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Hauser Report: A Look Back at Thurman-Porter

Published

8 years ago

June 28, 2016

Hauser Report – The June 25 fight card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn featured WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman (Florida) versus challenger Shawn Porter (Ohio) in a battle of fighters from swing states that may well decide the 2016 presidential election. Politics aside, it was everything that a fight should be.

When Thurman dials back the hype, he comes across as thoughtful and intelligent. There’s the glib Keith Thurman and the deeper, more introspective persona.

Trainer Dan Birmingham says, “I’ve known Keith since he was kid. He started coming to the gym when he was eleven years old. I’ve been working with him since he was fifteen and I still don’t really know him. He’s very opinionated. He has an opinion about everything. And he reminds me of a hippie from The Sixties. Outside the ring, Keith is all peace and love. He’s a giver. He plays the flute, guitar, and a little piano. He would have done well at Woodstock. But when the bell rings, he’ll rip your head off.”

To that, Thurman adds, “I want to make it difficult for the writers to put me in a box and say, ‘Keith Thurman is this’ or ‘Keith Thurman is that.’”

Three years ago, at age 24, Thurman knocked out Diego Chavez and was acclaimed as one of boxing’s rising stars. He entered the ring to face Porter with a 26-and-0 (22 KOs) ledger. But some of the air had gone out of his balloon since the Chavez fight, largely because Keith had gone in relatively soft since then.

Thurman is a smart fighter with good power. Sound-bites roll off his tongue. “The number one rule in boxing,” he says, “is protect yourself at all times. When I don’t produce a knockout, it’s not my bad. It’s the other fighter’s good.” But lest one worry about a lack of action, Thurman also opines, “If two men are fighting, someone should end up getting hurt.”

Thurman-Porter was the first fight on CBS in prime time since the initial meeting betweeen Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks in 1978.

Porter, age 28, is trained by his father, Kenny Porter. Prior to facing Thurman, Shawn’s record stood at 26-1-1 with 16 knockouts. There were victories over Adrien Broner and a badly faded Paulie Malignaggi on his resume and also a loss by majority decision to Kell Brook.

Both Thurman and Porter were coming in after long periods of inactivity. Keith hadn’t fought since July 11, 2015, when he stopped Luis Collazo in seven rounds. Shawn had last entered the ring on June 20, 2015, when he decisioned Broner.

The promotion was refreshingly free of the ugly posturing and name-calling that passes these days for “marketing” in boxing. Thurman and Porter have known each other since their time as decorated amateurs. They’ve sparred and socialized together, and evinced mutual respect throughout the build-up to the fight.

Thurman was the more voluble:

* “I got lots of love and respect for Shawn. I’m happy for my success, and I’m happy for Shawn’s success. But on June 25th, my friend is about to become my enemy.”

* “When Shawn Porter was in my camp, we spent a lot of time together. He got to meet my mother. I know his father. It’s a very fun process to have a rival be so personal, somebody that you really know, somebody that you’ve been cheering for. June 25th is the only day that I’m not allowed to cheer for Shawn Porter.”

* “There really is nothing awkward in it. If anything, there’s a very very cool factor. To be really honest, there’s an extremely just super-cool factor that I remember this dude when he was a teenager. He remembers me when I was a teenager.”

* “We know each other very well. [But] we’ve never seen each other under the bright lights. Fight night is a different kind of night. He’s in the way of my dreams. I’m in the way of his dreams.”

Porter responded in kind, saying, “You see the respect. But I want to prove to ourselves and to everyone out there in the world that I’m better than Keith. And I know he has that same mindset. I’m coming for his head. It doesn’t matter that we’re friends. And I know at the end of the day it doesn’t matter to him. We both have families to take care of. We both have legacies to build, careers to continue, and goals to reach. To anybody that’s wondering if we’re too friendly with one another to take one another out; no, we’re not.”

Thurman was an early 3-to-2 betting favorite. But as fight night neared, the odds moved closer to 2-to-1. The general feeling was that the bout would reveal more about Thurman than it would about Porter (whose strengths and weaknesses as a fighter had been more clearly defined by earlier fights).

When the bell for round one rang, Thurman-Porter quickly evolved into a classic bull-versus-matador encounter.

