There has perhaps been no athlete in the world that has had the tumult facing him such as the Tennessee Titans’ troubled cornerback, Adam ‘Pac Man’ Jones the past several months. But as boxing’s super ‘Pac Man’ gets ready for his bout this weekend in San Antonio, Texas against Jorge Solis on Top Rank’s ‘Blaze of Glory’ pay-per-view card, Manny Pacquiao himself has had quite a chaotic stretch himself.
No, you won’t see him on any police blotters. He didn’t ‘make it rain’ at any Las Vegas strip clubs, setting off gunfire during NBA All-Star weekend, and he doesn’t face any suspensions or time behind bars.
But as Justin Fortune – who is currently training Pacquiao while Freddie Roach is in Puerto Rico working with Oscar De La Hoya – puts it, he’s been in the midst of ‘organized chaos’.
Go back to the last summer as he arrived in Los Angeles to begin preparations for his rubbermatch with Erik Morales. He would be intercepted by Oscar De La Hoya at LAX and lured into signing a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions with the enticement of a ‘golden’ suitcase filled with twenties setting off a tug-of-war that sparked litigation from both Golden Boy and Bob Arum’s Top Rank, which believed their bout agreement for the third ‘El Terrible’ bout prohibited Pacquiao from signing any other agreement.
In the ‘cold war’ between Top Rank and Golden Boy, this was the ‘Filipino Missile Crisis’.
By the week of that fight in mid-November, rumors were rampant that Pacquiao would renounce his deal with Golden Boy and attempt to return his bonus money back to De La Hoya’s company, which summarily rejected the offer. After his destruction of Morales that night, he would pledge his allegiance to Arum as they announced a promotional partnership.
But this story was far from over. As December rolled around, factions representing both of the arch-rivals hovered around Pacquiao as he celebrated his birthday back home. Everyone jockeyed for face-time with the Filipino icon, who had been known to be fickle in the past.
Eventually, it was Arum, once again, who would win the loyalty (at least for now) of Pacquiao.
In return, Golden Boy would arrange a bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera (taking away two options for Arum and Pacquiao) and with more legal filings, they scared off HBO from televising his next bout. After initial plans to stage Pacquiao’s upcoming bout in Macau, Arum would put up his own dime to stage this card at the Alamodome.
In between all this, Pacquiao made his intentions clear that he would be running for political office back home, a move that for some reason was not universally accepted from his normally rabid, idolatrous following.
But outside of that, nothing much has really gone on in the life of Pacquiao.
“The last five months I’ve been busy in the Philippines,” he would tell Maxboxing, in a bit of an understatement. “I’m busy, but I have time to practice everyday.”
After numerous delays, Pacquiao would finally find his way back to the States less than a month before his bout. For his other fights, he spent around eight weeks to prepare for outings, leading many to question his conditioning and focus coming into the Solis bout.
“Before I came here I already trained a month in the Philippines and I’m very focused on this fight,” he would say in his ever-improving English. “Some people don’t think I’m focused on this fight but the reality, the truth is, I’m very focused on this fight and I trained hard. This is a very important fight for me.”
Fortune admitted to being concerned with what he’d have to work with given Pacquiao’s relative tardiness in migrating to the Wild Card Boxing Club. But he’s also been pleasantly surprised by what he’s seen.
“Yeah, both,” he would say. “Because he’s in the Philippines we really don’t know what’s going on. He says he’s training. So when he came here, he was halfway through. So for us it was to bring him up there that 50-percent, like we’re doing now. Not to push him over, it’s a fine line in keeping him right where we want him.”
Unlike for the Oscar Larios bout last summer, Pacquiao came in much better condition to the States. His cut physique shows a fighter who is physically fit, but you wonder if he’ll have a post-Morales letdown given the surrounding circumstances.
“He’s shown us no signs of any sort of distractions outside of boxing. He likes organized chaos,” says Fortune. “I think this is a good release for him. He comes to the gym, he doesn’t have any distractions whatsoever. He lets it out, he takes it out on the sparring partners and training.”
When asked about his relationship with Top Rank and the surrounding drama, Pacquiao would state: “As of now, I know there is a case from Top Rank and Golden Boy. But I don’t want to comment on that. What I’m going to do is focus on the fight.”
Since he made that pronouncement two weeks ago, another motion by Golden Boy to block this fight was dismissed in court. But it didn’t seem like he gave Top Rank a ringing endorsement as you read various reports from his homeland of the error he made in giving his John Hancock to Top Rank.
But Arum is emphatic in his belief that he has a content client.
“There’s no question, he’s very, very happy,” said Arum on March 21st at a media day in Los Angeles to promote this event. “Now, you’ve got to understand what happens in the Philippines, here’s how you do the landscape because everything has an agenda. There are two big television networks, one is ABS-CBN and the other is Solar. Solar is more like an HBO-type of thing. And they’re aligned now with an over-the-air channel, I forget the name. Now, they were both competing in the Philippines for the rights to Manny’s fights. ABS has had the rights for the last two, three years. Now, Manny in his wisdom – because it was his call – made the deal with Solar, which gave him a lot of money.
