ever seen and it would be totally awesome that we’ll get to see how a legend lives everyday. I’m specially excited about this because AMC is producing it. As you may know, they are also the people behind Mad Men and The Walking Dead. Safe to say, Roach’s bio will be in good hands.
Moving on.
Bob Arum, fresh from pissing of a bazillion people by choosing Shane Mosley to fight Manny Pacquiao, has suggested that Juan Manuel Marquez and Andre Berto fight each other and the winner will get a shot at Pacquiao next. It’s a smart idea from Arum but I don’t think Marquez should be lured into it.
In my opinion, Marquez must not fight in the welterweight division unless it’s a big money fight against Pacquiao. First and foremost, the Mexican is a lightweight which means he fights at 135 pounds. Berto on the other hand has never fought a day below the welterweight division. We all know what happened in Dinamita’s last excursion to 147. He was humiliated by Floyd Mayweather. He was too slow and too sluggish because of all the extra weight he had to put on.
Marquez-Berto could be a pay-per-view but I don’t see it getting many buys. Both fighters will be lucky to make around 2 million against each other and for Marquez, the risks far outweigh the rewards.
However, I think there is one thing that could entice both fighters into doing this. I humbly suggest that Bob Arum signs an agreement wherein the winner of the Marquez-Berto fight will indeed get Pacquiao next. Arum mentioned that the winner could face/deserves to face Pacquiao but putting in into writing and signing on the dotted line will make this irresistible for both Marquez and Berto. That’s of course unless a Pacquiao-Mayweather gets signed. To prevent complications in the negotiations, they will have a pre-approved contract which will be 500,000 higher than their earlier proposed contracts, which means Berto will be getting 4 million and Marquez will be getting 5.5 million against Pacquiao if they fight each other first.
Let’s hope Arum is willing to walk the talk. It would totally suck if Berto and Marquez fought each other then get by-passed by Arum by choosing Yuri Foreman or Miguel Cotto as Pacquiao’s next opponent after Mosley.
It was down to three fighters: Juan Manuel Marquez, Andre Berto, and Shane Mosley. A few days back Bob Arum announced that Mosley will get the chance to fight Pacquiao and 90% of the boxing world expressed their disappointment through various ways.
Let’s break down the three fighters and decipher why Mosley was selected. To make things easier to understand, I’ll list down a bunch of factors then I’ll rate how the three candidates would rank.
Money
At the end of the day, boxing is a business. People turn to boxing to earn money. Nobody in their proper minds would want to undergo weeks of rigid training and take and dish out punishment for 36 minutes for shits and giggles. All fighters want to be paid and paid well. He maybe hella old for a fighter but Mosley has sold more pay-per-views than Marquez, and Berto has never headlined a pay-per-view. Mosley also has a wider fanbase and because he is an American, he can promote the fight better than Marquez who speaks mostly in Spanish (English clearly isn’t one of Dinamita’s strengths).
Marquez and Mosley both asked for 5 million while Berto asked for 3.5 million. All of them also asked for a share in the pay-per-view buys. If Marquez asked for a lower amount than Mosley, I think he could have landed the fight but Arum knew that Mosley will sell more pay-per-views than Marquez. It’s true that many boxing purists think Pacquiao-Marquez is the better match but the problem is that this doesn’t mean it will sell as much as Pacquiao-Mosley. Arum is banking on pay-per-view buys from casual boxing fans, the kind of fans who haven’t seen Mosley-Mora to buy the pay-per-view because he thinks that hardcore boxing fans will buy any card with Pacquiao in it. The fact of the matter is that Mosley is a household name in the US, Marquez is not.
Money Ranking:
1. Mosley
2. Marquez
3. Berto
Pre-Fight Buzz
I’m sure the last thing Arum wants to see is another Pacquio-Joshua Clottey fight. Arum knows that Pacquiao needs a good dance partner to make money. Marquez has proven in the past that he can give the featherweight and super featherweight versions of Pacquiao all he can handle. It’s is not against common sense to think that Marquez poses the biggest threat to Pacquiao. However, Pac-Man underwent a ton of changes after their two fights. He’s now a more dangerous fighter who can hurt his opponents with either hand. The Pacquiao that Marquez fought relied heavily on his left straight. He only used his right to jab as a prelude to the straight left. Berto is an unknown. He is undefeated and he knocked out his last opponent in the first round. However, he’ll be taking a considerable step up in competition is he faces Pacquiao. A Pacquiao-Marquez trilogy will be highly acceptable to the public on the merits of their first two fights.