Porter likes to apply constant pressure and outwork opponents with an aggressive mauling attack. As Paulie Malignaggi observed, “Shawn fights like a linebacker. Most guys punch their way in. He looks for physical contact first and then he throws punches.”

Meanwhile, Thurman thinks of himself as a cerebral fighter. In words that could have been taken from The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, Keith says, “If people want to move forward [engage], I’ll move backwards. If they want to move backwards, I move forward. I go with the flow. I do what I think is necessary to win. The key to victory is to not let your opponent have his way. I like to stay open-minded and see what presents itself in the fight. The game plan is victory.”

But Porter made victory difficult. He came in low throughout the night, leading sometimes with his head and shoulders, scoring off of bullrushes, hitting arms, hips, and anything else his fists could find. His best work came when he pinned Thurman against the ropes and unleashed a torrential two-fisted body attack.

Thurman’s plan had been to jab and pick his shots against Porter’s bullrushes.

“Keith will control the rushes with his jab,” Dan Birmingham had said. “Or time him and take his head off with a right hand when Shawn rushes in.”

But Thurman didn’t jab as often or effectively as Birmingham had hoped for. Instead, he fought fight fire with fire; sometimes because he wanted to and other times because Porter gave him no choice.

There was spirited back-and-forth action throughout the battle. When Thurman was able to dictate the distance between Porter and himself, he landed the sharper, more effective punches. Shawn kept coming forward, throwing from all angles. But it wasn’t always effective aggression.

Referee Steve Willis did a good job of letting the fighters fight. Porter was cut by the outside corner of his left eye in round four. Thurman suffered a gash beneath his left eyebrow in round nine (the first time in his career that Keith had been cut).

Thurman wobbled Porter on several occasions with sharp hard counterpunches but was noticeably hurt by a hook to the body in round eight.

Both men dug deep. It was a difficult fight to score. Thurman prevailed by a 115-113, 115-113, 115-113 margin. The judges agreed that Keith won rounds one, four, eight, and eleven, while giving a unanimous nod to Porter in the second and seventh stanzas. That left six rounds up for grabs, which they divided evenly between the fighters.

The CompuBox statistics reflected the even nature of the battle, with Thurman being credited for landing 235 of 539 punches and Porter 236 of 662.

“This is what we live for,” Keith said afterward. “This is what it was advertised to be. He weathered the storm. I weathered his storm. It was a great fight.”

As for why he got the decision, Thurman observed, “Shawn did what he’s good at. He brings it. But he brings it in a fashion that’s not fully effective. It’s seven rounds for victory. I might have dropped out of high school, but I know how to count. And math was my favorite subject.”

As for what comes next; the first point to make is that Thurman-Porter was an important fight for reasons that go beyond who won and lost. Both men are Premier Boxing Champions fighters. And PBC has been struggling.

The April 30, 2016 PBC card on Fox headlined by Andre Berto vs. Victor Ortiz attracted 1.6 million viewers, a 22 percent decline from the January 23, 2016, Danny Garcia vs. Robert Guerrero show on Fox that averaged 2.1 million viewers.

PBC’s April 29, 2016, card on Spike featuring Andre and Anthony Dirrell in separate bouts averaged 513,000 viewers (26 percent less than the 693,000 viewers that Spike’s earlier 2016 telecasts averaged).

Worse, PBC’s June 18, 2016, card on NBC featuring Andrzej Fonfara vs. Joe Smith in prime time had an 0.8 overnight rating. That was down 20 percent and 39 percent from NBC’s two most recent PBC telecasts prior to that (1.0 in April 2016 and 1.3 in December 2015). As reported by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, “The 0.8 is the lowest for a prime-time PBC card on network television (there have been nine telecasts between NBC and Fox since PBC debuted in March 2015). According to Sports Media Watch, the 0.8 is one of the lowest metered market ratings ever for a sporting event on prime-time network television. Every NBC prime-time PBC telecast has had a worse rating than the one before it.”

Indeed, the PBC brand has been so diminished that Thurman-Porter was branded as “Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS” rather than a PBC fight.

What happens next will be instructive.

