CHICAGO –Rick ?Racoon? Glaser, the boxing agent, is based in Buffalo which is all the more appropriate given that he is the furtive operative who delivered ?Baby Bull? Juan Diaz to Don King when numerous other promoters (including Oscar de la Hoya) were trying to land the Houston fighter.
It was Glaser who was in the trenches until Diaz manager-trainer Willie Savannah finally agreed to spurn all his other suitors and go with King and DKP.
Glaser, who I understand will be the subject of Tom Hauser?s next boxing tome, was in all his raccoon with dark sunglasses glory at the Sears Centre as the 33-0 Diaz whipped Julio Diaz to add the IBF lightweight title to his collection which already included the WBA and WBO belts.
Now, as speculation mounts that Pinoy idol Manny Pacquiao and the speedy Houston fighter, are destined for big money or Big Manny matchup in 2008, Glaser makes it sound like a walk in the park for the 24-year-old bambino bull.
?When Pacquiao fought Barrera, you saw two shot fighters,? Glaser said by phone from his lakefront Buffalo mansion Sunday night. ?One guy, Barrera, was just a little more shot than the other guy but they are both shot.?
With this kind of telephone tough guy talk, I can only hope this Racoon never meets Pacman lawyer Franklin ?The Jackal? Gacal in a dark alley in Cebu. Boy, will the feathers fly. (Do jackals and raccoons even have feathers?)
So what special insight does Ricky Racoon possess that he, and only he, can see that a 28-year-old Pacman is pretty much washed up as a fighter?
?Lots of things I saw in the Barrera fight,? Glaser said. ?He doesn?t charge in there with his punches with the old reckless abandon he used to. The volume of his punches is nowhere near the same and his feet are off-balace and one leg keeps flying up and flapping around for no rhyme or reason.
?Pacquiao is just a little less shot than both Barrera and Erik Morales. Juan Diaz will go through him worse than a hot knife through butter. When it comes to boxing skills, physical strength and the sheer volume of scoring punches, Juan will destroy Pacquiao.?
So much for Be Kind To Racoons Week. I don?t know why but I have a feeling Paclanders will not welcome this kind of invective and opinion from Mr. Glaser.
Glaser has shuffled from here back to Buffalo. But his lips are still flapping and his message is this: Manny Pacquiao is a punched ticket who will offer little opposition to his Baby Bull.
I had to terminate the convo with Glaser as he told me he was stepping into a Buffalo chicken wing eating competition and he needed to warm up.
What say you, Pacmaniacs? I bet you bring the hot sauce, not the mild, for the big talker from Buffalo.
