A Wide-Ranging Discussion with Manny Pacquiao Biographer Gary Andrew Poole

Published

2 years ago

September 19, 2022

Rick Assad

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Manny Pacquiao began his ring career in relative obscurity fighting at 106 pounds as a flyweight, but became a global sensation and arguably one of the greatest fighters of all time.

At the apex of his career and power, Los Angeles-based journalist and author Gary Andrew Poole followed Pacquiao around seemingly everywhere. The result was Poole’s critically acclaimed 2010 book titled, “Pac Man: Behind The Scenes With Manny Pacquiao – The Greatest Pound-For-Pound Fighter In The World.”

Exhausting no doubt, but what was it like shadowing the Filipino legend?

“In reporting my book, I was covering his fights but also his life outside the ring. I followed him around in the Philippines as he ran for political office. It really felt like I was covering someone who transcended his profession,” Poole said. “Think Elvis [Presley] or [Muhammad] Ali. He would show up in the middle of a jungle and thousands upon thousands of people would show up to see him.”

Poole said it was incredible watching Pacquiao interact with his fellow countrymen.

“The adoration was crazy. Many of these people were incredibly poor,” he said. “He was always incredibly generous to them, always making sure he was giving them money or food.”

Poole was positioned ringside for countless Pacquiao bouts and ranks him among the five best all-time at the welterweight division.

One caveat for Poole, who penned a 2008 book on Red Grange titled, “The Galloping Ghost: Red Grange – An American Football Legend,” is that he, of course, didn’t see every great welterweight in the ring.

“Since I didn’t see them fight, it’s difficult for me to rate Manny against fighters from earlier in the last century,” he admitted. “But I also think that in boxing (opposed to other sports), the fighters of yesteryear are more equivalent to modern fighters.”

Poole, who received his bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and his master’s from the School of Journalism at Columbia University, went on: “So I can’t rule out [Sugar Ray] Robinson or [Henry] Armstrong just because they fought so long ago. Manny’s ranked No. 5 and the reason is because I think his fights in so many weight classes help him to stand out,” he said. “Given that Floyd [Mayweather Jr.] beat Manny, and finished his career undefeated, I can’t rank Manny above Floyd, who I have at No. 4 (I have covered a lot of Mayweather’s fights, too.)” Poole has Ray Leonard No. 3, while Robinson is No. 1 and Armstrong No. 2.

Gary Andrew Poole

Poole went on and explained why it’s easier to compare boxers over the decades versus other sports like football, baseball or basketball.

“In most sports, athletes have become more skilled and more athletic because of diet, weightlifting and the rest,” he pointed out. “Not sure that is necessarily the case in boxing. In fact, the opposite might be true. Pre-1980s, fighters were in the gym and fighting constantly. I think the trainers were overall better, too. So I think they might have had more experience and skill.”

The clash everyone wanted to see was Pacquiao versus Mayweather in their respective primes.

It didn’t happen for a variety of reasons, When the two did step into the ring on May 2, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, both were past their prime. The result was a lackluster unanimous decision victory for Mayweather.

“It really sucked that the fight didn’t happen earlier. The world waited and then the fight wasn’t great because the fighters were so much older,” Poole offered. “The delay really took a toll on Manny. Manny’s style was relentless. He took some punishment from [Juan Manuel] Marquez and [Antonio] Margarito. Given who he fought and his never-get-hit style, Floyd was much fresher when the fight actually happened. If they would have fought earlier, we could have seen a trilogy. It would have been epic.”

The best fighting the best has been an issue for boxing and it continues to be a thorny problem.

“I love boxing. It’s the best live sporting event on the planet. The athletes are incredible. Every few years a writer will arrive on the scene and proclaim that boxing is dead. It’s never going to die,” Poole suggested. “While it gets overlooked in the mainstream, it’s incredibly popular in many communities around the world. But it should be a much more popular sport. It’s hardly scratching the surface of what it should be.”

Poole gets specific and points to Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., two extraordinarily gifted and undefeated welterweights, a match that everyone in the boxing community is drooling over.

“Boxing couldn’t get Manny and Floyd in the ring during their prime. The same thing is happening now with Crawford and Spence,” he said. “Unfortunately, boxing gets in its own way.”

“I realize that there are a lot of people who love the insider-ish aspect of boxing. The intrigue among promoters and fighters is interesting for insiders but it’s way too damn complex for most people to follow,” Poole said. “I think all of the confusion creates inertia; no one can follow the storylines. In American pro sports, you have a season, playoffs and a championship. In professional soccer, you have league play, domestic cups, a regional cup and international competitions. The UFC has one belt holder in each division. It’s all very logical for the media. You need that sort of logic for good story-telling. In boxing, it’s virtually impossible to set up a match with the two best fighters. It’s ridiculous. Average people can’t understand it. Boxing should wake up and do a better job of giving the paying customer what it wants.”

“I don’t have the answers except that people would like to see the best fighting the best for titles. They want to understand the sport, and get to know the fighters and the trainers,” Poole said. “Back in 2009 to 2011, Showtime organized the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a super middleweight tournament. Andre Ward won the contest, unified the World Boxing Association (super title), World Boxing Council and The Ring super middleweight titles. Showtime did a great job of taking you into the training camps and building the stories. I really think that sort of buildup is the model boxing should follow for every weight class.”

Poole has more thoughts on how to make boxing even more appealing.

“Eliminate sanctioning bodies. Unionize the fighters. Create a structure in which the best fight the best,” he said. “Take away the notion that if you lose one fight, you’re not a good fighter because that means there is no incentive to have well-matched fights.”

Pacquiao fought professionally from 1995 through 2021, carving out a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts while becoming the only eight weight division world champion. He did take his share of hits in the squared circle but still has his wits about him.

