Manny Pacquiao Returns…

Published

10 years ago

November 19, 2013

Manny Pacquiao returns to the ring this weekend against Brandon Rios in Macau, China, almost one full year after he was bludgeoned down to the canvas by archrival Juan Manuel Marquez. Most fighters are unable to recover from such a knockout. Their career would be over the way a chicken’s life is over when you remove its head. Sure, it flails and kicks around like it’s still alive, but that chicken is dead.

In 1986, a four-issue comic book series called The Dark Knight Returns was published by DC Comics. The story was written by Frank Miller, who co-illustrated it alongside Klaus Janson. The plot follows a 55-year-old Bruce Wayne, as he dons the batsuit once again after a long retirement to fight crime in Gotham City.

Batman faces both new foes and old. He thwarts a gang of criminals called the Mutants, dukes out a final round against his arch-nemesis, the Joker, and even takes down Superman after the hulking alien is sent to Gotham to stop Batman’s vigilante efforts once and for all. The series was later collected into a single volume graphic novel, and is considered by critics one of the finest examples of storytelling and art in the genre.

For those more familiar with the movie version of Batman, particularly the one portrayed by Christian Bale and directed by Christopher Nolan, many of the motifs present in the third and final installment of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, were borrowed from Miller’s comic book classic.

Most applicable to this essay, are three elements: Batman’s return to crime fighting after a long layoff; Batman facing younger, stronger and faster adversaries; Batman inspiring Gotham City one more time.

A Return to Familiar Places

Like Batman’s return to Gotham City, Pacquiao will be returning to a familiar environment on Saturday night, one he has previously mastered. Where only the top one percent of boxers ever carve out a living in the sport, only a fraction of those who do also reach both the historical and financial levels of success Pacquiao has attained.

But the ring is an unforgiving environment. Fighters age out faster than perhaps in any other sport. Unlike team sports, there is no roster spot to hide a player with diminished skill. And unlike other individual sports, such as tennis or golf, boxing is combat. The goal is not to hit a ball, but an opponent. Boxing is the roughest of pastimes. Fighters get old almost overnight. One day, you’re at the top of the sport. The next, you’re lying face down in the rubble.

It’s the same for Batman in The Dark Knight Returns. Where characters like Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, Thor, etc. all possess alien, magical and/or mutant superpowers, Batman is just a man. Sure, he’s big, fast, strong and skillful, but Batman has no more physical or mental attributes than any other human could have, except that in this story he has aged past his physical prime. In that way, the fictional Batman is of the realistic variety, as far as comic book heroes go.

Like Pacquiao (seen above arriving in Macau with wife Jinkee, in Chris Farina-Top Rank photo), the Batman of The Dark Knight Returns isn’t what he used to be. But Batman is still enough of what he was to look like Batman to everyone else, including his antagonists.

Is Pacquiao the same?

Facing the Young Brutes

There is no senior circuit or masters tour in boxing. In fact, in order to stay in the fight game as an elder statesmen, one has to beat back the younger, stronger and usually hungrier fighters coming up to take your place. Only the very best fighters in boxing history have done this for an extended period of time. And some of the greatest fighters ever were unable to do it at all. Roy Jones, Jr. was knocked out cold at age 35 by Antonio Tarver, who was the same age but had carried much less ring wear into the fight because of a late starting career. Muhammad Ali was a shell of himself at age 36 when he lost a split decision to 24-year-old Leon Spinks. Jones and Ali never looked the same. Pacquiao, 34, will face a 27-year-old Rios this weekend.

In The Dark Knight Returns, Batman is 55-years-old. Fans of the comic will remember him looking even older than that in the comic’s artwork. While Batman does face some old nemeses, men like Harvey Dent (Two Face) and the Joker, the predominant enemies Batman must tussle with are not his contemporaries at all. Through most of the narrative, Batman faces a new gang of thugs called the Mutants. They’re young. They’re strong. But he’s Batman.

Batman faces the leader of the Mutant gang twice. The first time he rumbles with the younger, stronger and more youthful Mutant leader, Batman tries to fight him as if they were similar in age and vigor. He almost loses his life in the process, barely escaping. The second time, Batman uses guile to lure the leader into a mud pit where Batman can keep the Mutant leader from having any advantage in speed. The rest is all bravery and cunning. Batman defeats the leader of the gang, and the rest of the criminals are rounded up and put into jail.

While Batman had to think differently than when he was a younger man, he didn’t change his style. He was still Batman in form and function. Rather, Batman recognized his strengths and weaknesses to that of his opponent. Moreover, he was honest with himself in assessing a much smaller margin for error against opponents at his advanced age. Like Batman, Pacquiao will still need to be himself against his adversaries. But he’ll need to be smarter and fight with more attention to detail than he has in the past.