“So ABS, they have writers, Ronnie Nathalaniesz, who works for ABS and writes for the Manila Standard, so now he does the party line. So now they wrote in the papers about Richard Schaefer seeking an injunction to stop the fight. Well, with all due respect, he filed those papers a month ago. And we’ve already had a hearing. So why did they come out with that now? Because Solar and its people are busy selling the commercials. So it’s, ‘Oh, they’re not going to have it!!!'”
So wait, this is all just Pacquiao propaganda!?!?! No, it can’t be!!!
“It’s all propaganda!!!” said Arum, laughing loudly. “So when that happens, the guys who work for Solar, they have a rebuttal.”
This is like the Democrats and Republicans.
“It’s worse than that! It’s like ABC and CBS fighting over things.”
(Or boxing websites)
Later that day in March, Golden Boy’s initial attempt to get this fight halted was rejected. This past week, their appeal was also denied.
“The bizzare thing is they’re battling for Manny Pacquiao on one hand and trying to stop him from fighting on the other hand,” said Arum this past Friday afternoon at the Wild Card, where a media day was conducted for Pacquiao. “Look, the only thing I can say about Golden Boy is that you’re dealing with a situation where you’re not dealing with boxing people. Not dealing with people that know how to deal in boxing. This would never happen with a Don King.
“I mean, Don King, he claimed we took Julio Cesar Chavez when we did Chavez and De La Hoya. He went into court, it was over in a week. And then he continued his suit against us for damages. But the fight went on – and he was rooting for the fight to be successful because he felt that if he won the lawsuit, there would be more money.”
So will there be any more last-ditch efforts to get Pacquiao off this upcoming card?
“Who the hell knows with them,” answered Arum. “I mean they dream up crazy stuff. But if they don’t mind getting their s**t kicked out of them, which is embarrassing, the last thing they did after they were denied their injunction, they went to the court of appeals for the ninth circuit asking for an emergency appeal and you should see how they got dismissed – by three judges!!! I mean, what are they looking for!?!?!”
At the Wild Card, Top Rank publicist Bill Caplan would hand out the actual political campaign poster for Pacquiao’s run for congressman in General Santos City, and buttons that read ‘Vote for Manny’. It’s not as catchy as ‘I Like Ike’ but you get the point.
But it was interesting to hear about the backlash that Pacquiao received for his political aspirations. Perhaps his followers believe that anything that takes away from his boxing – which made him the national treasure he is and has given the Philippines an international presence they can be proud of – is something to be avoided and put aside till after he walks away from the ring.
But Pacquiao the politician is undaunted. When asked for his platform, he would say, “First of all, to help poor people because there are a lot of poor people in my place.”
And after his date with Solis, he’s back on the campaign trail.
“After the fight I have to go back to Gen San to the Philippines to focus on my other fight.”
For more ‘organized chaos’.
HO-HUM HBO
Did anyone else get the feeling that in Larry Merchant’s closing comments this past weekend that when he said he was ‘sick of it’ that he was at least partially referring to his own network?
Once again, while Showtime put on another entertaining, albeit one-sided, fight, HBO put another another exhibition, as Joe Calzaghe outclassed Peter Manfredo Jr. in three rounds. Yes, the stoppage was premature, but all it really did was hasten the inevitable. I’ll say it again, while Showtime shows fights, HBO features fighters.
HBO has been very generous to Joe Calzaghe since he ‘went across the street’ in feeding him the likes of Sakio Bika and Manfredo. Now, if they care about their subscribers (and really, I’m not so sure they do anymore) and not about the golf courses they will play on or what four-star hotel they will stay at while spanning the globe on Time-Warner’s expense account, they will absolutely mandate to Calzaghe and his promoter, Frank Warren, that unless he fights the winner of Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright, Jermain Taylor or Mikkel Kessler, HBO will not telecast his next bout.
Simple as that, bottom line, over and out. It’s time to act like programmers and not clueless sycophants.
Also, while I believe that Amir Khan is a talented young fighter and undoubtedly has a chance to be Warren’s next great ticket seller, did a valuable HBO slot really have to be used for the type of no-hoper he was facing?
HBO basically spent a few million and traveled thousands of miles (again) to show 30-1 fights.
Arum would tell me on Saturday after watching their latest fiasco: “It’s really a shame that HBO’s highlight this year has been Arce riding in on his horse.”
It seems to me that every HBO broadcast leading into May 5th is just an infomercial for De La Hoya-Mayweather, with absolutely no concern for the fights they are broadcasting that particular night. The end-game here seems to be that no matter how non-descript their bouts are, no matter how low the Nielsens, as long as they do their 1.5 million-plus pay-per-view buys for ‘the World Awaits’, 2007 will be a successful year.
