Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: 10 Questions You Want Answered?

Published

9 years ago

April 27, 2015

The questions, should we be so fortunate, will be answered May 2. And that, most all the hardcore boxing fans say, because we’ve waited, sometimes impatiently as talks heated up and faltered, is something to rejoice.

Who is the pound for pound top dog? Has Floyd Mayweather lost a step, or two, and can Pacman capitalize, or is his power reservoir depleted?

Here are ten pressing question for you to ponder as we tick down these finals days before boxing’s Super Bowl, circa 2015, compliments of KO Digest editor Jeffrey Freeman.

1. Will the fight actually happen on May 2nd as scheduled?

While it seems preposterous to ponder the possibility of boxing’s biggest ever money grab going the way of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao in 2009, all signs point to it finally happening—at last. The contracts are signed. The tickets are sold. The pay-per-view price has been announced. Fight Week has kicked off in Las Vegas for Superfight 2015. But still, not everyone is convinced and cynical skeptics are taking a wait and see approach. As evidenced on Pacquiao’s aborted media conference call, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is at his wit’s end. There is a palpable tension now. Perhaps the lack of press tour promotion was just what “Doctor Moonves” ordered in order to prevent somebody involved from poisoning the well and bringing down the whole fight along the way. Many of these people don’t like or particularly respect each other and it’s been amusing watching them try to pretend otherwise for the sake of a punching payoff. Yes, the fight will happen on May 2nd and that’s the scoop, so pay up Malinowski.

2. What’s at stake between the two combatants?

The huge money involved in the “biggest fight of all time” is all but guaranteed. A 60/40 split in favor of Mayweather should leave “Money May” with at least $120 million dollars and Pacquiao with approximately $80 million dollars. There will of course be other economic residuals and to the boxing insider, it will feel like the sport itself is being cashed out, its fans fleeced for all they’re worth. What’s not guaranteed is what’s truly at stake and that’s what all the fighting is really about: The undisputed welterweight championship of the world, the top spot on any reputable pound-for-pound list, status as this generation’s very best prizefighter, and the enduring legacy that comes with being the winner of the once endless Mayweather vs. Pacquiao saga. Barring a draw or some other unforeseen event that muddles resolution, boxing’s elite scorecard will become crystal clear for the first time in a very long time. When the best fights the best, the loser is second best. The winner is THE best. That’s how it works and that’s what’s at stake.

3. Why did it take so long to get the fight made?

Big egos and bad attitudes. Both participants are “A-side” boxing superstars but Floyd Mayweather is, many say, an egomaniac who likes to humiliate and belittle his opponents. The prideful Pacquiao is not a man who easily abides being humiliated or belittled. For quite some time, it was true that as much as both men needed each other to get to where we all are today, they were both quite willing to go their separate ways against other opponents for lesser, though still lucrative, paydays. That cycle went on for as long as it could until Pacquiao got knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 and Mayweather ran out of economically credible opponents in 2014 after back to back fights against Marcos Maidana. With just the right amount of vulnerability showing between them and with fans willing to show Mayweather and Pacquiao the money for finally trading punches, the time is now right for all involved.

4. Would the result have been different 5 years ago?

Both boxers were younger and better in circa 2009/2010 so it’s hard to imagine that things wouldn’t have been of a higher quality in the ring but what we’re left with in 2015 is still very special. Mayweather is the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in all of boxing and a reigning two division world champion at welterweight and junior middleweight. Pacquiao is still an icon of the sport, a “fighter of the decade” award winner, and one of pugilism’s very best practitioners. While a controversial “loss” to Tim Bradley and a crushing knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez have somewhat diminished his status, Pacquiao is still seen by most as the perfect foil for Mayweather and the one guy Floyd must finally fight (and defeat) before calling himself “the best ever” with a straight face.

5. Will the fight live up to the hype?

It won’t be easy but it is possible. It’s no secret that Mayweather is a defensive boxer who looks to minimize contact and do just enough punching to win boxing matches. Mayweather will not expose himself to a firefight if it’s not absolutely necessary and the onus is on Pacquiao to make it absolutely necessary. There is just so much at stake between these two personally and there are only 36 possible minutes of fight time for both to make their greatest statements. If somehow a fight breaks out early like it did 30 years ago in Las Vegas when Marvin Hagler battled Thomas Hearns for his ultimate place in boxing history, the tale of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao could be brutally beautiful indeed. The skill and talent required for such a perfect storm will all be in the ring on May 2nd. If the fighters feel the moment and simultaneously seize it, then yes, expectations could not only be met, but exceeded.

