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WOODS: I THINK PACQUIAO IS A DARNED GOOD SINGER!..NYC Presser Report

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Follow Woods on Twitter @Woodsy1069. Check out his blog on ESPNNewYork.com on Wednesday, and learn how Manny (r) and Dan Hill (left) hooked up. (Chris Farina)

I don’t care what anyone says, Manny Pacquiao can sing. He ain’t pitchy, dawg.

Pacman’s rendition of “Sometimes When We Touch,” with original composer and singer Dan Hill hit all the right notes at the Tuesday press conference in New York to hype the Nov. 12 clash between Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Marquez is of course, Pacquioa’s true rival. They’ve tussled twice, with the first ending in a draw, after Marquez came back in stunning fashion after he was knocked down three times in the first round. Pacquiao eked out a split decision win when they tried it again in 2008. Two this day, Marquez thinks he won both times, and he has plenty of company among pundits and fans in that department. So this third fight makes much sense.

Fans haven’t reacted to the clash with across the board enthusiasm, though; some wonder why it didn’t happen earlier, and why it will take place at the junior welterweight-plus weight class. They think Marquez might be in over his head at 144 pounds or less, while Pacquiao looks more than comfortable marching up scale ladder. Me, I say Marquez has Manny’s number, to an extent, and think we will see that in evidence to a degree in Las Vegas. Some things such as this just are; this is whay you’re mom can make you feel like a 12 year old even when you’re 40, and the homecoming queen still holds allure at the 25 high school reunion even though she needs tighter Spanx. Trainer Freddie Roach said he’s pondered the same: “That runs through my mind of course, which is why we will work hard and not undertstimate him at all.”

This presser could signal the start of Manny’s farewell tour. The boxer, who turns 33 on Dec. 17, has been saying that he’s feeling more and more of a pull to get even deeper into public service. His term as Congressman ends in 2013, and he said he’ll be looking at a mayoral post, or to be governor of his province.

“It’s a good thing I’m a Congressman now, there’s not a lot of work in the office,” he said to a table full of keyboard tappers after the regular presser. “If you’re a mayor or Congressman there’s a lot of work in the office. I want to be an executive, like mayor or Governor, in 2013. It’s hard for me to be an executive and do boxing.”

He was of course as gracious and humble as ever, even managing to find a sliver of sun in the soggy weather. “It’s raining today but the weather is nice,” he said. “I feel like I’m in the Philipines.”

Pacquiao seems keen on giving the fans a good rumble, good bang for their buck, after Shane Mosley ducked and dodged and ran for 12 rounds in Manny’s last ring effort. The Congressman said he thinks and hopes Marquez will still have his full faculties on Nov. 12, because if and when he beats him, he doesn’t want to hear how old Marquez is. “Last fight I trained hard, I expected trading in the ring and it didn’t happen. I won the fight but it’s not the fight I wanted to give the people. Nov. 12 whatever fight we want we can give to the fans..He throws a lot of punches also.”

Pacman told the media that he’s more focused this time around than in recent fights, probably because Marquez has told one and all that Pacquiao lost their two prior clashes. He told the media that he started camp last week, a full eleven weeks before the bout, and that he will be sparring the third week of camp.

He seemed quite confident, stressing that he is now a complete fighter, a two fisted terror, rather than the work in progress he was in 2008. Trainer Freddie Roach concurs; he said he wants to remove lingering doubts, tell the world that Pacman is clearly superior to the Mexican. So, does he want Manny to stop the vet?

“One hundred percent yes,” Roach said. “They had two very good close fights, we need to make this a decisive win. I want him to not have so much compassion as he has in his last two fights. I want him to end it when he’s ready.”

There are those that think Marquez will be ripe to be picked off, that he’ll be slow at 144 pounds. Arum tried to shoot down the weight issue.

“The weight stuff is nonsense,” he said. “Both are going to weigh the same weight as the other just as they did in the first fights. They’re older now, they can carry a little bit more weight.”

Roach, though, admitted he think the weight situation is a check in Manny’s box. “The weight I think definitely favors Manny but we have to put weight on him. Manny walks around at 138, we put weight on him…144 is not a problem, he can have breakfast the morning of the weigh in, he’s happy when can do that and when he’s happy he’s a helluva fighter. We gave them a couple pounds, I wanted it at 147, that’s where we are, where he’s at his best.”

Of course the name Mayweather popped up. Manny said he didn’t want to get into the 24/7 family squabble drama, while Roach said he heard about it, and termed it “tasteless.”

So, is Floyd scouting lefties, like Ortiz, because he wants Pacquiao next?  “It looks like it, yes,” Roach said, “but do we really know?  He’s talking about Manny a lot..maybe he’s trying to sell the fight. I want to see it as badly as all of you do, it’s a challenge and I love challenges.”

“I think Floyd is preparing for our battle,” Pacquiao said.

