Pacquiao Plays Pacman: How to Catch Back Up to Mayweather

Published

12 years ago

July 30, 2013

Pacquiao Rios BeijingPC 130730 001a INTHE KINGDOM OF MONEY – Not so long ago, Senator Manny Pacquiao was the undeniable king of the global ring.

No longer.

Not so long ago, Pacquiao against Brandon Rios (pictured above, in Chris Farina-Top Rank photo) would have been a bigger fight than Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Canelo Alvarez.

Not right now.

Public (as in paying customers) perception could be reaching a point, at least in the US, where Pacquiao's tenure atop the pound for pound rankings fades into memory while Mayweather is still on the rumbling rise.

The Pacquiao – Mayweather rivalry, a pick 'em situation for years, has in recent moons swung so far in Mayweather's direction that now “Money” says the only way a fight between them will occur is if Pacquiao leaves Top Rank and fights with Mayweather as the promoter.

For Pacquiao's loyal legions, it's bad enough that Mayweather has seemingly wrapped up public consensus on who reigns as the superior artist fistique.

Even worse Manny's followers these days, most subject matter relating to Pacquiao concerns his inevitable, and often already presumed, decline from the elite ranks of boxing's top performers. While perspective is bound to get more positive as the Rios promotion spins, it seems like Pacquiao's brand has lost market shares.

Outside Pacland, Alvarez has done an excellent job of replacing Pacquiao as a Mayweather rival in the prevailing public eye of North American fans who, between Mexico and the States, generate most pay per view revenue, the type revenue of which superfights are made.

Understanding today's apparent need for eye-catching, though often misleading, website headlines, Pacquiao's fans still must wonder what's up when primary topics concern trainer Fred Roach suggesting Pacquiao will retire if Rios stops him.

If Rios stops him?!?! Maybe Roach can sell a fight with the best of them, but to even mention that possibility seems a bit strange, candor aside. It may say a lot about where Pacquiao is in his own head these days, and about how his inner circle perceives him.

It seems clear Pacquiao needs to shake things up if he's to regain the type status he once held. Not that he has to.

Pacquiao has already earned a rare and coveted existence among that microscopic percentage of humanity who experience life at the very top of our food chain. By most accounts, he's a very decent fellow, an admirable alpha-type who not only achieves greatness and riches, but who shares good fortune to help people beyond just family and friends.

Pacquiao could have retired yesterday with justified pride in well lived life. Still, one trait that makes exceptional people is the motivation in productivity lesser mortals can only gaze upon with wonder.

If Pacquiao wants to bow out at the very top, there are numerous possible routes to that end, starting with the conventional wisdom of beating top contenders until there's nobody else left for Mayweather, or until a fight is mandatory.

Fighting Rios is a decent move, an excellent promotion in terms of risk reward and getting back on track, but not so much in terms of prestige. Many people figure Rios is an obvious foil for Pacquiao's style.

Anything short of a huge win doesn't regain any ground on Mayweather. Pacquiao's work is cut out for him.

Pacquiao must also erase the debacle of his KO to Juan Manuel Marquez, who Roach said is Team Pacquiao's priority, but that isn't likely to happen soon, if ever, according to Marquez.

Since the Marquez blast out, Gennady Golovkin has probably seized himself a sizeable share of the mauling market, too. Even (gasp!) the heavyweights Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko are rated above Pacquiao by most rational observers.

Some key factors like promotional tangles or available opponents are out of Pacquiao's hands, but if he's as concerned with his place in history as previously professed, he better make some big moves pretty quickly or he could find it's too late. As ridiculous as that may have sounded two years ago, two years from now it could be a proven fact.

Mayweather's contests are superfights simply by his presence alone these days. It used to be that way for Pacquiao too, before Marquez and Timothy Bradley (whether you think Bradley won or not) harshly reaffirmed Pacquiao's status as a mere mortal.

We hereby offer a road map for Pacman's return to unsurpassed gloved-up glory. The following itinerary, in fights and lifestyle, could vault Pacquiao above Mayweather's elite status.

