Countdown To Mayweather-Pacquiao: Legit Super Fight Or Manufactured One?

Published

9 years ago

March 3, 2015

Starting with this column I’ll be doing one article per week, Countdown To Mayweather-Pacquiao, until the fight, examining it from different angles. I’ll cover their best fights, what a win or a loss means for each fighter, who will win and why, and more.

Is the upcoming spectacle between welterweight title holders Floyd Mayweather 47-0 (26) and Manny Pacquiao 57-5-2 (38) a legitimate Super Fight? The obvious answer to that has to be yes since it will no doubt be the highest grossing fight in fistic history. And a lot of that has to do with the fact the bout is happening during a time when social media and fan access is exploding. Fans can follow and communicate with star athletes today more than any other time in history via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and whatever else comes online between now and May 2, 2015. And nobody manipulates and tweaks via social media better than Mayweather.

The standard in which all modern Super Fights are measured by is the first meeting between undisputed heavyweight champion “Smokin” Joe Frazier 26-0 (23) and former undisputed champ Muhammad Ali 31-0 (25). It was accurately billed the “Fight of The Century” and took place on March 8th 1971 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. And you better believe to those who are fortunate enough to be living through the experience of both events…May 2, 2015 is certainly no March 8, 1971.

The first Frazier-Ali bout along with Leonard-Duran I, Leonard-Hearns I, and Hagler-Hearns were more authentic in that they featured two fighters where it was hard to picture either losing at the time of the bout, something that isn’t anywhere near the case regarding Mayweather-Pacquiao.

When Frazier fought Ali in 1971, Joe had succeeded Muhammad during his forced 43 month exile from boxing. And let there be no doubt about it, Frazier looked every bit as impressive going through the heavyweight division as Ali had four years earlier. When Leonard defended his welterweight title against Duran in 1980, Leonard was in the midst of surpassing Duran as the biggest star fighter in boxing who wasn’t a heavyweight. Duran entered their bout 71-1 (57) while Leonard was undefeated 27-0 (18). Five years after Leonard-Duran I, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns met for the undisputed middleweight title. Sugar Ray Leonard was retired at the time and the winner between Hagler and Hearns would determine who boxing’s biggest star was.

The fights above evolved through a natural progression, unlike Mayweather-Pacquiao.

The ballyhoo for Floyd vs. Manny was manufactured via Mayweather refusing to fight Pacquiao for five and a half years. Pacquiao really didn’t enter the picture as far as being a threat to Mayweather until he knocked out Ricky Hatton in two rounds in May of 2009. It reached a fever pitch six months later when Manny took apart and stopped Miguel Cotto, who at the time was on the list of fighters that most fans and media felt Mayweather avoided. After Pacquiao beat Cotto the drumbeat started for him to fight Mayweather, only Floyd’s outward reluctance projected the thought that perhaps Pacquiao is the guy who can take Mayweather down. And the longer the fight was delayed the more Pacquiao became the peoples’ hope and choice to beat Mayweather.

The fact that Manny was out-boxed by Erik Morales and lost, didn’t look so terrific losing a dubious decision to Timothy Bradley, and was knocked out cold for two minutes by Juan Manuel Marquez didn’t matter. All that mattered was Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao….so he must be afraid of losing to him. And it’s that false narrative that made the fight the blockbuster it now is. Had Floyd and Manny fought in 2010 it wouldn’t be the monster fight it is today. After five plus years fans are dying to see if Pacquiao is/was the fighter to bring Mayweather down.

The drama attached to Mayweather-Pacquiao is simply because Mayweather’s perceived fear of Pacquiao deemed Manny to be the only guy capable of erasing the 0 from the right side of Floyd’s record, nothing more. Had these two fought in 2010 when it was a more even match up, it’s no more anticipated than De La Hoya-Trinidad was in 1999. But Mayweather, by allowing the masses to think he feared Manny, led everybody to latch onto the hope that he was the only guy who could beat him. Finally, after running out of opponents that the public wanted to see them fight, they’re going to fight each other. And with Mayweather agreeing to the fight, the threat of Pacquiao winning lives on.