Pacman said he had sparred Ortiz, who her termed a big puncher, and he gives him a puncher’s chance against Floyd. Roach weighed in on Victor’s chances: “He’s a big string kid, good puncher, you’ve got to give him a shot..I think Victor has a small shot at pulling the upset off.”

Marquez carried some fire to NYC, for the record. “I’m looking for a knockout,” he said, “with more focus and intelligence.” His trainer, Nacho Beristain, lauded Pacquiao and Roach, said it would be quite a feat to beat Pacman at this stage of Marquez’ career (was he laying a subtle excuse out there, I wondered), and that he thought Arum’s status and sway in Vegas in had helped Pacman with the judges the first two times. Arum responded that in the first fight, he was Marquez’ promoter, so…

Me, as always I’m echoing Freddie. I see Manny having a solid edge with his comfort level at that weight. I see him getting countered some, having some  brown acid flashbacks to the first two bouts, but getting into gear in the fourth, and using a strength and freshness edge to pull away. Of course, I will look for signs of slippage, too; I wondered if Manny hadn’t peaked when I saw him have some balance issues against Mosley. Roach, too, said he’d be monitoring Manny, seeing if he’s lost anything.

“I’ll be the first one to tell him if he’s started to slow down a bit. That hasn’t happened yet,” said Roach, who would like Manny to fight Marquez, then Floyd, and then hang em up. “That’s my own thought, call it a day..I don’t think there’s anything left to prove.”

Pacquiao’s right; when he beats Marquez, he won’t get full credit because Juan Manuel is 38, and better suited at a lower weight class. Nothing much Manny can do about that. We don’t think he’ll get too hung up on it. It looks like he wants to win the seat as Governor of his province in 2013, and his plate will be too full at that time to waste much energy on such matters.

Follow Woods on Twitter here https://twitter.com/#!/Woodsy1069

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

LONG BEACH, Ca.-A cool autumn night saw welterweights and minimumweights share main events for a MarvNation fight card on Saturday.

Ukraine’s Eduard Skavynskyi (15-0, 7 KOs) experienced a tangled mess against the awkward Alejandro Frias (14-10-2) but won by decision after eight rounds in a welterweight contest at the indoor furnace called the Thunder Studios.

It was hot in there for the more than 600 people inside.

Skavynskyi probably never fought someone like Mexico’s Frias whose style was the opposite of the Ukrainian’s fundamentally sound one-two style. But round after round the rough edges became more familiar.

Neither fighter was ever damaged but all three judges saw Skavynskyi the winner by unanimous decision 79-73 on all three cards. The Ukrainian fighter trains in Ventura.

Bustillo Wins Rematch

Applerose2

In the female main event Las Vegas’ Yadira Bustillos (8-1) stepped into a rematch with Karen Lindenmuth (5-2) and immediately proved the lessons learned from their first encounter.

Bustillos connected solidly with an overhand right and staggered Lindenmuth but never came close to putting the pressure fighter down. Still, Bustillos kept turning the hard rushing Lindenmuth and snapping her head with overhand rights and check left hooks.

Lindenmuth usually overwhelms most opponents with a smothering attack that causes panic. But not against Bustillos who seemed quite comfortable all eight rounds in slipping blows and countering back.

After eight rounds all three judges scored the contest for Bustillos 78-74 and 80-72 twice. Body shots were especially effective for the Las Vegas fighter in the fifth round. Bustillos competes in the same division as IBF/WBO title-holder Yokasta Valle.

Other Bouts

In a middleweight clash, undefeated Victorville’s Andrew Buchanan (3-0-1) used effective combination punching to defeat Mexico’s Fredy Vargas (2-1-1) after six rounds. Two judges scored it 59-55 and a third 60-54 for Buchanan. No knockdowns were scored.

A super lightweight match saw Sergio Aldana win his pro debut by decision after four rounds versus Gerardo Fuentes (2-9-1).

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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Tedious Fights and a Controversial Draw Smudge the Matchroom Boxing Card in Orlando

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Matchroom Boxing was at the sprawling Royale Caribe Resort Hotel in Orlando, Florida tonight with a card that aired on DAZN. The main event was a ho-hum affair between super lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

SoCal’s Zepeda has been in some wars in the past, notably his savage tussle with Ivan Baranchyk, but tonight he brought little to the table and was outclassed by the lanky Hitchins who won all 12 rounds on two of the cards and 11 rounds on the other.  There were no knockdowns, but Zepeda suffered a cut on his forehead in round seven that was deemed to be the product of an accidental head butt and another clash in round ten forced a respite in the action although Hitchins suffered no apparent damage.

It was the sort of fight where each round was pretty much a carbon of the round preceding it. Brooklyn’s Hitchins, who improved to 17-0 (7), was content to pepper Zepeda with his jab, and the 34-year-old SoCal southpaw, who brought a 37-3 record, was never able to penetrate his defense and land anything meaningful.

