Articles

Marquez Admits Manny Is Now Better, Uses Both Hands Now

Published

12 years ago

September 4, 2011

The Sweet Science

MANNY PACQUIAO – JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ

25,000-MILE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA TOUR

ATTRACTS OVER 70,000 FANS

WITH PUBLIC KICK OFF IN MANILA!

North America, Here We Come!

Sept. 6 – New York

Sept. 7 – Beverly Hills

Sept. 8 – México City*

(*Open to the Public)

MANILA (September 4, 2011) – Congressman MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO and JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ kicked off their 25,000-mile four-city international media tour, on Saturday, with an outdoor public rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. Televised live nationally as an hour-long special on GMA 7, the rally attracted an estimated crowd of 70,000 enthusiastic Pacquiao and Marquez fans. Quirino Grandstand, named after former Philippine President Elpidio Quirino, is where Presidents of the Philippines traditionally take their oath of office and deliver their first address to the nation.

The media tour is announcing to the world Pacquiao-Marquez III — Act Three of their exciting world championship trilogy. Pacquiao and Marquez, who have won world titles in 11 weight divisions between them, will go toe-to-toe for Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship on Saturday, November 12, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions, Marquez Boxing, Tecate and MGM Grand, Pacquiao-Marquez III will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®.

The two top pound-for-pound fighters and world champions began the day with a standing room only news conference in the historic Manila Hotel. What followed that afternoon was unprecedented for boxing – a fully-produced, hour-long live television stage production celebrating what many are predicting will be the fight of the year.

To do full justice to the day the scene must be set. Inasmuch as this is the monsoon season, divine intervention had to be requested for good weather for the outdoor event. Filipino tradition states that to insure good weather an offering of a dozen eggs must be made to Saint Clare at the Monasterio de Santa Clara to help pray for good weather. Not taking any chances, 90 eggs were offered for this occasion. They must have been double yolks because it was a glorious and sunny day that featured stage shows and activities for the thousands of fans beginning at 7:00 a.m. By the time the Pacquiao-Marquez III public rally began at 2:00 p.m., the crowd had swelled to an estimated 70,000.

Both fighters and their promoters, Bob Arum and Fernando Beltran, addressed the crowd and answered questions from fans and media emcees. Pacquiao and Marquez entertained each other and their fans with their responses. Marquez has particularly endeared himself to Filipino media and fans alike by addressing everyone in English and even offering up a little Tagalog. Following the rally, Pacquiao stayed to host his popular weekly television variety-game show, “Manny Many Prizes.”

Pacquiao: “I know there have been doubts over the last two fights. There have been debates on who won them. This fight should end all doubts. This fight should end all debates. I truly believe this fight will be the best fight we have ever fought and we will train harder than ever in preparation for each other. I began working out five days ago. The earliest I have ever started training. I want to seal the deal on this one.”

Marquez: “Manny is not the same fighter I fought before. He is now a two-handed fighter. No longer left hand-crazy, Manny’s right hand is as dangerous as his left and I think his speed is better too. I was not angry that I had to wait for this third fight because I always stayed busy, but I am very happy to have this fight now. I am fighting hard for my country and my fans.”

Arum: “The world of sports will see a classic, classic match. This match will be a credit to boxing and will be eagerly followed by all sports fans. Only an event this big would warrant a media tour this immense – one that not only includes the U.S. but the native countries of these two great champions. This will be Manny’s biggest pay-per-view promotion ever. I would especially like to thank Solar Entertainment for producing the Manila portion of this media tour. It was incredible and something none of us will ever forget.”

Beltran: “I believe, and more importantly, Juan Manuel and his trainer Nacho Beristain believe, that November 12 will be Juan Manuel’s finest hour – and that’s saying a lot considering what he has already accomplished during his Hall of Fame career.”

Manny & Juan’s excellent adventure travels to North America tonight. The Pacquiao-Marquez III tour will resume with a public news conference on Tuesday, September 6 in New York at Chelsea Piers at Pier 60. Pacquiao and musical collaborator DAN HILL will begin the news conference singing their Top-10 hit single “Sometimes When We Touch.”

The Pacquiao-Marquez III media tour will then wing its way to the West Coast for a news conference in Los Angeles, at The Beverly Hills Hotel, on Wednesday, September 7. This will be the only tour stop news conference closed to the public.

The media tour will conclude on Thursday, September 8, in México City, where Marquez and an estimated 50,000 fans will host an afternoon final press conference at Monumento a la Revolución, a landmark and monument commemorating the Méxican Revolution. It is located in Republic Square in downtown México City.

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The Sweet Science

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

7 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

7 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

7 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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