The other difference between the Super Fights above and Mayweather-Pacquiao is, everybody was split as to who would win them before the fight. And that’s what made them much more authentic and genuine. The fact that it was easy to find someone who would bet you even up that Frazier was going to beat Ali or the reverse fostered the anticipation. And the same was true regarding Leonard-Duran I, Leonard-Hearns I and Hagler-Hearns. If you thought Leonard was going to beat Duran, it was easy to find someone who would be glad to bet you even up that Roberto was the better fighter and would come out as the victor (Leonard was a 9-5 favorite). Mike Tyson was a 4-1 favorite over Michael Spinks when they fought in June of 1988. I had no doubt that Tyson was going to win before the fight, but even as a huge underdog it was easy to find guys who were willing to wager on Spinks even up. The same held true for the Hagler-Leonard bout. Marvin was a 4-1 favorite over Ray, but there were more than a few out there who were picking Leonard to win.

Last week I contacted 14 writers and friends whose opinion I value most when it comes to boxing. I asked them who they were picking to win the fight. Only one of 14 picked Pacquiao, and his reasoning for that was…”Manny would win a gift decision so there would be a rematch.” If Mayweather-Pacquiao is being sold as the can’t miss fight of the last quarter century, why do those who know see it so lopsidedly for one side? So much for the anticipation regarding the outcome!

As for national pundits, only Skip Bayless of ESPN so far has picked Pacquiao to win without reservation. However, that shouldn’t even count because Bayless is the least objective talking sports head in history. He is blinded by the disdain he harbors for Mayweather. Even if inside he believes Mayweather is going to win, he can’t back off of what he’s been saying for at least two years that I know of. Also, did you ever hear Skip discuss the sport of professional boxing? It isn’t pretty! I’d say its equivalent to listening to Sugar Ray Leonard instruct Smokey Robinson on how to sing, or Smokey trying to teach Sugar how to throw a punch.

This past weekend I was at a sports bar that has already begun advertising that they’re showing the fight. I purposely asked 10 male patrons who they were picking to win between Mayweather and Pacquiao? Nine of them said Mayweather. I asked the one who picked Manny if he was willing to meet me back there on May 2nd and make a wager on the fight where I have Mayweather and he has Pacquiao? He said, “I’ll meet you back here to watch the fight, but I’m not sure enough to bet you.” I replied, I’ll give you the Vegas line, 2 1/2 to 1. He said, “No thanks.”

Floyd Mayweather dictated the narrative that Manny Pacquiao is the only guy who has a chance to shut him up, and regardless of the anticipation for the fight, nobody believes him. And if you doubt that, see how many pundits and fans are willing to outright pick Pacquiao to beat Mayweather without hedging. Oh, they’ll give you the story about how he can win, but their convictions are very brittle as opposed to those picking Mayweather to win.

Yes, from a monetary vantage point Mayweather-Pacquiao is a legitimate Super Fight. And of course Pacquiao has a chance to upset Mayweather. It’s not like Manny is some no hope challenger. But for such an historic fight that is so highly anticipated, why is everybody picking the same side to come out victorious? That to me takes away the drama. Unlike the other Super Fights, I can easily envision either Mayweather or Pacquiao losing on May 2nd. I saw Jose Luis Castillo beat Mayweather in the ring and get robbed out of the decision the first time they fought, and Mayweather had his hands full with a wild and crude brawler named Marcos Maidana in his last two bouts……As for Pacquiao, he’s been defeated five times previously. What makes it such a big deal if Mayweather is the sixth to accomplish what five others have already done, and did so at a time when Manny was closer to his peak and fighting at his most optimal weight?

Fans clamored to see Frazier fight Ali because it was too tough to pick the winner, and it was hard to picture either of them losing to anybody at the time. Ditto that for Leonard vs. Duran I, Leonard vs. Hearns I, and Hagler vs. Hearns. Today fans are clamoring to see Mayweather vs. Pacquiao because by Floyd never fighting Manny, Manny became the “it” guy. The before mentioned fights were put together quickly as the public demand escalated. And that was even the case for Frazier-Ali I as well. Ali met Joe five months after his boxing license was re-instated after not fighting for 43 months. The Super Fights mentioned here didn’t need five plus years of hype. The hook for the upcoming Mayweather-Pacquiao clash was driven by Mayweather stringing the public along, wondering will he or won’t he ever fight Pacquiao.

