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I'm Drinking the Kool-Aid


PhilBoxing.com




Many of the message board denizens ? and more than a few of my esteemed colleagues -have come out recently, vociferously speaking out against the proposed matchup between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao that would take place on December 6th.

They believe this is a farce and a mismatch of epic proportions. To them this is David versus Goliath - but without the slingshot. Muggsy Bogues posting up Wilt Chamberlain, if you will.

But guess what? I actually like this fight. Yeah, I said it. I like this fight. I think it's a great fight from a marketing standpoint - it does well over a million pay-per-view buys - and believe it or not (and this could be my 'Pac Man' bias speaking out) I think at this stage of Oscar's career, Pacquiao can and will make it a competitive fight. Folks, this is 2008, not 1998, and the Oscar that I just recently saw that went 12 rounds with the light-hitting Steve Forbes is not the vintage 'Golden Boy' of years past.

And think about it, if Forbes - whose power compared to Pacquiao is akin to a toothpick versus a Louisville Slugger - can go the distance with De La Hoya and have some success in marking up his handsome visage, why not Pacquiao? Yeah, I know, that's a rather simplistic way of looking at it, but sometimes, you should just stick with the K.I.S.S philosophy.

Keep it simple, stupid.

And that's exactly what I'm doing. I might be crazy (not Crazy Kim, of course) but I think Pacquiao's handspeed, footspeed and overall quickness give De La Hoya fits. Throw in the fact he's southpaw (which has always troubled Oscar) and you have a real fight. Ohhh, yeaaaahhh, I'm drinking the Kool-Aid all right - a big 44-ounce, Super Big Gulp serving of it.

But I admit, I am in the vast minority on this issue.
"You have two camps, it seems to me right now," said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer last week. "The camp which is against the fight seems to be bigger than the one for it. But what I think we need to educate the people about history. You need to tell them how many times a smaller guy moved up to fight a bigger guy and a smaller guy won. So you really need to tell the people the story behind this fight. And I think many, many casual fans don't really know the sport enough to put it in a historic perspective So that will be the job of us, the promoters - if that fight happens - to tell that story and educate the public."

Schaefer would tell Maxboxing that at this juncture the probability of this fight taking place is around 70-percent. Issues such as the weight, the time of the weigh-in, size of gloves and what each fighter can weigh the night of the fight still need to be resolved, along with the financial terms of the deal. The reality is that if too many of these stipulations favor Oscar, Pacquiao's chances of winning diminish greatly.

Both Pacquiao and De La Hoya will be in Los Angeles this upcoming week to try and hammer out the details of this fight.

What's interesting about this potential fight is that it was not the brainchild of Bob Arum, Schaefer or Bruce Trampler, but HBO's resident boxing guru, Larry Merchant.

"It first popped into my head, I believe, when Manny Pacquiao weighed-in just before a fight, unofficially, at over 140-pounds," he would say to Maxboxing this past Friday afternoon. "And then consistently after that, his weight after he weighed-in at 130 and then 135 was creeping up. And I thought that with Oscar saying that he was going to retire at the end of the year, what's a big fight, a big event for him? And that's when I brushed those two sticks together and they made some fire."

He chuckles as he says his last sentence. It seems that Merchant himself has a bit of a hard time believing that this fight may actually come to fruition.

"Well, it's one of those fantasy fights that we all have, and when I thought about it, I looked back at history, going back through the great fighters, and some of them fought bigger men at one point in time because it was an event, it was an opportunity to make money or whatever," said Merchant. "Going back to the Jack Johnson-Stanley Ketchel fight, a middleweight champion fighting a heavyweight champion. Mickey Walker, a great welterweight, who actually drew with a future heavyweight champion in Jack Sharkey. Ray Robinson, who started as a lightweight and wound up fighting for a light heavyweight championship. In the modern days we had Roy Jones, who started at 154, fighting a 230-pound heavyweight. We have Oscar himself, who started at 130, fighting a big middleweight in Bernard Hopkins."

There are other examples. Roberto Duran, an all-time great lightweight who began his career right around the bantamweight limit, would win a middleweight title when he decisioned Iran Barkley. Billy Conn, who weighed in at 169 pounds, was just minutes away from winning the heavyweight title before Joe Louis stopped him late in their first encounter. Then you had Michael Spinks, who was a career light heavyweight, moving up to beat Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title and hand him his first career defeat.

