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Manny Pacquiao: A Conundrum Of Options And Opponents

On November 10th 1983, Roberto Duran, 32, who had vacated his WBA junior middleweight title in order to challenge world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler, lost a 15 round unanimous decision and a shot to win a world title in his fourth division. In his last fight prior to fighting Hagler, Duran stopped undefeated WBA middleweight champ Davey Moore in the eighth round to win his third division title and was in the midst of a career resurgence. Due to his brilliant effort and him fighting Hagler on near even turns for a majority of the bout, Duran was given a shot at WBC junior middleweight champ Thomas Hearns. On June 15th 1984, Duran, who was less than two weeks away from turning 33, was knocked out by Hearns in the second round. Hearns’ right hand landed on Duran’s chin with so much force, Duran fell face forward and was out.
Manny Pacquiao is in the midst of a two-bout losing streak and is in dire need of a career resurgence. In June of 2012 he lost a controversial decision to Timothy Bradley and then six months later he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in the sixth round and like Duran went down face first. In two months Pacquiao will turn 35 and history is not on his side when it comes to fighters his age ever regaining their all world status after suffering back-to-back loses.
In the era of modern boxing we haven’t seen it happen many times where a superstar over 32 lost two big fights back-to-back like Roberto Duran and Manny Pacquiao, and then came back and go on to dominate again. Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins defied the trend. Yes, five years after losing to Hearns, Duran did conclusively beat Iran Barkley for the WBC middleweight title in what turned out to be Ring Magazine’s fight of the year. However, Duran lost his next fight to Sugar Ray Leonard and really wasn’t much of a factor in the title picture after that.
Then again, being in the title picture and dominating again are two entirely different things regarding Pacquiao. He could actually lose his next fight to Brandon Rios and still probably fight for a title in his next bout because of his name recognition, as it was the case with Duran. No one doubts that even at almost 35 Pacquiao can be a legitimate title holder again. The question is, does he have the fire inside to push himself the way he used to in order to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing again? This is something no one knows or can even venture to guess. In all reality Manny won’t know himself for sure until he’s a couple weeks into training camp. As to whether he’s the fighter he was three or four years ago, we know that’s not the case. He’s clearly on the decline, it’s how much so?
Pacquiao is in such a conundrum right now. There’s a plethora of young tigers out there between 140/147 for him to test himself against, but what does he really have to gain or prove by beating Amir Khan, Devon Alexander, Lucas Matthysse, Danny Garcia, Robert Guerrero or Timothy Bradley in a rematch? Other than money, which ain’t a bad thing, I say not much.
It appears that if Pacquiao beats Brandon Rios this coming November, which isn’t a given, there’s really only three fights that make sense for him to take if he still has the desire to continue fighting, and it may even be just two, being that everyone who saw his fight with Bradley believes he won it and he may feel he has nothing to prove by fighting Bradley again. That leaves potential bouts with Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez as his best options and fights that would be easy for him to get up for. But are they plausible?
So Bradley beat Marquez this weekend. Sure a rematch with Bradley, assuming Manny beats Rios, would be an easy sell. But Bradley did better as the fight progressed versus Pacquiao during their fight, and it could well be a tougher go this time around against Bradley, especially if you believe that Manny has declined. Then again if he really blitzed Bradley, which is unlikely, he’d gain some needed momentum in making a case for a showdown with Mayweather.
As for getting Mayweather in the ring, Pacquiao needs to look impressive to rekindle interest in the fight, and understand that Floyd will make him do everything short of insisting that he fights handcuffed on fight night. Never has Manny been at such a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating with Mayweather like he is now. Losing consecutive fights to Bradley and Marquez killed the perception of him being the only fighter on the block who could really test Mayweather and perhaps beat him. Add to that Mayweather looked terrific in his last fight versus Saul Alvarez, so it’s easy to see that Manny will have no juice if he ever gets the chance to bargain for a clash with Mayweather.
It seems as if Pacquiao is just out there rudderless trying to find his footing again. His motivation for continuing to fight and who exactly he should fight are somewhat bewildering. He’s fighting history and age at a time when his perception and influence are severely compromised.
Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com
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Skavynskyi and Bustillos Win on a MarvNation Card in Long Beach

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
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

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

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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