From a perception perspective, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is one of the most lopsided Big Fights in boxing history going in. And a lot of that has to do with almost everyone agreeing on who will win it. The upcoming Mayweather-Pacquiao bout will garner professional boxing its biggest stage in nearly a quarter of a century, and that’s because the bout is a manufactured event via team Mayweather and a complicit boxing media. Together, they forged one of the greatest marketing campaigns ever. That said, it does have the making of being a very fan friendly and drama-filled bout regardless of who wins.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

Philadelphia’s K & A Boxing Club plus the return of Carto & Boots

Published

6 hours ago

May 9, 2024

Luis A. Cortes III

Philadelphia's-K-&-A-Boxing-Club-and-the-return-of-Carto-and-Boots

Boxing with its ever-changing business landscape tests the commitment of its fans like no other sport. It doesn’t help that so many fighters create more drama outside the ring than inside it. This being the case, it’s always refreshing to learn about the people, places, and associations that are working for the betterment of the sport and the communities that they serve.

K & A Boxing Club at 3017 F Street in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood and its head trainer Timmy Sinese (pictured below with one of his students) is an example of one of these refreshing cases. While it is important to note that, yes, the gym is right across the street from McPhearson Square (unofficially known as “Needle Park”) in one of the worst open air drug neighborhoods in the country, what Sinese and the Philadelphia Pugilistic Association are doing for the youth in that area goes beyond the familiar story of a gym being a haven for at-risk boys and an alternative to a life on the street.

This Saturday (May 1), Sinese and company are putting on their first amateur show at Our Lady of Port Richmond (3233 E. Thompson St.). “All the proceeds from this event are going to kids that are talented but lack the resources to be seen. These kids can fight and without the kids there would be no pros,” states Sinese. A Kensington lifer, he would know about that neighborhood and the talent that it harbors.

Sinese is a veteran of the U.S. Navy where he spent four years learning how to box. Upon his return to the city, he spent years learning how to train fighters at famed gyms like Harrowgate and Rock Ministries. (Harrowgate was the childhood home gym of heavyweight Joey Dawejko and Danny Garcia.) As for his own boxing career, that was cut short when he was stabbed multiple times during a run-in with a motorcycle gang.

After the pandemic he was approached by a friend, John Goodwin, about becoming the head trainer at a new gym that Goodwin was planning on opening. Once the old after-hours club was transformed into the gym bearing the name K & A (an iconic local abbreviation for the Kensington and Allegheny intersection), Sinese went to work on transforming lives. Except one thing has gotten in the way at times.

“It’s hard to water the seeds that we have planted at the gym with the youth,” says Sinise. “We’re trying to help build better citizens at the end of the day. It’s a shame cause we’ve seen friendships and support systems being forged organically between these kids. It’s tough when they can’t afford to see their aspirations of a better life through boxing come true cause of not having money to jump-start [the process]. That’s why Saturday is important.”

One look at the USA Amateur Boxing rankings highlights his point. For the first time in generations, there are hardly any fighters ranked in the top ten of any weight class, both male and female, from the Philadelphia region.

“It’s absolutely a shame that this great fighting city isn’t represented on all levels of the sport anymore, but ultimately, we’re about building better and stronger youth for our community. If these kids can deal with the ring, they can deal with life.”

$35 and $50 tickets will be available at the door for Saturday’s show with the opening bell scheduled for 1:00 PM.

King’s Promotions returns this Friday night at Live Casino in South Philadelphia. Bantamweight contender and the always popular Christian Carto (21-1, 14 KO’s) fights for the second time this year in the main event of a seven-fight card. He takes on the durable Jesus Martinez (35-20-1, 16 KOs) in an eight-round bout. Carto, who is trained by Bozy Ennis, looks to stay sharp by staying active as he looks to get into top form before challenging for a world title.