Thurman-Porter was what Premier Boxing Champions should have given the public from the start. It was the kind of fight that boxing fans expected on a regular basis when PBC was born.

The 147-pound division is boxing’s deepest. Even with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on leave, Thurman, Porter, Kell Brook, Danny Garcia, Errol Spence, and Tim Bradley are in the mix. Terence Crawford, Amir Khan, and Adrien Broner would be welcome additions to the fold.

Thurman has said that he wants to fight Garcia next. At the post-fight press conference after beating Porter, Keith proclaimed, “Danny Garcia, undefeated. If you loved this one, you gotta love that set-up.”

That was consistent with Thurman’s earlier statement, “I have an ‘O’ and I’m not afraid to let it go. If you can beat me, beat me.”

Meanwhile, David Avanesyan is the WBA’s “interim welterweight champion” and the “mandatory challenger” for Thurman’s belt by virtue of a desultory 12-round decision over a long-past-his-prime Shane Mosley.

One year ago, the assumption was that PBC wouldn’t need phony belts in 2016 to prop up its champions.

So what will Al Haymon (who controls PBC) do next? Keith Thurman has the potential to be a break-out star. Will PBC backslide and match him in an unappealing defense against Avanesyan? Or will it build on the excitement generated by Thurman-Porter and give sports fans another fight that we care about?

Thurman wants the big fight. Speaking of the legacy he hopes to build, he says, “Legacy is a process. You gotta ride the train. Mayweather didn’t become Mayweather overnight. It’s not one fight. It’s the continuation of fighting at this level and coming out on top.”

And he has cautioned the media, “Claiming the best is cool. There’s nothing wrong with finding the best. But to get the best is going to take a little bit more time. It’s not even going to happen this year. Mayweather was at the top for over a decade, and you want somebody to replace him. But you need to really see who’s going to be the top dog for the next three to five years. Then you got a king. I look forward to the journey and the process.”

Thurman is a very good fighter. He has not yet shown that he’s great. It would be a shame for Keith and for boxing if he were denied the opportunity to find out if he’s great.

And one thing more . . .

I don’t know how many times this has to be written before the powers that be get the point.

A fight that looks good on paper (which Thurman-Porter did) is more likely to be a good fight than one that shapes up as mediocre to begin with. Most of the fans who were enthralled by Thurman-Porter had no idea which belt was at stake, nor did they care. They didn’t want to see world sanctioning body officials in the ring. They didn’t want anything to “marinate.” They wanted to see a good fight.

It’s not rocket science. Televise good fights and people will watch them.

Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book (Muhammad Ali: a Tribute to the Greatest) has been published by Pegasus Books in the United States and by HarperUK in Great Britain.

Hauser Report

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Thomas Hauser

Thomas Hauser is the author of 52 books. In 2005, he was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed the Nat Fleischer Award for career excellence in boxing journalism upon him. He was the first Internet writer ever to receive that award. In 2019, Hauser was chosen for boxing's highest honor: induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Lennox Lewis has observed, “A hundred years from now, if people want to learn about boxing in this era, they’ll read Thomas Hauser.”

Argentina

The BWAA Shames Veteran Referee Laurence Cole and Two Nebraska Judges

Published

6 years ago

August 2, 2018

Arne K. Lang

In an unprecedented development, the Boxing Writers Association of America has started a “watch list” to lift the curtain on ring officials who have “screwed up.” Veteran Texas referee Laurence Cole and Nebraska judges Mike Contreras and Jeff Sinnett have the unwelcome distinction of being the first “honorees.”

“Boxing is a sport where judges and referees are rarely held accountable for poor performances that unfairly change the course of a fighter’s career and, in some instances, endanger lives,” says the BWAA in a preamble to the new feature. Hence the watch list, which is designed to “call attention to ‘egregious’ errors in scoring by judges and unacceptable conduct by referees.”

Contreras and Sinnett, residents of Omaha, were singled out for their scorecards in the match between lightweights Thomas Mattice and Zhora Hamazaryan, an eight round contest staged at the WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan, Iowa on July 20. They both scored the fight 76-75 for Mattice, enabling the Ohio fighter to keep his undefeated record intact via a split decision.