"So it's not all that unusual," says Merchant. "If it makes a big event and here we have the intrigue of, 'Yes, Oscar is bigger than him. But absolutely yes, Oscar is past his prime and Pacquiao is still in his prime.' So it just occurred to me in a fantasy way that it could happen."

And this isn't the first time Merchant has played fantasy league boxing.

?And you can ask Bob Arum about this, I was the first one that suggested that Shane Mosley should fight Oscar."

Who by the way, defeated Oscar at the Staples Center in June of 2000.

?I just hope this fight is near as good as that one!" exclaimed Merchant.

I hear a lot of talk of people staying away from this event, not purchasing the pay-per-view. Puh-leeeze, you guys have bought much worse pay-per-views in the past (and God bless you for it), and you won?t be able to help yourselves. C'mon, admit it. There will be no Golden Boy-cott on this night. And say what you will, but from a pure action standpoint, Pacquiao couldn't get into a bad fight if he tried. I'd much rather see De La Hoya-Pacquiao I (with all their history together and the brewing tension between Oscar and Freddie Roach) than De La Hoya-Mayweather II, regardless of the results.

I know many of you would prefer to see Oscar's swan song come against 'the Tijuana Tornado', Antonio Margarito. His co-managers Sergio 'Braveheart' Diaz and 'Fiery' Francisco Espinoza thank you for those sentiments, but it ain't happening. If this truly is Oscar's swan song, then it will come against the Top Rank boxer who they believe is much more beatable in this instance. That means Pacquiao.

And this would be the biggest fight Oscar could make at this point in time.

?Yes," agreed Merchant. "With Mayweather retired, I think that is the case. Maybe an argument can be made that a fight with Hatton because of its implications overseas financially would also be very big. But of the available guys, it looks to me that this would be the biggest fight."

MADE IN MIAMI

On Monday night, PBS will be premiering 'Muhammad Ali: Made In Miami', which looks at the formative years of a young Cassius Clay, who cut his teeth as a professional at the legendary 5th Street Gym in Miami under the watchful eye of Angelo Dundee. The 60-minute documentary examines his relationship with Malcolm X, his meeting with 'The Beatles' and his transformation into Muhammad Ali.

"The Miami portion has always been glossed over," Dundee would say last week on a national conference call with reporters. "But that's where it all started. That's where - heck, this kid got to be a mature guy, a man."

Of the documentary, which will be released on DVD by Paramount Home Video on August 12th, Dundee would remark, "I'll tell you, I enjoyed it. And, they put together a heck of a piece."

Yes, there's been a saturation of productions done on Ali, and for many it's sad to see his condition today. 'Made in Miami' is a look back on how perhaps many of us would like to remember him - young, vivacious, cocksure and effervescent.

"You're going to love the tape," said Dundee. "I had fun watching. I swear to God. There's a lot of stuff in there I didn't know."

TIME TO CALL IT QUITS?

I thought light heavyweight Tavoris Cloud made a pretty emphatic statement in stopping the tough-as-leather Julio Gonzalez in ten rounds on his 'FNF' debut on ESPN2. Cloud has the type of style and temperament that could lead to him becoming a pretty good ticket seller in Chicago. And he adds another name to the light heavyweight division.

But on the flipside, it's just my opinion (which doesn't count for much) that Gonzalez should call it a day. He's had a career that he can be proud of, gotten the most out of his ability and made some money. But it's clear that the last real skill he possesses is the ability to absorb punishment. His legs are gone, his reflexes are dulled and his punches no longer have the snap they once did.

If his handlers truly care about him, they'd tell him this.

FINAL FLURRIES

Jr. welter prospect Alex De Jesus improved to 18-0 with 12 KOs by halting Adrian Navarette in 12 on Telefutura. But it doesn't speak well of him that he got booed in Puerto Rico....Wednesday Night Fights did it again this past week when Zuri Lawrence upset Albert Sosnowski. Joel Julio and Joe Greene better be on the lookout......First, Bernie Mac, then Isaac Hayes, so who's next? These things come in threes, right?.....BTW, the suggested retail price for 'Made in Miami' is $19.99....I gotta say, I've tried watching the Olympic boxing, but amateur boxing really is unwatchable. It's a bunch of stinkin' slappers out there who make for some really awkward, boring fights. I think the computerized system of scoring has ruined amateur boxing.....


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Steve Kim.


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