Also on the card is light heavyweight Atif Oberlton. A former amateur standout and Philly native, Oberlton (9-0, 7 KOs) meets Mexico’s Juan Francisco Lopez (8-1, 4 KOs). As I’ve stated before, King’s Promotions always puts on entertaining shows with well-matched fights and this card looks to be no different. Tickets are available through Axs.com and at the door.

Matchroom sent out a press release announcing that Jaron “Boots” Ennis will make his return to the ring at the Wells Fargo Center (home to the Sixers and Flyers) on July 13. Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) will defend his IBF welterweight title against his mandatory challenger Cody Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs) in a bout geared towards accomplishing two things: shaking off any ring rust that might have accumulated after a 12-month layoff while providing proof that Ennis can sell tickets, which will benefit both Matchroom and Ennis in future negotiations.

Ennis signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Matchroom on April 10. Eddie Hearn isn’t wasting any time getting his new young star back into the limelight.

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Lipinets Upends Davies in a Wednesday Night Firefight in Florida

Published

21 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Lipinets-Upends-Davies-in-a-Wednesday-Night-Firefight-in-Florida

The latest installment of the ProBox Wednesday Night Fights played out tonight at its permanent home in the Tampa suburb of Plant City. The main event, contested at a catchweight of 142 pounds, was an international affair pitting Sergey Lipinets, an LA-based Kazkh, briefly the IBF 140-pound world title-holder, against Liverpool, England’s Robbie Davies Jr, a former British, European, and Commonwealth champion who was making his U.S. debut.

The fight went the full “10” and Lipinets, who scored three knockdowns, won by a wide margin (98-89, 96-91, 95-92), but this was yet a fan-friendly fight between two aging warriors who left nothing in the ring.

Lipinets (pictured on the right) was controlling the fight before he was wobbled in round three. Davies hurt him again in the next frame, but Lipinets wasn’t deterred from pressing the action and quickly regained control of the fight. In round five, he knocked the Englishman to the canvas with a succession of right hands, one of which appeared to break Davies’ nose.

In round eight, he put Davies on the canvas twice, the first with a left to the liver and the second with an overhand right. But remarkably, the teak-tough Davies, who appeared to be just about finished, rocked Lipinets before the round was over.

Davies, who declined to 24-4, showed no signs of the broken ankle that he suffered against Irish southpaw Darragh Foley 14 months ago. However, at age 34, this may have been his farewell fight. Lipinets, aged 35 or 37 depending on one’s source, ate punches that he would not have eaten in his younger days. Although he improved his ledger to 18-3-1 (13), he too ought to consider hanging up his gloves.

Other Bouts

In an entertaining 8-round heavyweight bout, Fernely Felix Jr (8-0, 6 KOs) had too much class for Cesar Navarro (11-2), a rugged Mexican bodybuilder who had been campaigning in Phoenix. Feliz Jr, a Dominican born and raised in Connecticut, landed the crisper punches and was returned the winner by scores of 78-74 and 79-73 twice.

Feliz Jr, whose future may be at cruiserweight, comes from a boxing family. His father fought the likes of John Ruiz and Oleg Maskaev before leaving the sport with a record of 23-9. His younger brother Ali Feliz recently signed a multi-fight deal with Top Rank. Junior’s next fight has already been booked. He fights TBA next month in Buenos Aires.

Tsendbaatar Erdenebat, a 27-year-old Mongolian southpaw and two-time Olympian, scored a third-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Alberto Mercado in a lightweight match slated for “8.” The bout was stopped at the 2:39 mark by the ring physician after Mercado suffered a bad cut on his left eyelid.

Erdenebat (10-0, 5 KOs) dominated the fight for as long as it lasted. It was the sixth loss in the last eight starts for Mercado (17-7-1), a 15-year pro who has routinely been matched tough.

The TV opener was a 6-round battle of 19-year-old lightweights. Robert Meriwether III, a Louisville native who trains at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas, improved to 6-0 (2) at the expense of Mexico’s Victor Manuel Lopez (5-1). Meriwether gave up about six inches in height, but won every round against his defensive-oriented opponent.