Hitchins signed with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s promotional outfit coming out of the amateur ranks and his style is reminiscent in ways of his former mentor. Like Mayweather, he loses very few rounds. In his precious engagement, he pitched a shutout over previously undefeated John Bauza.

Co-Feature

In the co-feature, Conor Benn returned to the ring after an absence of 17 months and won a unanimous decision over Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco. It wasn’t a bad showing by Benn who showed decent boxing skills, but more was expected of him after his name had been bandied about so often in the media. Two of the judges had it 99-91 and the other 96-94.

Benn (22-0, 14 KOs) was a late addition to the card although one suspects that promoter Eddie Hearn purposely kept him under wraps until the week of the fight so as not to deflect the spotlight from the other matches on his show. Benn lost a lucrative date with Chris Eubank Jr when he was suspended by the BBBofC when evidence of a banned substance was found in his system and it’s understood that Hearn has designs on re-igniting the match-up with an eye on a date in December. For tonight’s fight, Benn carried a career-high 153 ½ pounds. Mexico’s Orozco, who was making his first appearance in a U.S. ring, declined to 32-4-3.

Other Bouts of Note

The welterweight title fight between WBA/WBC title-holder Jessica McCaskill (15-3-1) and WBO title-holder Sandy Ryan (6-1-1) ended in a draw and the ladies’ retain their respective titles. Ryan worked the body effectively and the general feeling was that she got a raw deal, a sentiment shared by the crowd which booed the decision. There was a switch of favorites in the betting with the late money seemingly all on the Englishwoman who at age 30 was the younger boxer by nine years.

The judges had it 96-94 Ryan, 96-95, and a vilified 97-93 for Chicago’s McCaskill.

In the opener of the main DAZN stream, Houston middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams, 27, improved to 15-0 (10) with a 10-round unanimous decision over 39-year-old Toronto veteran Steve Rolls (22-3). All three judges had it 97-93. Rolls has been stopped only once, that by Gennady Golovkin.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland / Matchroom Boxing

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Zhilei Zhang KOs Joe Joyce; Calls Out Tyson Fury

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Joe Joyce activated his rematch clause after being stopped in the sixth frame by Zhilei Zhang in their first meeting. In hindsight, he may wish that he hadn’t. Tonight at London’s Wembley Stadium, Zhang stopped him again and far more conclusively than in their first encounter.

In the first meeting, Zhang, a southpaw, found a steady home for his stiff left jab. Targeting Joyce’s right eye, he eventually damaged the optic to where the ring doctor wouldn’t let Joyce continue. At the end, the fight was close on the cards and Joyce was confident that he would have pulled away if not for the issue with his eye.

In the rematch tonight, Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) closed the curtain with his right hand. A thunderous right hook on the heels of a straight left pitched Joyce to the canvas where he landed face first. He appeared to beat the count by a whisker, but was seriously dazed and referee Steve Gray properly waived it off. The official time was 3:07 of round three.

Zhang, who lived up to his nickname, “Big Bang,” was credited with landing 29 power punches compared with only six for Joyce (15-2) who came in 25 pounds heavier than in their first meeting while still looking properly conditioned. One would be inclined to say that age finally caught with the “Juggernaut” who turned 38 since their last encounter, but Zhang, 40, is actually the older man. In his post-fight interview in the ring, the New Jersey resident, a two-time Olympian for China, when asked who he wanted to fight next, turned to the audience and said, “Do you want to see me shut Tyson Fury up?”

He meant it as a rhetorical question.

Semi-Windup

Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde was matched soft against late sub Jorge Silva, a 40-year-old Portuguese journeyman, and barely broke a sweat while scoring a second-round stoppage. Yarde backed Silva against a corner post and put him on the deck with a short right hand. Silva’s body language indicated that he had no interest in continuing and the referee accommodated him. The official time was 2:07 of round two.

A 30-year-old Londoner, Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) was making his first start since being stopped in eight rounds by Artur Beterbiev in a bout that Yarde was winning on two of the scorecards. Silva, a late replacement for 19-3-1 Ricky Summers, falls to 22-9.

Also

Former leading super middleweight contender Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) returned to the ring in a “shake-off-the-rust” fight against 40-year-old Frenchman Khalid Graidia and performed as expected. Graidia’s corner pulled him out after seven one-sided rounds.

In his previous fight, Parker was matched against John Ryder who he was favored to beat. The carrot for the winner was a lucrative date with Canelo Alvarez. Unfortunately for Parker, he suffered a broken hand and was unable to continue after four frames. Tonight, he carried 174 pounds, a hint that he plans to compete as a light heavyweight going forward. Indeed, he has expressed an interest in fighting Anthony Yarde. Graidia declined to 10-13-4.

The Zhang-Joyce and Yarde-Silva fights were live-streamed in the U.S. on ESPN+.

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