Although Mattice vs. Hamazaryan was a supporting bout, it aired live on ShoBox. Analyst Steve Farhood, who was been with ShoBox since the inception of the series in 2001, called it one of the worst decisions he had ever seen. Lead announcer Barry Tompkins went further, calling it the worst decision he has seen in his 40 years of covering the sport.

Laurence Cole (pictured alongside his father) was singled out for his behavior as the third man in the ring for the fight between Regis Prograis and Juan Jose Velasco at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on July 14. The bout was televised live on ESPN.

In his rationale for calling out Cole, BWAA prexy Joseph Santoliquito leaned heavily on Thomas Hauser’s critique of Cole’s performance in The Sweet Science. “Velasco fought courageously and as well as he could,” noted Hauser. “But at the end of round seven he was a thoroughly beaten fighter.”

His chief second bullied him into coming out for another round. Forty-five seconds into round eight, after being knocked down for a third time, Velasco spit out his mouthpiece and indicated to Cole that he was finished. But Cole insisted that the match continue and then, after another knockdown that he ruled a slip, let it continue for another 35 seconds before Velasco’s corner mercifully threw in the towel.

Controversy has dogged Laurence Cole for well over a decade.

Cole was the third man in the ring for the Nov. 25, 2006 bout in Hildalgo, Texas, between Juan Manuel Marquez and Jimrex Jaca. In the fifth round, Marquez sustained a cut on his forehead from an accidental head butt. In round eight, another accidental head butt widened and deepened the gash. As Marquez was being examined by the ring doctor, Cole informed Marquez that he was ahead on the scorecards, volunteering this information while holding his hand over his HBO wireless mike. The inference was that Marquez was free to quit right then without tarnishing his record. (Marquez elected to continue and stopped Jaca in the next round.)

This was improper. For this indiscretion, Cole was prohibited from working a significant fight in Texas for the next six months.

More recently, Cole worked the 2014 fight between Vasyl Lomachenko and Orlando Salido at the San Antonio Alamodome. During the fight, Salido made a mockery of the Queensberry rules for which he received no point deductions and only one warning. Cole’s performance, said Matt McGrain, was “astonishingly bad,” an opinion echoed by many other boxing writers. And one could site numerous other incidents where Cole’s performance came under scrutiny.

Laurence Cole is the son of Richard “Dickie” Cole. The elder Cole, now 87 years old, served 21 years as head of the Texas Department of Combat Sports Regulation before stepping down on April 30, 2014. At various times during his tenure, Dickie Cole held high executive posts with the World Boxing Council and North American Boxing Federation. He was the first and only inductee into the inaugural class of the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame, an organization founded by El Paso promoter Lester Bedford in 2015.

From an administrative standpoint, boxing in Texas during the reign of Dickie Cole was frequently described in terms befitting a banana republic. Whenever there was a big fight in the Lone Star State, his son was the favorite to draw the coveted refereeing assignment.

Boxing is a sideline for Laurence Cole who runs an independent insurance agency in Dallas. By law in Texas (and in most other states), a boxing promoter must purchase insurance to cover medical costs in the event that one or more of the fighters on his show is seriously injured. Cole’s agency is purportedly in the top two nationally in writing these policies. Make of that what you will.

Complaints of ineptitude, says the WBAA, will be evaluated by a “rotating committee of select BWAA members and respected boxing experts.” In subsequent years, says the press release, the watch list will be published quarterly in the months of April, August, and December (must be the new math).

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

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The Avila Perspective, Chapter 8: Competing Cards in N.Y. and L.A.

Published

6 years ago

August 2, 2018

David A. Avila

Rival boxing shows compete this Saturday as light heavyweight world titlists are featured in New Jersey while former world champion welterweights and middleweights tangle in New York.

A mere 150 miles separate the two fight cards staged in Uniondale, N.Y. and Atlantic City.

But there’s no mercy inside the boxing ring and certainly no mercy between boxing promotions. While Main Events stages WBO light heavyweight titlist Sergey Kovalev and WBA light heavyweight titlist Dmitry Bivol in separate bouts, DiBella Entertainment stacks former champs Andre Berto against Devon Alexander in a welterweight clash.

Take your pick.

