Politics and Perceptions in Boxing

As I sit here, disgusted by the outcome of the fight that I just witnessed, it makes more clear the impact of politics and perceptions present in boxing right now, especially surrounding its biggest two stars and pound-for-pound best, Filipino Manny Pacquiao and American Floyd Mayweather. I can't think of a more clear example of this duplicity than analysis of the latest fight of each of those two. Tonight, Manny Pacquiao - boxing's "good guy"- fought the third fight of a trilogy against Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez, in the opinion of myself and most boxing experts, won both of the first two fights but one was called a tight win for Manny and the other was a draw. Marquez was fueled by the fact that he feels he was cheated in both fights, Pacquiao was fueled by the fact that Marquez wore a shirt that saying he beat Manny twice while he was in Manny's native Philippines. Tonight, Marquez looked sharper than ever and seemingly won the fought clearly, about 8 rounds to 4 by my count. But it was ruled a win for Pacquiao to the dismay of the fans who booed and throw cans and trash into the ring. But his admirers are still trying to diplomatically act like his victory was justified. Becuz it was competitive between two fighters, they hail this as "everything that is right about boxing" despite a probably politically laced unjust outcome. The louder and flashier Mayweather, the sports biggest cash cow while also the most hated villain, broke his 16 month layoff to fight Victor Ortiz, an up and coming Mexican champion coming off the biggest victory of his career. Ortiz, being dominated throughout the first 3 rounds, decided to turn up the aggressiveness in the 4th round. Getting frustrated he started "rabbit punching" Floyd in the back of the head (illegal) and then launched two head butts into Floyd's lip (highly illegal); the last one looked like a soccer player jumping for a header. After a separation a point deduction from Ortiz, the fighters touch gloves (signifying the fight time back in action), Floyd hammers Ortiz twice as his hands are still down; Ortiz doesn't get up, it's a knockout. The first rule in boxing is "Protect yourself at all times." I admit, it wasn't polite, but it was legal, no loop holes or anything. But the outrage that so many Floyd-haters have thrown his way has been outrageous. To recap, Ortiz gets frustrated with losing and illegal rabbit punches Floyd and then busts Floyd's lip with a jumping headbutt, when time starts back, Floyd knocks him out...and Floyd is the bad guy. Conversely, I've heard this knockout victory condemned as "everything that is wrong about boxing" with people going on to say "Floyd is ruining the sport of boxing." Riiiiiiight. The argument between who is better and who does/doesn't want to fight has been filled with such double standards because of the good VS. bad dynamic. Despite the fact that the bad guy role and shit talking has made him rich and his fights successful (dominating all the financial records in the sport) because as many tune in to root against him as to marvel at his skills. People try to say Manny is undoubtedly one of the best ever and Floyd isn't, citing better competition. However, they've fought many of the same fighters (Oscar De La Hoya, Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, etc). In the mental game of boxing, Floyd fights guys who are coming off victories and possibly on career highs (see Ortiz with his biggest win, Mosley after a career-reviving KO of Margarito, Hatton undefeated, Marquez after KO'ing Diaz, De La Hoya revived, etc) and he's beat them all. But before the fight tonight, Manny has consistently only fought fighters coming off of losses (several times to Mayweather), often knockouts (which are known to mess with boxers' psyche); This was the case with De La Hoya, Hatton, Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Josh Clottey, and Antonio Margarito; that's Manny's whole last 3-4 years. Furthermore, Manny (or more accurately Freddie Roach, his trainer) tries to set fights up at catch weights so they can squeak out some advantage fighting guys at weights their bodies aren't in good condition to make (154-lb champ De La Hoya trying to make 142 lbs, Marquez the 135-lb champ fighting at 144 instead of 140 when Manny can easily make 140, etc. Floyd on the other hand, has moved up to 154 to beat De La Hoya, despite the fact that Floyd can't effectively gain or lose weight and showed up on fight night at 148 lbs. Furthermore, this entire "Manny is ready for Floyd, but Floyd is running scared" isn't making much sense to me. The first time this fight possibility came up - in 08 right after Floyd beat Zab Judah - it was Pacquiao who backed out of the fight to fight someone else. The first time it came up a year or so ago, Floyd signed the contract first for promoter Bob Arum to take it to the Phillippines to Manny. Manny refused to sign it because it had an Olympic style blood testing stipulation, basically up until 10-14 days before they could test randomly. Floyd had required this of every one of his last five opponents or so, and he had obliged himself. He went so far as to sue Mayweather for defamation of his name. Now, I do think Floyd went a little overboard with his insinuations that Manny rose so fast and shied away from drug testing because he has been using something. But noone said Floyd was polite or charming. The next time the fight possibility came up about six months after, Floyd claimed the negotiations never happened and he never got a phone call. I don't know if I believe that so I will put the blame on Floyd for failure of the 3rd attempt. But the first two were on Manny. I say all this to say, I think the media gives Floyd a raw shake because he's a loudmouth, but I want them to settle the current Good VS Evil argument in the ring. And this time, I'm rooting for the BAD GUY.