Something to Believe In

On November 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Yolanda) barreled through the Philippines wreaking havoc on thousands of local inhabitants. CBS News reports Yolanda might become the area’s deadliest natural disaster on record. As of Sunday, the rising death toll was almost 3,500 souls, with almost 1,200 missing and 13,000 reported injured.

Whether it is right or wrong, many in the Philippines will seek a diversion from their sorrow and angst through their love of national hero Pacquiao. To his credit, Pacquiao recognizes this and has dedicated the fight to his country and the victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan.

The phenomenon of coping with tragedy through sports is not localized to the Philippines at all. Americans will remember how venerated the New England Patriots were after the September 2011 terror attacks, how eagerly the New Orleans Saints were cheered for after Hurricane Katrina leveled the city in 2005, and how important the Boston Red Sox were for many after this year’s Boston Marathon bombing.

In Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, Batman serves the same function for the inhabitants of this fictional, dystopian future. Part of the comic’s narrative is aimed at describing the polarizing views that grow more and more rampant in a society with a two-party political system. But the narrative is also about the effect a galvanizing force can have on a group of people. By the end of the story, Batman is the leader of an ardent group of loyal followers who believe in him and his cause. They don’t just believe in him because of what he is. They believe in him because of what he stands for, and more importantly what they believe he stands for.

The people of Gotham live in a world where bad is celebrated as good, where right is wrong, where down is up. They rally behind Batman, not as a man really, but as a symbol of hope. The motif is probably better realized (or at least more accessible) in Nolan’s movie, The Dark Knight Rises. For the people of Nolan’s universe, Batman is who rallies them to rise against the menacing bandits who take over the city and hold it hostage.

Like the fictional Batmans in Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, real life Pacquiao will be asked to provide a symbol of hope after a desperate and trying time. It might not be fair, but it’s reality.

Pacquiao is a favorite against Rios, and he absolutely should be. While Rios is a tough-nosed fighter with hard punches and a brave chin, Pacquiao has everything in his tool bag that Rios can’t handle. When the two meet on Saturday, Pacquiao won’t need to go to the same lengths Batman did against the Mutant leader in order to win. He won’t have to lure him into mud to slow Rios down. Pacquiao is already much faster than Rios. And while Rios has a good punch, Pacquiao will likely hold the edge in power, too. In fact, the only tangible elements Rios will have on his side this Saturday night is youth and size. And he probably doesn’t have enough of either of them to beat Pacquiao, who still appears closer to a hero than a has-been.

And After All This, There’s Just One More Thing: $uperman

After facing Rios, Pacquiao has several notable options to pursue. First and foremost on the list should probably be Timothy Bradley, who was awarded a controversial decision win over Pacquiao in 2012 (even though almost everyone else in the world thought Pacquiao deserved the nod easily). After that, Pacquiao would probably seek a fifth tussle with archrival Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez knocked out Pacquiao last December, but did so after appearing to be on his way to a loss. Pacquiao holds a 2-1-1 edge on the fighter, and would probably take the fifth fight, too.

But those are Pacquiao’s normal foes. Akin to Batman facing Two Face and the Joker, Pacquiao isn’t treading new water in this part of narrative. But maybe, like Miller’s comic book, the final act will be the most interesting.

Because if there’s a Superman in the boxing universe, he’s wearing a ‘$’ symbol instead of an ‘S’. His name is Floyd Mayweather, and it would be the perfect way to end the story. Like Batman vs. Superman, Pacquiao would be the underdog against Mayweather. But unlike the fictional Superman, Mayweather is only flesh and blood.

Regardless, it’s perhaps most simply put like this. Superman might be the most powerful hero in the DC universe, but Batman would be on the shortlist of those who might be able to take him down. And while Mayweather is probably the best boxer of his era, Pacquiao has all the tools to give him the most trouble should the two ever meet inside a boxing ring. So much so, in fact, that Mayweather has never seemed super interested in facing Pacquiao in the first place.

And maybe that says it all. Maybe Mayweather knows he’s Superman alright, but that he’s still not the main character of the narrative. Maybe he knows he’s stuck playing the bit part at the end of a Batman story. Maybe he’s read Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and knows how the story ends. Maybe he knows Pacquiao is the hero. Maybe he knows Pacquiao is the winner.

Or maybe this essay has spun too far out into the world of meta-narratives, and you should just enjoy the fight. After all, that’s when Manny Pacquiao returns…

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Kelsey McCarson

Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

2 days ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Ramon-Cardenas-Channels-Micky-Ward-and-KOs-Eduardo-Ramirez-on-ProBox

The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to the liver from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round nine. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

4 days ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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In a Shocker, Ryan Garcia Confounds the Experts and Upsets Devin Haney

Published

5 days ago

April 21, 2024

David A. Avila

In-a-Shocker-Ryan-Garcia-Confounds-the-Experts-and-Upsets-Devin-Haney

Its good to be crazy. Like a fox.