I agree with Merchant, I’m sick of it too. And have been for awhile. I also have a feeling we’re not the only ones.
COMING TO AMERICA? WHY?
It’s interesting to see Calzaghe speak so eagerly of coming to the States to face America’s blue-chippers. The question I ask is, why? The guy just drew 35,000 to face a fighter that the British books had listed as a 30-1 ‘dog. I’m pretty sure that his television numbers will be formidable also.
Based on the sagging numbers out here and the recent HBO ratings, don’t Calzaghe and Warren have the leverage in these negotiations with the American stars?
Kessler seems to be a guy that they want to expunge from everyone’s minds. But I heard his bout with Librado Andrade drew around 18,000 folks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Now, how many fighters outside of a De La Hoya could do that in the States? Also, he’s had HBO exposure now, was a critical success in his last outing and got some more shine this past weekend co-hosting Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 with Brian Kenny.
I don’t want to hear any of this, ‘Well, who’s Mikkel Kessler?’ crap that was made so popular by the likes of Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather in recent years.
Calzaghe-Kessler is a fight between the two best fighters in their division and would do big numbers in Europe and is anticipated by enough fans across the world to justify the risk being taken by all the parties involved.
Joe, Frank, don’t come to America, the boxing business isn’t doing so well right now out here. Stay in Europe and make the best fight – and promotion – possible.
SPRINGFIELD’S SHOWTIME
I didn’t see Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa, Millhouse, Apu, Nelson or Flanders out at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri, but it was lively crowd that saw Joshua Clottey defeat the always-courageous Diego Corrales.
“It was one of the best boxing crowds I’ve ever seen,” Gary Shaw would tell Maxboxing on Sunday afternoon. “It was a complete sell-out, all the tickets were sold. No comps.”
Shaw was so pleased by what he saw that he says he has plans to come back to this region – in a bigger arena – for future promotions.
In the immortal words of Homer: WOO-HOO!!!
CHICO
Corrales once again confirmed that nobody in the game of boxing has a set of stones like he does. However, that will be a problem in the subsequent years as he heads into the twilight of his career and into the real world without boxing in his life.
I just wonder, why did his management allow him to face such a tough guy in Clottey in his welterweight debut? Isn’t it their jobs to protect their boxer? You can understand why Gary Shaw (who wanted Antonio Mesquita) would go through with the fight given their recent history, but what about his managers and supposed advisors?
If they really cared about ‘Chico’, they wouldn’t be talking about moving down to 140 or anything like that, what they should do is not take their cuts for this fight and tell Corrales to call it a day and walk away from this situation if he goes against their wishes.
SHOBOX
This past Friday’s edition of ShoBox reminded me of that quote from John Kruk, who once said of his physical talents, “I’m not an athlete, I’m a baseball player.”
Which was so true. Kruk looked anything like an athlete but had the skill to hit a baseball and parlayed that into a very productive career. As I watched Art Binkowski and George Garcia ply their trade in Minnesota, it showed once again that having boxing skill is much more important than having athletic prowess or looking like an ‘American Gladiator’.
Binkowski and Garcia looked like they came out of happy hour – after several days – while Raphael Butler and Travis Walker looked like they had stepped out of the NFL Combine.
No, Binkowski wasn’t especially skilled (or at all), but after hitting the deck three times in the first, he was the more relaxed fighter in there and he pressed forward against the winded Butler, who was tagged late in the eighth and final round and eventually halted as he spit out his mouthpiece after taking a knockdown.
Garcia, in comparison to the statuesque Walker, looked like a modern day Mexican version of ‘Two Ton’ Tony Galento, and after surviving his own brush with the canvas in round two, he seemed to effectively counterpunch the tiring Walker the rest of the night. Garcia would lose a split-decision, but in my opinion, he won that fight. I would’ve loved for it to have been a 12-rounder.
Butler and Walker reminded me of SUV’s – big, imposing, with an intimidating look. Unfortunately, they also get poor mileage.
I thought the hoopties really taught them some lessons on what boxing is really about.
FINAL FLURRIES
I thought Kessler really came off well on ‘the Deuce’….Fernando Beltran has a fighter involved in all four of the main bouts at the Alamodome in Solis, Arce, Sosa and Chavez Jr. They should call him ‘Top Beltran’…..Just wondering, will ‘the Contender’ brass do anything else besides just farm out their fighters to other promoters and start putting on their own shows? Instead of just sending Manfredo out to Europe, wouldn’t they have been better served in continuing to sell tickets with him – like they had in previous shows – in Providence?….Seriously, who gives a damn about Roy Jones anymore?…..That Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a regular Maya Angelou, isn’t he?…..It’s pretty ironic that while Manfredo lost to Calzaghe, Matt Serra, a UFC reality show winner, pulled a huge upset in defeating Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title. I only know this because for the first time I can recall, ‘SportsCenter’ actually showed MMA highlights. And I may have missed it, but I didn’t see any boxing clips in there….Uh, oh….
