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For Pacquiao, Restoring the Ferocity and Passion Will Be Tall Order

Getting his first stoppage win since 2009 will be no small feat for Pacquiao against such a defensive wizard as Marquez. (Chris Farina–Top Rank)
What Manny Pacquiao will we see on Dec. 8? The Manny of old? Or the older Manny, the guy we've seen the last couple of fights, still an ace, but not the ace of a few fights back, still fast, and sharp, but not as fast and as sharp as we'd become accustomed to?
Juan Manuel Marquez is hoping that the Pacquiao who drew boos several times during his dreary dance with Shane Mosley, the Pacquiao who wasn't as much the master of the dart and destroy strategy in his third fight with JMM, the Pacquiao whose volume and killer instinct weren't in top form against Tim Bradley in June is in the ring facing off with him at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Trainer Freddie Roach and Team Pacquiao and the Pacmaniacal fans the world over and the Congressman himself hope that the guy who masterfully got angles on his opponents and then tattooed them is back, that the almost 34 year old Filipino can arrest the slide into superb rather than spectacular mode.
Conventional wisdom, if we allow it to seep through, if we don't allow our fondness for the once whirling dervish to overwhelm our powers of reasoning, if we don't over-listen to the part of our brains that most wants what is best for boxing here and now–a re-born Pacquiao– tells us it is a tall order. Maybe an impossible one, in fact…
Back in September, we heard trainer Freddie Roach say that he put out an APB for the “old” Pacquiao, the destruct and destroy version, who retired Oscar De La Hoya, sent Ricky Hatton to the hammock, broke down Miguel Cotto and dissected Antonio Margarito. “Manny has shown Marquez too much respect in the past two fights,” Dedham Freddie said. “Manny told me he knows he needs a knockout. He's never said that before. My job is to reignite the killer instinct Manny has lacked in (his) fights with Marquez.” Pacquiao echoed that mindset. “I need to be more aggressive in this fight,” Pacquiao said. “I want a win that isn't close like the last three. It has to be a decisive victory. I want to erase the last fight and any doubts in No. 4. I will focus this time. I have to study and train using new techniques and strategy, and apply techniques never used in my previous fights. I will fight and train like the old Manny, the 25-year-old Manny.”
And I have no doubt he has the best of intentions, that he believes that he can rekindle the 2009 fire. But what the brain and the heart believe, and what the body can handle, can be two different deals.
Trainer Roach spoke about Manny's born-again status before the Bradley fight. He said that the focus on Godstuff wouldn't keep Manny from being a killer in the ring. “I worried at first,” Roach told me, when I asked if the all-in religious Manny wouldn't be a softy. “I wanted to see his work ethic. He still beats the s–t out of me. He says “sorry,” and hits me again. I was a little worried about that, not wanting to hurt people, but it's the oldest sport in the world. Maybe God was into boxing too. I'm not worried at all about him being soft, he's the same fighter, just no more distractions and vices… except for Bible, and that's a pretty good vice in my book.”
Roach told me a little bit ago that Manny has lost some killer instinct, a large part because of his heavier immersion into Christianity, and a bit because of age. It will be interesting to see if on Dec. 8, we see post 2009 Manny, or indeed Roach can scrub some of the lovey-dovey out of Manny, and inject some devilishness into him, some ruthlessness. I'm inclined to say that what some see as a lessening of ferociousness in recent fights is in fact less of a mental issue, to be blamed on the faith-flurry, and is more of an aging issue. Pacquiao used to be able to put combos together in rapid fire, get angles, go rat-a-tat, and then slide out. Now, the reflexes and stamina have diminished some; it's not that he doesn't want to take the other guys' block off, it's that he can't. Or can he? I asked Teddy Atlas, the ESPN analyst and sometimes trainer, well known for his ability to motivate fighters, to lead them to a particular mental state that best serves them on fightnight, if Pacquiao's “ferociousness quotient” can be tweaked for this fourth Marquez fight. Can Manny muster more meanness, Teddy?