Russia’s Kovalev (32-2-1, 28 KOs) has lost some luster and hopes to reboot his popularity with a win against Canada’s Eleider Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs). But he will be directly competing against WBA champ Bivol (13-0, 11 KOs), also of Russia, who defends against Isaac Chilemba (25-5-2) of South Africa.

HBO will televise both light heavyweight title fights.

Bivol, 27, has slowly, almost glacier-like slow, picked up fans along the way by training in Southern California. The quiet unassuming fighter with a conservative style and cobra-like quickness appeals to the fans.

“I do not think that now I am the best light heavyweight, but I am now one of the best. One of four guys,” said Bivol during a press conference call. “But I hope in not the far future, we will know who is the best.”

That, of course, would mean a date with Kovalev should both fighters win on Saturday. Nothing is certain.

Kovalev, now 35, has lost some of that fear factor aura since losing back-to-back fights to now retired Andre Ward. Though he’s cracked two opponents in succession by knockout, many are pointing to the potential showdown with Bivol as the moment of truth.

“Most likely this fight is gonna happen since both Sergey and I are HBO boxers and as long as that’s what the people want, most likely the fight will happen,” said Bivol. “Me and Sergey will make sure to give this fight to the people.”

It’s time for the build-up and it starts on Saturday Aug. 4, on HBO.

“That’s certainly a goal of Sergey’s and he’s made it very clear to me that that’s what he wants to do,” said promoter Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events. “He wants to do unification fights if he is successful with Eleider Alvarez. That’s what he wants to do next; he’s been very clear about that.”

DiBella

Five former world champions stack the fight card at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

Former welterweight world champs Andre Berto (31-5, 24 KOs) and Devon Alexander (27-4-1, 14 KOs) lead the charge in a 12-round clash. FOX will televise the main event and others at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET.

Berto, 34, has been fighting once a year so it’s difficult to determine if age has crept into his reflexes. When he knocked out Victor Ortiz in a rematch two years ago Berto looked sharp and dangerous. But against Shawn Porter a year ago, the crispness seemed gone and he quickly lost by knockout.

Alexander, 31, has the advantage of being a southpaw. But he always seems to do the minimum when he fights. Last February he slowed down and allowed Victor Ortiz to steal the fight. All the commotion by the announcers was for naught. Defense does not win fights, it allows you to win fights. The lack of offense in the latter rounds cost Alexander a win in a match that entered the books as a majority draw.

It’s a curious matchup of former world champions.

Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (33-1-1, 23 KOs) the former WBO middleweight titlist meets J’Leon Love (24-1-1, 13 KOs) in a super middleweight bout set for 10 rounds. It’s another intriguing fight especially between two fighters with great personalities.

Quillin, 35, was ambushed by Daniel Jacobs in the first round a year ago in losing the title. Was it bad luck, age or both? As a fighter the Brooklyn-based prizefighter has a ton of followers who like him as a person. Few are as classy as Quillin.

Love, 30, has long been a mainstay in Las Vegas and since his amateur days his abilities have been touted. Throughout the years Love has shown that charm and friendliness can go a long ways, even in the bitter wars of prizefighting. But the time has come to see if he belongs in the prizefighting world. Quillin will present an immense challenge for Love.

A number of other interesting fights are slated to take place among former world champions including Sergey Lipinets who lost the super lightweight title to Mikey Garcia this past winter. There’s also Luis Collazo in a welterweight match.

One world title fight does take place on the card.

Female WBA super middleweight titlist Alicia Napoleon (9-1) makes the first defense of her title against Scotland’s Hannah Rankin (5-1). It’s a 10 round bout and the first time Napoleon defends the title since winning it last March against Germany’s Femke Hermans. Ironically, Hermans now has the WBO super middleweight title after defeating former champ Nikki Adler by decision this past May.

L.A. Congestion

Next week the city of Angels will be packed with three fight cards in four days.

First, on Wednesday Aug. 8, 360 Promotions stages Abraham Lopez (9-1-1, 3 KOs) versus Gloferson Ortizo (12-0-1, 6 KOs) in the main event at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, Calif. This is Filipino fighter Ortizo’s ninth fight this year. You read that correctly.