Does Poole think boxers contemplate the punishment they absorb across a career?

“Some boxers think about it; some don’t. Boxing is a sport of poverty. Most fighters come from nothing. It’s usually their only way out. As boxing people, we all love blood and guts fights, but I don’t always think we celebrate technical skills,” he said. “A skilled fighter is often seen as a boring fighter. For the long-term health of the fighters, I would like to see a slight culture change. Let’s appreciate the skill as much as the knockouts. If a fighter is getting damaged, it’s okay to stop the fight and let them move on to the next fight.”

Poole offered more suggestions on how to make the manly art better.

“Boxing is too decentralized. There are too many competing interests. Centralization in other sports creates big television deals and media contracts and fans and influencers talking about the sports on social media. All of those outlets create a widespread conversation,” he said.

“Without any centralization, boxing can’t compete and it loses fans. If boxing doesn’t pit the best fighters against each other, it will continue to become a sideshow. Right now, the most talked about fights involve Jake Paul. I don’t have a problem with Paul and other reality stars getting in the ring – there is a long history of these kinds of fights – but boxing isn’t in a powerful position if those are the fights that the average sports fan is most passionate about.”

Another problem is that many people don’t even know who the champions are.

“Yes, it has way too many champions. Imagine if you had this same argument in basketball? It’s dumb and hurts the sport,” Poole said.

“I think [another] thing that hurts the sport is the judging,” Poole said. “Fans are cynical because the judges score fights poorly, but they continue to get assigned big fights.”

All of these negatives don’t outweigh why boxing still appeals to Poole.

“The people, from the fighters to the promoters, are incredible. I love how technical it is,” he said. “I’ve been to big events – the World Series, The Super Bowl, World Cup – but the atmosphere at a championship fight is really the best of them all.”

And that’s the glue that keeps the sweet science together and helps a virtual unknown go on to become a legend.

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Fast-Rising Omar Trinidad KOs Slavinskyi at the Commerce Casino

Published

5 hours ago

July 26, 2024

David A. Avila

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East L.A.’s Omar Trinidad knocked out Ukraine’s Viktor Slavinskyi to retain the WBC Continental America’s featherweight title on Friday in a strategic but entertaining contest.

Fighting in front of frenzied crowd of supporters Trinidad (16-0-1, 13 KOs) defeated southpaw Slavinskyi (15-3-1, 7 KOs) with a measured and careful attack at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, Calif.

Fans familiar with Trinidad (pictured over the right shoulder of promoter Tom Loeffler) are familiar with his aggressive pressure fighting style, but the Boyle Heights pugilist took a careful approach against Slavinskyi. Instead of a pounding assault Trinidad kept the fight at a distance and used his reach advantage to perfection.

It was reminiscent of long-armed fighters of the past like the late great Mando Ramos of the late 1960s who could punch or box. Pick your poison.

Trinidad employed a constant jab and well-placed counter shots. The right hand, in particular, was especially effective.

“I couldn’t miss with the right,” said Trinidad

For seven rounds Trinidad dominated with counter-punching. Then, Slavinskyi increased the pressure and forced the East L.A. fighter to come along. He did.

“If I could get a knockout I’d put him in the blender,” Trinidad said.

From the eighth round until the end Trinidad engaged in his usual fast and furious style and was especially effective with uppercuts in ninth round. Slavinskyi walked into a right uppercut that sent him across the ring and into the ropes. Referee Ray Corona ruled it a knockdown.

In the final round Trinidad wasted no time in looking to unload with an uppercut and Slavinskyi walked into a right hand version. There was no escape as he was ruled unable to continue by Corona at 2:31 of the 10^th and final round.

Trinidad keeps the title.

“The left hook and right uppercut was the money shot,” said Trinidad. “It was well-timed and it was a money shot.”

Welterweights

A fight between buddies from the same Armenian amateur team saw Aram Amirkhanyun (16-0-1, 4 KOs) defeat Gor Yeritsyan (18-1, 14 KOs) by split decision after 10 hard-fought rounds in a welterweight fight for a regional title.

The judges scored it 96-94 Yeritsyan and 96-94 twice for Amirkhanyun. No knockdowns were scored.

Iyana “Right Hook Roxy” Verduzco (2-0) proved that adapting into a pro style was not a problem in soundly defeating Pittsburgh’s Colleen Davis (3-2-1) after six featherweight rounds. Her best weapon was accuracy.

Verduzco, who is trained by her mother Gloria Alvarado, had been one of the most decorated amateur boxers for many years. In just her second pro fight the tell-tale signs of the amateur style were gone.

While the taller Davis circled rapidly to the left, Verduzco calmly waited for the openings and blasted away with pinpoint shots to the body and head. Her right hook was deadly accurate and the left found openings whenever they appeared.

Davis was able to land rights but just not enough to offset the incoming fire from the Southern California fighter. After six rounds all three judges scored it 60-54 for Verduzco.

In a firefight, Abel Mejia (5-0, 4 KOs) barely survived a second round knockdown against Tijuana’s rugged Jose Correa (6-10, 4 KOs) and rallied to remain relevant in the super featherweight match. In the fourth and final round Mejia beat Correa to the punch with a left hook that knocked out the tough Mexican challenger at 55 seconds as referee Ray Corona stopped the fight.

A super featherweight fight saw Hawaii’s Jaybrio Pe Benito (5-0, 4 KOs) power past Texan Michael Land (1-5-1) for a knockout win at 1:30 of the second round. Benito was too powerful and busy for Land who tried but was unable to slow down the assault.

Photo credit: Lina Baker

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

Published

2 days ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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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

3 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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