“No,” he said, succinctly. “He got to where he is in life, and he's in a comfortable place. The urgency to take the other guys' head off, to fight with that mindset, those things don't seem to be there anymore. He's made millions, he's an icon. Being successful can comfort you, and it's good in most places, but not the ring. You become too content.”
So Atlas believes that once you have climbed the mountain, once, twice, the desire to get to the peak again is reduced, and you don't grab for those footholds with the same tenacity. “The little things, the extra things, they're no longer as important,” Atlas said. “That urgency, that mandate, is not there. When you're younger, you're not on the map.”
So, can a trainer re-instill the fury? “Roach has had a bad patch with Pacquiao,” Atlas said. “He's fighting a guy who counterpunches. He has to plan for that. Get Manny emotionally and spiritually ready. His part is in reminding him of his legacy. That's what I'd do. No matter how good his conditioning is, how much effort he gives in the ring, unless he fights with passion, drive and desire….”
A problem could be that perhaps Pacquiao is already secure in his legacy. I think his place in the game is pretty well set. All those titles, all those weight classes. If he can't turn back the clock, physically, or mentally, and he loses to Marquez, and, perish the thought but it must be considered, hangs up the gloves on or around his 34th birthday, on Dec. 17, Manny's Hall of Fame plaque will be ready for him in 2017. He is on the map, and has to know his foothold for the ages is deep.
Readers, I confess, I'd be surprised if Manny was able to much more against Marquez on Dec. 8 than he did in their previous two bouts. Age and some inevitable softening that comes from not having as burning a desire to climb the mountain conspire against him. What say you…Can Pacquiao get back to being a badass, or will Marquez finally snag that victory that he believes has been unfairly denied him? Weigh in, in our Forum.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welter Week in SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.
One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.
Take your pick.
The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.
Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.
Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.
If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.
He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.
During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.
Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.
Fundora
Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.
Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.
Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.
Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.
Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?
When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.
This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.
Commerce Casino
Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.
Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.
It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.
Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?
That’s a question for another day.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).
Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).
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TSS Salutes Thomas Hauser and his Bernie Award Cohorts

The Boxing Writers Association of America has announced the winners of its annual Bernie Awards competition. The awards, named in honor of former five-time BWAA president and frequent TSS contributor Bernard Fernandez, recognize outstanding writing in six categories as represented by stories published the previous year.
Over the years, this venerable website has produced a host of Bernie Award winners. In 2024, Thomas Hauser kept the tradition alive. A story by Hauser that appeared in these pages finished first in the category “Boxing News Story.” Titled “Ryan Garcia and the New York State Athletic Commission,” the story was published on June 23. You can read it HERE.
Hauser also finished first in the category of “Investigative Reporting” for “The Death of Ardi Ndembo,” a story that ran in the (London) Guardian. (Note: Hauser has owned this category. This is his 11th first place finish for “Investigative Reporting”.)
Thomas Hauser, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the class of 2019, was honored at last year’s BWAA awards dinner with the A.J. Leibling Award for Outstanding Boxing Writing. The list of previous winners includes such noted authors as W.C. Heinz, Budd Schulberg, Pete Hamill, and George Plimpton, to name just a few.
The Leibling Award is now issued intermittently. The most recent honorees prior to Hauser were Joyce Carol Oates (2015) and Randy Roberts (2019).
Roberts, a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University, was tabbed to write the Hauser/Leibling Award story for the glossy magazine for BWAA members published in conjunction with the organization’s annual banquet. Regarding Hauser’s most well-known book, his Muhammad Ali biography, Roberts wrote, “It is nearly impossible to overestimate the importance of the book to our understanding of Ali and his times.” An earlier book by Hauser, “The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing,” garnered this accolade: “Anyone who wants to understand boxing today should begin by reading ‘The Black Lights’.”
A panel of six judges determined the Bernie Award winners for stories published in 2024. The stories they evaluated were stripped of their bylines and other identifying marks including the publication or website for which the story was written.