All of Ortizo’s fights have taken place across the border in Tijuana. The 32-year-old now returns to California against another Californian in Lopez. He’ll be looking for his fourth consecutive knockout, but Lopez, 22, has not lost a fight since his pro debut. Inactivity might come into play for Lopez who hasn’t stepped in the boxing ring in over a year.

New York’s Brian Ceballo (3-0) returns in a six round welterweight bout against local fighter Tavorus Teague (5-20-4). Ceballo, who is promoted by 360 Promotions, looked good in his last appearance. The amateurish punches seen in his first two bouts were gone by his third pro fight. His opponent Teague has ability and can give problems if Ceballo takes his foot off the pedal.

One of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin’s training partners Ali Akhmedov (11-0, 8 KOs) makes his California debut when he meets Jorge Escalante (9-1-1, 6 KOs) in a light heavyweight match.

Female super lightweight Elvina White (2-0) is also slated to compete. The entire fight card will be streamed at www.360promotions.us and on the 360 Promotions page on Facebook. First bell rings at 6:15 p.m.

Belasco Theater in downtown L.A. is the site of Golden Boy Promotions fight card on Friday Aug. 10. A pair of young prospects will be severely tested.

San Diego’s Genaro Gamez (8-0, 5 KOs) meets Filipino fighter Recky Dulay (10-3, 7 KOs) for the vacant NABF super featherweight title. For Dulay it’s always kill or be killed. Five of his last fights have ended in knockout wins or losses.

Gamez, 23, seems to thrive under pressure and broke down two veterans in back-to-back fights at Fantasy Springs Casino. Now he returns to the Belasco, a venue where he has struggled in the past. But this time he’s the main event.

Another being severely tested will be Emilio Sanchez (15-1, 10 KOs) facing veteran Christopher Martin (30-10-3, 10 KOs) who is capable of beating anyone.

Sanchez, 24, lost by knockout in his last fight this past March. He’s talented and fearless and one mistake cost him his first loss as a pro. He’s not getting a break against Martin, a cagey fighter who has upset many young rising prospects in the past. Martin also has experience against world champions. It’s an extremely tough matchup for Sanchez.

The fight card will be televised by Estrella TV beginning at 6 p.m.

World Title Fight

On Saturday, boxing returns to the Avalon Theater in Hollywood.

The main event is a good one as Puerto Rico’s Jesus Rojas (26-1-2, 19 KOs) defends the WBA featherweight world title against Southern California’s Jojo Diaz (26-1) in a 12 round clash. It’s power versus speed.

Rojas, 31, is one tough customer. When he took the interim title against Claudia Marrero last year he chased down the speedy southpaw Dominican and blasted him out in the seventh round. Several months earlier he obliterated another Golden Boy prospect, Abraham Lopez (not the same Abraham Lopez that is fighting on the 360 Promotions card), in eight rounds. Now he has the title and defends against the speedy southpaw Diaz.

Diaz, 25, just recently lost a bid for the WBC featherweight title against Gary Russell Jr. Though he lost by decision three months ago, that fight might be easy in comparison to this challenge against Rojas.

The former Olympian won’t be able to take a breath against the Puerto Rican slugger who is about as rough as they come.

Two more undefeated Golden Boy prospects get a chance to eliminate each other when Philadelphia’s Damon Allen (15-0-1) meets East L.A.’s Jonathan Navarro (14-0, 7 KOs) in a super lightweight fight set for 10 rounds.

Phillie versus East LA is like fire versus fire in the boxing ring. Boxers originating from those two hard-bitten areas usually have go-for-broke styles that result in pure action. Allen versus Navarro should not disappoint.

Allen, 25, is not a hard puncher but he’s aggressive and like most Philadelphia fighters, he’s not afraid to mix it up.

Navarro, 21, lives in East L.A. but trains in Riverside under Robert Garcia. He’s slowly finding his timing and will be facing the fastest fighter since his pro debut in 2015.

Others featured on the card will be Hector Tanajara, Aaron McKenna and Ferdinand Kerobyan.

The card will be streamed on the Golden Boy Fight Night page on Facebook beginning at 6 p.m.

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What’s Next for Manny Pacquiao?

Published

6 years ago

August 1, 2018

Kelsey McCarson

Manny Pacquiao isn’t quite ready to retire, and more big-money fights against high-level competition seem to be on the 39-year-old’s way.

