Manny Pacquiao Returns…

Published

11 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

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

Published

19 hours ago

April 2, 2025

Arne K. Lang

History has Shortchanged Freddie Dawson, One of the Best Boxers of his Era

This reporter was rummaging around the internet last week when he stumbled on a story in the May 1950 issue of Ebony under the byline of Mike Jacobs. Boxing was then in the doldrums (isn’t it always?) and Jacobs, the most powerful promoter in boxing during the era of Joe Louis, was lassoed by the editors of the magazine to address the question of whether the over-representation of black boxers was killing the sport at the box office.

This hoary premise had been kicking around even before the heyday of Jack Johnson, bubbling forth whenever an important black-on-black fight played to a sea of empty seats as had happened the previous year when Chicago’s Comiskey Park hosted the world heavyweight title fight between Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott.

Jacobs ridiculed the hypothesis – as one could have expected considering the publication in which the story ran – and singled out three “colored” boxers as the best of the current crop of active pugilists: Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams, and Freddie Dawson.

Sugar Ray Robinson? A no-brainer. Skill-wise the greatest of the great. Even those that didn’t follow boxing, would have recognized his name. Ike Williams? Nowhere near as well-known as Robinson, but he was then the reigning lightweight champion, a man destined to go into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the inaugural class of 1990.

And Freddie Dawson? If the name doesn’t ring a bell, dear reader, you are not alone. I confess that I too drew a blank. And that triggered a search to learn more about him.

Freddie Dawson had four fights with Ike Williams. All four were staged on Ike’s turf in Philadelphia. Were this not the case, the history books would likely show the series knotted 2-2. Late in his career, Dawson became greatly admired in Australia. But we are jumping ahead of ourselves.

Dawson was born in 1924 in Thomasville, Arkansas, an unincorporated town in the Arkansas Delta. Likely a descendent of slaves who worked in the cotton plantations, he grew up in the so-called Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, the heart of Chicago’s Black Belt.

The first mention of him in the newspapers came in 1941 when he won Chicago’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) featherweight title. In those days, amateur boxing was big in the Windy City, the birthplace of the Golden Gloves. The Catholic Archdiocese, which ran gyms in every parish, and the Chicago Parks Department, were the major incubators.

In his amateur days, he was known as simply Fred Dawson. As a pro, his name often appeared as Freddy Dawson, although Freddie gradually became the more common spelling.

Dawson, who stood five-foot-six and was often described as stocky, made his pro debut on Feb. 1, 1943, at Marigold Gardens. Before the year was out, he had 16 fights under his belt, all in Chicago and all but two at Marigold. (Currently the site of an interdenominational Christian church, Marigold Gardens, on the city’s north side, was Chicago’s most active boxing and wrestling arena from the mid-1930s through the early-1950s. Joe Louis had three of his early fights there and Tony Zale was a fixture there as he climbed the ladder to the world middleweight title.)

The last of these 16 fights was fatal for Dawson’s opponent who collapsed heading back to his corner after the fight was stopped in the 10^th round and died that night at a local hospital from the effects of a brain injury.

Dawson left town after this incident and spent most of the next year in New Orleans where energetic promoter Louis Messina ran twice-weekly shows (Mondays for whites and Fridays for blacks) at the Coliseum, a major stop on boxing’s so-called Chitlin’ Circuit.

That same year, on Sept. 19, 1944, Dawson had his first encounter with Ike Williams. He was winning the fight when Ike knocked him out with a body punch in the fourth round.

The first and last meetings between Dawson and Ike Williams were spaced five years apart. In the interim, Freddie scored his two best wins, stopping Vic Patrick in the twelfth round at Sydney, NSW, and Bernard Docusen in the sixth round in Chicago.

The long-reigning lightweight champion of Australia, Patrick (49-3, 43 KOs) gave the crowd a thrill when he knocked Dawson down for a count of “six” in the penultimate 11^th round, but Dawson returned the favor twice in the final stanza, ending the contest with a punch so harsh that the poor Aussie needed five minutes before he was fit to leave the ring and would spend the night in the hospital as a precaution.

Dawson fought Bernard Docusen before 10,000-plus at Chicago Stadium on Feb. 4, 1949. An 8/5 favorite, Docusen lacked a hard punch, but the New Orleans cutie had suffered only three losses in 66 fights, had never been stopped, and had extended Sugar Ray Robinson the 15-round distance the previous year.

Dawson dismantled him. Docusen managed to get back on his feet after Dawson knocked him down in the sixth, but he was in no condition to continue and the referee waived the fight off. Dawson was then vacillating between the lightweight and welterweight divisions and reporters wondered whether it would be Robinson or Ike Williams when Dawson finally got his well-earned title shot.

Sugar Ray wasn’t in his future. Here are the results of his other matches with Ike Williams:

Dawson-Williams II (Jan. 28, 1946) – The consensus on press row was 7-2-1 or 7-3 for Dawson, but the match was ruled a draw. “[The judges and referee] evidently saw [Williams] land punches that nobody else did,” said the ringside reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Dawson-Williams III (Jan. 26, 1948) – Dawson lost a majority decision. The scores were 6-4, 5-4-1, and 4-4-2. The decision was booed. Ike Williams then held the lightweight title, but this was a non-title fight. (It was tough for an outsider to get a fair shake in Philadelphia, home to Ike Williams’ co-manager Frank “Blinky” Palermo who would go to prison for his duplicitous dealings as a fight facilitator.)

Dawson-Williams IV (Dec. 5, 1949) – This would be Freddie Dawson’s only crack at a world title and he came up short. Ike Williams retained the belt, winning a unanimous decision. The fight was close – 8-7, 8-7, 9-6 – but there was no controversy.

Dawson made three more trips to Australia before his career was finished. On the first of these trips, he knocked out Jack Hassen, successor to Vic Patrick as the lightweight champion of Australia. A 1953 article in the Sydney Sunday Herald bore witness to the esteem in which Dawson was held by boxing fans in Australia: “None of our boxers could withstand his devastating attacks which not only knocked them out but also knocked years off their careers,” said the author. “It is doubtful whether any Australian boxer in any division could have beaten Dawson.”

Dawson had his final fights in the Land Down Under, finishing his career with a record of 103-14-4 while answering the bell for 962 rounds. Following what became his final fight, he had an eye operation in Sydney that was reportedly so intricate that it required a two-week hospital stay. He injured the eye again in Manila while sparring in preparation for a match with the welterweight champion of the Philippines, a match that had to be aborted because of the injury. Dawson then disappeared, by which we mean that he disappeared from the pages of the newspaper archives that allow us to construct these kinds of stories.

What about Freddie Dawson the man? A 1944 story about him said he was an outstanding all-around athlete, “a champion in all athletic undertakings – basketball, baseball, track and even jitterbugging.” A story in a Sydney paper as he was preparing to meet Vic Patrick informs us that he had two young children, ages 2 and 1, owned his own home in Chicago, and drove a two-year-old Cadillac. But beyond these flimsy snippets, Dawson the man remains elusive.

What we learned, however, is that he was one of the most underrated boxers to come down the pike in any era, a borderline Hall of Famer who ought not have fallen through the cracks. Inside the ring, this guy was one tough hombre.

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

5 days ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Ringside-at-the-Fontainebleau-where-Mikaela-Mayer-won-her-Rematch-with-Sandy-Ryan

LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

5 days ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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