First, Pacquiao should rebrand like the former “Pretty Boy” did and adapt a new trademark moniker along the lines of “Money.”

Manny “Platinum” Pacquiao? Pacquiao could say things like “He was the Pretty Boy, I'm the Pretty Man,” but that could be a socio-political minefield.

He could take a leave of his congressional duties, return to Manila’s maze of cockfights and betting parlors. Start going to strip clubs, making it rain. Along those trails, he would go by “The Rainman.”

On the other hand, if Pacquiao wanted to further embrace a religious theme, he could step up his already reported substantial donations of time and funding. Assume the mantle “Pac-Manna” in homage to that biblical bread. It never hurts to get as many people praying for you as possible.

If Pacquiao wanted to keep his efforts inside the strands, he could balloon up to heavyweight and call out a Klitschko. Call the fight “The Climb to Conquer the K2 Mountain” and fight in Switzerland, where the brothers have each performed recently. If that sounds too absurd, consider that not far back, David Tua wasn't completely out of the running to meet Vitali. If Pacquiao stuffed 70 more pounds on his frame, he'd look something like Tua.

It could be there's absolutely nothing Pacquiao can do to regain a reputation at Mayweather's level beside winning against him in the ring, so Pacquiao and his fans will just have to accept that.

Not so long ago, Mayweather was vehemently criticized for avoiding a Pacquiao showdown. Maybe Mayweather was simply being correct in demanding top billing, compensation and control, and proclaiming himself the prime attraction.

These days, any concerns about performance enhancement testing have certainly shown Mayweather was not playing paranoid about high tech doping stipulations.

Maybe Pacquiao's time at boxing's summit was really just keeping the throne seat warm for Mayweather all along.

Or, maybe the following, near impossible scenario comes to fruition and Pacquiao is back under consideration as the very best of all time.

First, Pacquiao has to KO Rios within three one-sided rounds, a la Gennady Golovkin, without getting hit in return.

Next, Pacquiao films his own toilet video, and dedicates it to Adrian Broner, dubbing him the “Potty Mouth.”

Then, he challenge Broner to fight immediately, since Broner is probably improving as Pacquiao ages. A win over Broner, more likely the sooner it happens, would put Pacquiao back on Mayweather's playing field, and add promotional fodder if Pacquiao sufficiently silenced Mayweather's protege.

At that postfight press conference, challenge Golovkin, who is also improving and even more dangerous, to a catch weight fight at 152 pounds. Dub Golovkin “The Big Bluff” and announce the bluff is being called, at an exotic gambling site. If Golovkin takes the bait, Pacquiao could leverage himself into unexpected advantages, a la the concessions Sugar Ray Leonard bought, dirt cheap with hindsight, from Marvin Hagler. Even a draw here could put Pacquaio ahead of Mayweather, by virtue of Pacquiao's prior achievements.

The same formula for Golovkin goes for Sergio Martinez, except for Martinez the catch weight could be 155.

Finally, meet and defeat Andre Ward or Carl Froch at a catch weight of 160 for their belts, in their home towns. If Pacquiao pulled off a clean win against either, he'd not only move way up among the Hall of Fame's very best, he'd probably boost his chance at the Filipino presidency.

So, if Pacquiao wants to be considered equal or even superior to Sugar Ray Robinson or Muhammad Ali as the best ever, all he has to do is accomplish each of the previous far-fetched suggestions.

Even if Pacquiao achieved the near impossible, there would be naysayers and nitwits denying his greatness. That's the nature of our beast.

How great Pacquiao is today, or can be tomorrow, is still to be determined.

Whether he was great already is already a pretty stupid question.

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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2025

David A. Avila

Bombs-Away-in-Las-Vegas-where-Inoue-and-Espinoza-Scored-Smashing-Triumphs

Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.

Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.

“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.

Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.

After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.

Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.

One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”

Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.

“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”

Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.

A real fight was happening.

Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.

Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.

In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.

“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”

Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.

In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.

“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”

Espinoza Wins

WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.

Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.

Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.

It was Espinoza’s third title defense.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.

The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.

The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.

Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.

Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.

A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.

In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.

Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.

In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.

Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.

Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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