“I feel like I’m a 27-year-old,” Pacquiao told GMAnetwork.com’s Jamil Santos last week. “Expect more fights to come.”

Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) looked exceptionally sharp in his seventh-round knockout win over former junior welterweight titleholder Lucas Matthysse on July 15 at Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was Pacquiao’s best performance in at least four years, netting Pacquiao a secondary world title at welterweight along with a slew of renewed public interest in the boxing superstar’s career.

But what comes next for the only fighter in the history of boxing to capture world titles in eight different weight classes? TSS takes a detailed look at the potential opponents for one of the sport’s most celebrated stars.

Cream of the Crop

Pacquiao looked good enough against Matthysse to suggest he’d make a viable candidate to face either Terence Crawford or Vasyl Lomachenko next. Crawford is ranked No. 2 on the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board’s pound-for-pound list while Lomachenko slots at No. 1.

While Pacquiao is no longer under contract with longtime promoter Bob Arum at Top Rank, most industry insiders expect he will continue working with Arum’s team in some capacity so long as his career keeps moving forward. Pacquiao started his own promotional venture, MP Promotions, to co-promote the Matthysse bout with Oscar De La Hoya, but Top Rank was still involved in the fight which is why the bout ended up streaming on ESPN+.

Top Rank’s two hottest commodities at the present are Ring Magazine and WBA lightweight champ Lomachenko and welterweight titlist Crawford. Both are highly-regarded, multi-division world titleholders in the primes of their careers who are universally considered the top fighters in boxing.

Lomachenko and Crawford would each present a unique set of problems for Pacquiao stylistically. Of the two, Pacquiao probably matches up best with Lomachenko at this point in his career. Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) is much larger and heavier than both Pacquiao and Lomachenko, and unless Pacquiao just really wants to test himself against someone incredibly dangerous, it’d probably be best for Team Pacquiao to avoid fighting Crawford at all costs. Crawford would be a heavy favorite against Pacquiao and most boxing insiders don’t believe this version of Pacquiao could compete with Crawford.

Lomachenko (11-1, 9 KOs) is naturally smaller than Pacquiao and has never fought above 135 pounds. If Pacquiao could lure Lomachenko to 140 pounds or above, he’d find himself in a winnable fight against a top-notch opponent. Lomachenko would probably be the slight favorite based on age alone but Pacquiao’s power and athleticism would give him a realistic chance to pull the upset.

Other Notable Possibilities

Former junior welterweight titleholder Amir Khan has long been angling for a bout against Pacquiao. Khan faces Samuel Vargas on Sept. 8 in another comeback bout against lower level competition. Khan (32-4, 20 KOs) bravely moved up to middleweight to fight Canelo Alvarez in 2016 but was knocked out in the sixth round. He left the sport for a spell but returned to boxing in February as a welterweight with a sensational first round knockout win over Phil Lo Greco. A win over Vargas puts Khan in good position to secure a bout with Pacquiao, and the fight is a reasonable move by both camps. Pacquiao would probably be the heavy favorite, but Khan’s speed and long reach give him a decent chance to pull the upset.

Former welterweight titleholder Jeff Horn won a controversial decision over Pacquiao last year in Australia. The bout grabbed huge ratings for ESPN and there have been many debates since it happened as to which fighter truly deserved the nod from the judges. Horn (18-1-1, 12 KOs) doesn’t possess elite level talent, but he’s huge compared to Pacquiao and fights with such ferocity that the two can’t help but make an aesthetically pleasing fight together. Pacquiao would be the heavy favorite to defeat Horn if the two fight again.

Pacquiao vs. PBC fighters?

Boxing’s current political climate and the ongoing battle of promoters and television networks for the hearts and minds of boxing fans usually leaves many compelling fights between top level stars off the table. Fighters promoted by Top Rank and Golden Boy are almost never able to secure bouts with fighters signed to Al Haymon to appear under the Premier Boxing Champions banner and vice versa. But Pacquiao’s free agent status opens up new and interesting possibilities for the fighter to pursue noteworthy PBC fighters.