6. If he wins, where does Manny Pacquiao go from here?

Depending on how he wins, a rematch with Mayweather would be most likely. Most experts are expecting a close fight that goes to the judges and in such a case, fans and media will almost surely be divided on who they think the real winner was. All this interest and attention (in boxing we call it controversy) will drive an immediate rematch to settle the score once and for all so to speak. If Pacquiao dominates or knocks out Mayweather, a rematch could become much less likely, particularly if as George Foreman warns, the defeat “devastates” Mayweather as a fighter. Pacquiao has already been through a devastating knockout loss and came back from it to secure his place in the biggest fight in boxing history. It remains to be seen what a bad loss would do to Mayweather’s psyche. If Pacquiao leaves Mayweather unavailable to dance again in September or ever, Manny could be looking at a fifth fight with long-time rival Juan Manuel Marquez or even a third tussle with Tim Bradley to make it another Top Rank trilogy.

7. If he wins, where does Floyd Mayweather go from here?

Again, much would depend on how he wins. If Mayweather is dominant or scores an embarrassing knockout of Pacquiao, a rematch would be far-fetched despite the copious paydays again involved. From Mayweather’s perspective, such a win would prove his point that he was always better than Pacquiao and that having to prove it in the ring was a nagging insult to his greatness. You think he’ll be willing to do it again? No chance. If however Mayweather struggles to win or receives an unpopular decision, the door swings right open for a rematch. In the event that Mayweather makes moot the point of a Manny rematch, look for Floyd to seek a second bout with Miguel Cotto at some ridiculous catchweight for Cotto’s WBC and linear middleweight titles. In most cases, all roads for Mayweather and Pacquiao lead right back to Mayweather and Pacquiao but this is boxing, the theater of the unexpected.

8. Who will win?

Here’s the inside scoop, so remember where you heard it first. The “smart money” in Las Vegas is on the draw result but I’m picking a winner here and that’s going to be Manny Pacquiao. How will he do it where nobody else has been able to pull it off? By being all over Floyd Mayweather from the opening bell and by forcing “Money May” into a perpetual state of discomfort on the ropes and in the corners. This should still be a close and competitive struggle for legacy but an off-balance knockdown scored by Pacquiao against Mayweather will make a critical difference on the judge’s scorecards. If either fighter is to get stopped or knocked out, it will be Mayweather but Floyd has a great chin and Manny wins more on speedy volume and angles now than on power punching and pure killer instinct. The win goes to the fighter who most wants to be in the ring on May 2nd and that is demonstrably Pacquiao.

9. Will there be a rematch?

You better believe it. Too much money is at stake for this not to happen again in September or next May. And after Mayweather tastes defeat for the first time as a professional, he will be itching to get Pacquiao back into the ring to prove his superiority and secure his legacy.

10. What is boxing’s next Mayweather vs. Pacquiao delayed superfight situation?

The promotional acrimony is already well under way. And as always, boxing fans just want to see the fight in question to find out who really is the best light heavyweight in the world. It’s a match-up of pure power punchers and one side of the equation is considered to have been “ducking” the fight while the other side has been accused of using race and vulgarity to bring it to fruition. Main Events promoter Kathy Duva is in one corner with her sometimes boorish charge Sergey Kovalev and boxing adviser Al Haymon is in the other with his avoidant champion Adonis Stevenson. Like Mayweather-Pacquiao, there are also cable network issues standing in the way with Stevenson now attached to Showtime and Kovalev signed with rival HBO. Also like Mayweather-Pacquiao, the feeling is that neither fighter particularly cares for the other and that their respective “powers that be” are gladly letting this one marinate deliberately to make it as big as it possibly can be before it finally gets made. With some notable exceptions, such as Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Aaron Pryor in the 1980’s and Mike Tyson vs. George Foreman in the 1990’s, almost all of boxing’s biggest fights eventually happen and “Superman vs. The Krusher” will too, but just not a moment too soon.

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Jeffrey Freeman

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-289-East-L.A.-A-Fight-Town-Claressa-Shields-and-More

Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

2 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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