Boxing Needs It, I Need It...

Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Manny Pacquiao for the fictional "Pound 4 Best Fighter" Championship. My jaw is dropping just thinking about it. I spent my Saturday night at a friend's house watching Manny punish Miguel Cotto on pay-per-view. Months ago, I was at a different friend's house watching Floyd dominate Juan Manuel Marquez on pay-per-view. I ended the night in awe both nights. Boxing, which has lost relevance as the heavyweight division has lost its true superstars in the past 15 years or so, needs this super fight, wait, MEGA FIGHT, to happen to bring the fans back. In a sport that it losing attention to most outside of the sport's true fans (I've defined it before, it reflects dedication and knowin the fundamentals, not just some dude who's dissappointed every time no one gets knocked out), Floyd and Manny are the biggest draws left around. Manny's fight with Cotto the other night probably was ordered in over 1 million homes becuz of the stardom and national heroism of both fighters. Floyd has registered millions of orders in each of his last 3 or 4 fights; which is why he's deemed himself the sport's cash cow. So they gotta get it done. Manny Pacquiao, now 5'6 about 142 or so, is the sport's first fighter to earn belts in seven different weight classes. It's amazing because he started out fighting at about 110 lbs or less and still has thud to his punches all these weight classes later. He's a naturally tiny guy but has enough power to supplement his speed. The things we learned from him fighting against Miguel Cotto, a naturally bigger guy who is powerful and hard-nosed bloodhound, are that he's hard to hurt and that semi-powerful speed will beat pure power in a big way. Cotto completely outboxed him and had him backing up the first round or two; from that point on, Manny was beating him to the punch with consistent power shots and Miguel's face at the end showed that. Manny showed off in his devestating 2nd round knockout that retired (seriously, he retired) Ricky Hatton in his last fight. If speed kills, who is the only person in the WORLD with faster hands than Pacquiao???? The overly cocky, shit-talking Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr (5'8" about 148 or so). After taking off two years, most fighters need a tune up fight before going after a reputable opponent. Not Floyd. He went for Juan Manuel Marquez, ranked 2nd on everybody's pound-4-pound rankings at the time and the only man who can argue that he's beaten Manny recently. He fought Manny twice, once a controversial loss by 2 points and the other a controversial draw. Boxing experts argue that Marquez actually won both fights. In the two-point loss, he gave up 3 points in the first round cuz he got knocked down 3 times. He said it took him that round to adjust and he outboxed Manny the rest of the fight. Look at his profile on HBO Boxing Online (http://www.hbo.com/boxing/fighters/marquez_juan/bio.html) or google him if you don't believe me. They say he's one of the pound-4-pound best famous for his pin-point accuracy, toughness, and fight-ending power. No easy test after 2 years out of the ring. How'd he stack up with Floyd?? The commentators say he didn't win a single round and should've gotten knocked out. Honestly, as crazy at it sounds, you need to watch his combos and defense in slow motion to fully appreciate it. The "pin-point accurate" Marquez ended up wit about a 9 % hit percentage. Floyd's hit percentage?? Right about 60%. One of my favorite moments was a sequence where Floyd, turned sideways to Marquez at the time, jumped in landed two straight punches, leaned backwards to dodge Marquez's straight, jumped back in to land 3 more to the face, and ducked up under Marquez's hook. It was like he was in the matrix. It was otherworldly. People, including some in my inner circle, don't like Floyd becuz they say he's too cocky and his fights are "boring." His fights are "boring" becuz NOONE can hit him, his defense is amazing and they're scared of his blinding speed. If he wasn't so concerned about leaving himself vulnerable, he may let loose a little more and increase his knock out percentage, currently 63%(as compared to Manny's 69%). So all of this left me with questions that must be answered in the mega fight. Manny beat Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton in more devastating fashion than Floyd did, what does that mean?? Floyd pitched a shut out against the only fighter to beat (according to experts) Manny since 1996, what does that mean?? Floyd is the only one faster than Manny, can he be the one to beat Manny to the punch consistently?? Can Manny, who seemingly is always swinging for the fences, be the one to crack Floyd's defense and actually hit him?? 50 Cent and Triple H came to the ring with Floyd last time, who will it be this time?? Will Manny try to sing at a concert after a fight with Floyd like he did with Miguel Cotto?? THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS. They NEED answers. So somebody tell Bob Aram, Manny's promoter and Floyd's former promoter who pissed Floyd off, to keep the split 50/50 and get the fight done sometime next year. Boxing needs it and I need it. Let's Get Ready to Rumble...