Berto has been feasting on Class C fighters while Pacquiao is a Class A. But there’s an added storyline wherein the hungry young lion aims to dethrone the king of the pride. The young undefeated champion versus the battle-tested veteran is one of the most effective promotional strategies in boxing. Mosley will bring an exciting fight because he has a sturdy chin and he has handspeed and power. However, this is not the perception of most boxing enthusiasts because of the results of his past two fights.
Pre-Fight Buzz Ranking:
1. Marquez
2. Berto
3. Mosley
Danger
Another factor that will convince the audience to buy the fight is if they feel the opponent can beat Pacquiao. Although a Marquez fight could be fun, at this stage of their careers, he will not beat Pacquiao, specially in the welterweight division. Berto can give Pacquiao a pretty good fight but as I’ve said above, he isn’t a proven entity. I think he could use a bit of seasoning. If Berto faces and beats a Top 5 welterweight, he’ll definitely be the best choice for Pacquiao after Mosley. Even if he is old and his speech is kind of slurred, Mosley is still a dangerous fighter. His chin is made of granite and although his speed has diminished, the power is still there. Do I think Mosley will beat Pacquiao? No. Can he pose problems for Pacquiao? Definitely.
Danger Ranking:
1. Mosley
2. Berto
3. Marquez
Legend
Even if I think Mosley is the most dangerous, a win over him won’t add much to Pacquiao’s legend. Mosley will always be known as a fighter who was coming off a loss and a draw before fighting Pacquiao. Berto, on the other hand, will give Pacquiao’s résumé something new. After he was named the best fighter in the planet, Pacquiao has not fought an undefeated fighter. Untested or not, Berto is still an undefeated world champion and that should account for something. A convincing win over Marquez will be the most remembered even if it won’t be the hardest to achieve. Their two fights were classics and if Pacquiao proves once and for all that me is better than Marquez, then his legend will grow even further.
Legend Ranking:
1. Marquez
2. Berto
3. Mosley
Why I would have picked Berto
Joshua Clottey wasn’t a well-known fighter either but the pay-per-view numbers in the Pacquiao-Clottey match were okay. In m estimation, a Pacquiao-Berto fight will get, at the very least, as much buys as Pacquiao-Clottey. It will surely get more if HBO gives them a 24/7 series and even if it doesn’t get as much as what Mosley and Marquez will get, the fact that his purse was 1.5 million less that the two should have persuaded Arum to pick Berto.
I think Berto will be good enough to give Pacquiao a good challenge although he will ultimately lose to the Philippine dynamo. However, a good performace by Berto will be good for boxing because even if he loses, he will gain respect if the young gun shows toughness against Pacquiao. Boxing will definitely not benefit from a Pacquiao-Mosley match because the latter is old. Marquez-Pacquiao would have been fun but I seriously do not understand those complaining about picking Mosley and suggesting that Marquez was the better choice. If you put Marquez and Mosley against each other at welterweight, I’ll have my money on Mosley. So whining about Mosley then saying that Pacquiao should face Marquez is ludicrous, in my opinion.
Mosley was selected because of his drawing power. He is still the most well known among the three and he also is the biggest draw. Arum want to think that the loss to Floyr Mayweather and the draw with Sergio Mora were just bumps along the way for Mosley. Another factor was than Mosley is a free agent. He would not have been picked if he was under Golden Boy Promotions.
All of this stuff could have been averted if only one Floyd Mayweather put his money (pun intended) where his mouth is.
PS: I don’t get why other writers are saying that this fight is for money and not for country. Can’t it be both for money and country? Pacquiao has always fought for the money. Boxing is prize fighting for chrissake. You fight for a prize.
Pacquiao has been representing us very well for a while now. He has been a bright spot in an otherwise dim country. He’s been giving back to the people, specially in the provinces. Who are we to whine just because we don’t like the fighter he’ll take on next? We’ve all become spoiled little brats. We’ve gotten so used to him taking on the most difficult fights that we lose our minds when we found out he’d fight a 39 year old guy. If anything, I think Pacquiao deserves a fight off. His opponents kept on getting better and stronger and he deserves to fight a medium-risk, high-reward boxer in Mosley.