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TSS News Wire: Jarmall Charlo Defrocked; Ryan Garcia Partially Vindicated

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2024

Arne K. Lang

TSS-News-Wire-Jermall-Charlo-Defrocked-Ryan-Garcia-Partially-Vindicated

Jermall Charlo is in hot water again and this time it has cost him his middleweight title.

In a story first reported by TMZ Sports, Charlo, 33 was arrested shortly after 6 pm on Monday, May 6, in Pearland, Texas, after crashing his Lamborghini into another vehicle. After a verbal altercation with the driver of the other car, Charlo left the scene, ignoring police sirens to pull over, until he was boxed in at a red light. Charlo was arrested, failed a sobriety test at the police station, and was charged with three misdemeanors including Driving While Intoxicated (DWI).

This wasn’t the first time that Charlo was in trouble with the law.

In August of 2021, he was arrested on the allegation that he stole from a waitress (he absconded with her tips) following a 2 am dispute at a private martini bar and social club in San Antonio. The case was dismissed on grounds of insufficient evidence. In February of 2022, he was arrested for the alleged assault of a family member during a family gathering the previous September in Fort Bend County, Texas.

A two-weight world title-holder with an undefeated record (33-0, 24 KOs), Charlo last defended his belt in on June 19, 2021, at the Toyota Center in Houston, winning a unanimous decision over Juan Macias Montiel. His last outing came in November of his last year in Las Vegas where he won a 10-round decision over Jose Benavidez Jr, the older brother of David Benavidez. For that match, his first ring appearance in 29 months, he carried 166 ½ pounds.

In February of this year, it was announced that Charlo would fight Canelo Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo weekend, but the promoter, PBC, had second thoughts and the assignment went to Jaime Munguia. The presumption was that a second straight fight between Canelo and a Charlo would be a tough sell after the lackluster performance of Jermall’s twin brother Jermell Charlo vs. Canelo in September of 2023.

Jermell has also been in trouble with the law. This past December, he was accused of assaulting a family member. The alleged victim wasn’t identified, but after Jermell was released on bond, his wife, the former Chayne Westwood, filed for a restraining order. Jermell, reports Jake Donovan, has a May 20 court appearance.

Upon learning of Jermall’s latest arrest, the WBC took swift action, stripping him of his title.

“The WBC Board of Governors has decided to confirm Carlos Adames as the WBC reigning middleweight champion…The WBC will closely work with PBC in securing the best course of action to attend to Jermall’s needs at this moment in time. After a thorough evaluation of the situation and understanding of the facts and times the WBC may rank Jermall at Super Middle weight,” said the organization in a press release.

A 30-year-old Dominican with a 23-1 (18 KOs) record, Adames last fought in June of last year, scoring a ninth-round stoppage of Julian Williams in a bout framed as a WBC interim world middleweight title fight.

Ryan Garcia

It’s old news that Ryan Garcia tested positive for the banned steroid Ostarine prior to his stunning upset of Devin Haney in Brooklyn on April 20. Moreover, there was evidence of another banned substance, 19-Norandrosterone, but the trace of it in his urine specimen was so small that the testing agency, VADA, needed more evidence to ascertain whether it should be included in its report.

Yesterday (May 7) VADA clarified that the steroid was not present in a second test. As Dan Rafael noted, some banned substances have a threshold whereas others, such as Ostarine, do not, which means that any amount, no matter how minute, is grounds for some sort of punishment.

Talking with ESPN.com, Garcia’s attorney Darin Chavez said the Ostarine was “in the billionth of a gram range that provided Ryan Garcia with no performance enhancing benefit whatsoever.” Chavez reported that the “B” sample, at Garcia’s request, would be opened and analyzed on May 22 with Garcia in attendance. The “B” sample, notes ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger, is a safeguard to ensure there was no lab contamination or other error involved in the test that produced the original finding.

Garcia has subsequently claimed that he drank alcohol and smoked marijuana in the days leading up to and including the very day of the fight. “I got in there high as f*** and I beat his ass,” he told podcaster Bob Menery.

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