Other winners:
Boxing Event Coverage: Tris Dixon
Boxing Column: Kieran Mulvaney
Boxing Feature (Over 1,500 Words): Lance Pugmire
Boxing Feature (Under 1,500 Words): Chris Mannix
The Dixon, Mulvaney, and Pugmire stories appeared in Boxing Scene; the Mannix story in Sports Illustrated.
The Bernie Award recipients will be honored at the forthcoming BWAA dinner on April 30 at the Edison Ballroom in the heart of Times Square. (For more information, visit the BWAA website). Two days after the dinner, an historic boxing tripleheader will be held in Times Square, the logistics of which should be quite interesting. Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, and Teofimo Lopez share top billing.
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Mekhrubon Sanginov, whose Heroism Nearly Proved Fatal, Returns on Saturday

To say that Mekhrubon Sanginov is excited to resume his boxing career would be a great understatement. Sanginov, ranked #9 by the WBA at 154 pounds before his hiatus, last fought on July 8, 2022.
He was in great form before his extended leave, having scored four straight fast knockouts, advancing his record to 13-0-1. Had he remained in Las Vegas, where he had settled after his fifth pro fight, his career may have continued on an upward trajectory, but a trip to his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan, turned everything haywire. A run-in with a knife-wielding bully nearly cost him his life, stalling his career for nearly three full years.
Sanginov was exiting a restaurant in Dushanbe when he saw a man, plainly intoxicated, harassing another man, an innocent bystander. Mekhrubon intervened and was stabbed several times with a long knife. One of the puncture wounds came perilously close to puncturing his heart.
“After he stabbed me, I ran after him and hit him and caught him to hold for the police,” recollects Sanginov. “There was a lot of confusion when the police arrived. At first, the police were not certain what had happened.
“By the time I got to the hospital, I had lost two liters of blood, or so I was told. After I was patched up, one of the surgeons said to me, ‘Give thanks to God because he gave you a second life.’ It is like I was born a second time.”
“I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have happened in any city,” he adds. (A story about the incident on another boxing site elicited this comment from a reader: “Good man right there. World would be a better place if more folk were willing to step up when it counts.”)
Sanginov first laced on a pair of gloves at age 10 and was purportedly 105-14 as an amateur. Growing up, the boxer he most admired was Roberto Duran. “Muhammad Ali will always be the greatest and [Marvin] Hagler was great too, but Duran was always my favorite,” he says.
During his absence from the ring, Sanginov married a girl from Tajikistan and became a father. His son Makhmud was born in Las Vegas and has dual citizenship. “Ideally,” he says, “I would like to have three more children. Two more boys and the last one a daughter.”
He also put on a great deal of weight. When he returned to the gym, his trainer Bones Adams was looking at a cruiserweight. But gradually the weight came off – “I had to give up one of my hobbies; I love to eat,” he says – and he will be resuming his career at 154. “Although I am the same weight as before, I feel stronger now. Before I was more of a boy, now I am a full-grown man,” says Sanginov who turned 29 in February.
He has a lot of rust to shed. Because of all those early knockouts, he has answered the bell for only eight rounds in the last four years. Concordantly, his comeback fight on Saturday could be described as a soft re-awakening. Sanginov’s opponent Mahonri Montes, an 18-year pro from Mexico, has a decent record (36-10-2, 25 KOs) but has been relatively inactive and is only 1-3-1 in his last five. Their match at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, is slated for eight rounds.
On May 10, Ardreal Holmes (17-0) faces Erickson Lubin (26-2) on a ProBox card in Kissimmee, Florida. It’s an IBF super welterweight title eliminator, meaning that the winner (in theory) will proceed directly to a world title fight.
Sanginov will be watching closely. He and Holmes were scheduled to meet in March of 2022 in the main event of a ShoBox card on Showtime. That match fell out when Sanginov suffered an ankle injury in sparring.
If not for a twist of fate, that may have been Mekhrubon Sanginov in that IBF eliminator, rather than Ardreal Holmes. We will never know, but one thing we do know is that Mekhrubon’s world title aspirations were too strong to be ruined by a knife-wielding bully.
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