There had been lots of chatter about Pacquiao facing Mikey Garcia next. Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) has been decimating competition at both lightweight and junior welterweight. Garcia is considered by most experts to be one of the top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. He’s the TBRB junior welterweight champion and a unified lightweight titleholder (WBC, IBF). While Garcia is hoping to land a big money bout against IBF welterweight titleholder Errol Spence, most boxing experts believe the jump up to 147 pounds would be too much for the diminutive Garcia who began his career at featherweight. A better welterweight target for Garcia would be Pacquiao who also began his career in a much lower weight class.

Spence (24-0, 21 KOs) is probably the best of the PBC welterweights. He’s considered by many to be on par with Crawford at 147 so it would be an incredibly dangerous bout for Pacquiao to go after at this point in his career. But Spence is aggressive and fights in a style that Pacquiao traditionally matches up very well against. Spence would be the favorite based on size, age and skill.

Slightly less dangerous to Pacquiao would be facing the winner of the Sept. 8 battle between Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter. Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) and Porter (28-2-1, 17 KOs) are fighting for the vacant WBC welterweight title and the possibility of capturing another world title in his career could sway Pacquiao to seek out the winner. Pacquiao could find himself a slight favorite or underdog depending on which of the two fighters he would face, but both would be winnable fights.

The WBA welterweight champion is Keith Thurman. Thurman (28-0, 22 KOs) is a good boxer with tremendous power but Pacquiao’s speed and athleticism would probably give him the leg up in that potential matchup. Thurman hasn’t fought in over 16 months though and recent pictures suggest he’s not in fighting shape at the moment, so the likelihood of a Pacquiao vs. Thurman fight is pretty much nil.

Some fans want Pacquiao to face Adrien Broner. Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs) is a solid contender at 147 but probably doesn’t have the skill to seriously compete with Pacquiao. Pacquiao would be a significant favorite and would likely stop Broner if the two were able to meet in a boxing ring.

Mayweather-Pacquiao 2?

Pacquiao lost a unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2015, but the circumstances surrounding the fight, and the fact it was the biggest box office bash in the history of the sport, have led many to suspect the two fighters would meet again in a rematch.

Yes, Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) is retired, but he’s unretired several times in his career for big money fights including last year’s crossover megafight with UFC star Conor McGregor. While it seems unlikely to happen, Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 would still be a huge worldwide event worth millions of dollars to both fighters so those following the sport can never say never to the idea of it happening again.

While Mayweather is 41, he’d still get the nod as the betting favorite should he fight Pacquiao again based on what happened in the first fight as well as his stylistic advantage over Pacquiao.

Pacquiao vs. McGregor?

McGregor’s bout against Mayweather last year was such a financial success and the MMA star made so much more money in the boxing ring than he did as a UFC fighter that the idea of him returning to the sport to face Pacquiao isn’t as far-fetched as one might think.

Pacquiao vs. McGregor would be an easy sell to the general public. According to CompuBox, McGregor landed more punches against Mayweather than did Pacquiao, and the general consensus is that Mayweather-McGregor was more fun to watch than Mayweather-Pacquiao.

The size difference between the two would lead to an easy promotion. McGregor is a junior middleweight and Pacquiao has only competed at the weight once back in 2010. Despite all that, Pacquiao would be a significant favorite to defeat McGregor and rightly so. He’s too fast and too good a boxer, and his aggressive style would likely lead to a stoppage win.

Pacquiao’s Top Targets

Pacquiao’s top targets should be Mayweather, McGregor and Lomachenko. Pacquiao would stand to make the most money facing either Mayweather or McGregor. Pacquiao’s reportedly injured shoulder heading into 2015 bout left many wondering how the fight might be different had the Filipino gone into things at his best, and Mayweather’s age might play more of a factor in the second fight than it did in the first. A Pacquiao-McGregor fight would be a worldwide spectacle, one Pacquiao would be heavily favored to win. Besides, it’d be interesting to see if Pacquiao could stop McGregor sooner than historical rival Mayweather. Finally, Lomachenko might be trying to climb up weight classes too fast, and Pacquiao would certainly be fit to test the validity of that theory. It’d be one of the biggest fights in boxing and a win for Pacquiao would be another huge feather in the cap of one of boxing’s true historically great champions.

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