Ryan “KingRy” Garcia knocked down WBC super lightweight titlist Devin Haney three times to remind everyone of his fighting abilities in winning by majority decision on Saturday.

“I just knew what I could do,” Garcia said.

Fans will not forget the lanky kid from Victorville, California now.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) fooled everyone in playing crazy weeks before the fight, then showed shocking power to hand Haney (30-1, 15 KOs) his first loss as a professional at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Haney’s WBC super lightweight title was not at stake for Garcia because he weighed three pounds over the limit.

After Garcia seemingly acting out of control on social media, Haney’s guard must have slipped in the first round during the first few seconds as Garcia connected with that hellish left hook and Haney, with a look of shock in his eyes, almost went down. He barely survived the first round.

“He caught me with it,” said Haney.

During the next few rounds, Haney proceeded to advance toward Garcia seemingly fully aware of the lethal left hook. He used feints and rights to score with a busier approach as Garcia seemed cocked and ready to counter with a left hook.

In the fourth round it seemed Haney was confident he had regained control of the fight, but every time he opened up with more than a two-punch combination Garcia reminded him whose hands were faster and more dangerous.

Though Garcia seldom jabbed he seemed bent on looking for the right moment to unleash his deadly left hook. And every time the Southern California fighter opened up with a combination he scored and Haney dare not exchange.

A few times Haney smiled as if signifying he escaped.

In the seventh round Haney looked to punish Garcia’s body and instead was met with a three-punch combination included a left hook to the chin and down went Haney slumped on the ground. He managed to beat the count and as soon as Garcia came within reach Haney wrapped his arms around him with a python grip. Despite the warnings by referee Harvey Dock, the fallen fighter would not release and Garcia impatiently fired a weak punch during the break. The referee deducted a point from Garcia though he could have deducted a point from Haney for not obeying his instructions to release his hold. Haney actually went down three times in the round but only one was counted by the referee.

From that point on Haney was very cautious but still looking to win by decision.

Though Garcia kept using a shoulder-roll defense that left his body exposed, he would retaliate with three and four punch combinations that usually Haney could defend against other fighters.. But Garcia’s blazing combinations were too fast to defend.

In the 10^th round Haney looked to attack and was countered by Garcia’s right and a blinding left hook to the chin and another two blows that sent the former undisputed lightweight champion to the floor again.

It didn’t look good for Haney to survive.

Garcia walked into the 11^th round still composed and never out-of-control He dared Haney to exchange and when within striking distance Garcia unleashed another lightning combination and down went Haney again with a defeated look.

Both fighters had fought each other as amateurs six times so there were no surprises between them. But Garcia’s power and speed were superior and that was the difference in a professional fight.

In the final round both were cautious with Garcia’s combination punching proving too dangerous for Haney to open up. Garcia celebrated early as the round ended confident of victory.

After 12 rounds Garcia was seen the victor by majority decision 112-112, 114-110, 115-109.

“You really thought I was crazy,” Garcia told the interviewer and the crowd. “You guys hated on me.”

Other Bouts

Arnold Barboza (30-0) won a curious split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Sean McComb (18-2) in a 10-round super lightweight fight. McComb’s long reach and busy southpaw style gave Barboza trouble. But he managed to win the fight though the crowd was not pleased.

Bektemir Melikuziev (14-1, 10 KOs) defeated France’s Pierre Dibombe (22-1-1) by technical decision after eight rounds due to a cut on his eye from an accidental head butt. It was a very competitive super middleweight fight.

Costa Rica’s David Jimenez (16-1, 11 KOs) outworked John “Scrappy Ramirez (13-1, 9 KOs) in a 12-round scrap to upset the Los Angeles based fighter. After a few close rounds Jimenez simply bullied his way inside and forced Ramirez against the ropes and unloaded his guns.

After 12 rounds two judges saw it 117-111 and 116-114 all for Jimenez.

“I’m a hard-working man from Cartago I come from nothing,” said Jimenez. “My corner told me I had to work inside.”

Charles Conwell (19-0, 14 KOs) stepped on the gas early with vicious body shots and uppercuts and blasted through the resilient Nathaniel Gallimore (22-8-1, 17 KOs) for several rounds. After a brutal fifth and sixth round the referee halted the one-side beating in favor of Conwell who was fighting for the first time under the Golden Boy banner.

Another winner was Sergiy Derevyanchenko (15-5) by decision over Vaughn Alexander (18-11-1) in a super middleweight match.

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