WHAT WOULD BECOME OF RABID BLOGOSPHERE?
San Francisco, CA While enjoying some food with a female companion this past Saturday night, the waiter, like most of Manny Pacquiao’s countrymen who reside here in Daly City, a community on the San Francisco border with probably the highest number of Filipino’s outside of the homeland, are huge fans of the “Pacman.” A realist, William threw out the question that nobody seems to be asking, “What if Pacquiao loses?” In case you’re a boxing fan that’s been living under a rock for the past three weeks, Pacman-mania has once again reached the United States.
PAC LINES UP EXPECTED “SOFTIE” IN DIAZ
Next month, June 28th to be exact, Pacquiao (46-3-2, 35 KOs) will face David Diaz, the WBC lightweight (135 lbs.) titleholder in Las Vegas. In all fairness to Mr. Diaz and the World Boxing Council, of which he is the recognized champion, David Diaz is a “paper” champion, some say a “toothless tiger.” Not even the staunchest of Pacnuts, can say that David is the best, not with the recently married IBF/WBA/WBO champ Nate Campbell and Ring Magazine champ Joel Casamayor residing at 135.
BOXING’S GAME OF CHARADES & ILLUSIONS
Unlike the NBA, MLB, or the NFL, boxing, led by the promoters, who for the most part are an unsavory group that would present just about anything to make money, they can get away with pitting a contender in Pacquiao against Diaz, who has about as much right to call to himself champion as presidential hopeful John McCain does to label himself young. To be both honest and blunt, Diaz can’t fight much and McCain was present for the “Last Supper!”
EXPECT JONESTOWN IF DIAZ BEATS PAC?
With a good number of Pacquiao’s fans being shall we say emotional, what would the psychological effect be if Pac were to lose to the kid from Chicago? Would there be a “Jonestown” type of scenario, where the fanatical followers of Reverend Jim Jones committed suicide in mass? Would the Pacnuts jump off the bandwagon so fast that it would cause the Richter scale to register seismic movement in the Philippine soil? Probably not!
EXCUSES, EXCUSES, & MORE EXCUSES!
The chance of Diaz, who struggled in his only fight on the big stage, a razor thin win over Erik Morales, the same Erik Morales that Pacquiao had destroyed not once, but twice, beating Pacman is remote. But if this were to occur, while we might not see suicide in droves, we would see a humbling of Pac’s fans. And while realists, who are again almost non-existent in the world of Pacnuts, sit back and ponder why he lost, they will come to the realization that Pacquiao has been fighting on borrowed time, seeing he started at 107 lbs. and is now at 135. This long jump in weight is akin to Kryptonite.
OPPONENTS MIRROR THAT OF ROCKY MARCIANO!
While Holding the World heavyweight championship, the late Rocky Marciano’s challengers averaged 34.8 years of age. For the Pacman, his last ten foes have been 34, 33, 28, 31, 30, 31, 29, 31, 30, & 31. With the exception of 3K Battery, a Thai fighter, Pacquiao, as the numbers indicate, has built his reputation by beating tired (and old) Mexican fighters! And for those of you that say Manny hasn’t avoided slick black boxers, he has never faced one! Lehlo Ledwaba, who fought Manny some 16 fights ago, albeit black, was about as slick as maple syrup.
BACK TO DIAZ AND JUNE 28TH ON PPV
As for Diaz, 34-1-1 with 17 shorts, he struggled in the “set up” fight for the Pacquiao match, a majority decision win over the ordinary (or less) Ramon Montano (15-5, and only 1 KO) on the Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II undercard. If this were imbedded in the minds of sensible fans, the PPV numbers here in the United States would be abysmal. But because most fans, and yes, I’m talking about Americans here, are not boxing educated, they only see that Pac is fighting for a championship and that will turn the PPV crank enough to make this fight for a “paper” championship a moneymaker.
WEEKEND WRAPUP & UFC RESULTS LATER TODAY!
We are preparing the Weekend Wrap, which will include a shot at British boxing, more specifically the referee of the Ricky Hatton-Juan Lazcano fight held Saturday in Manchester, UK. Also on tap will be the graceful UFC departure of longtime star and ex-champion Tito Ortiz, which seemed to overshadow the performance of lightweight (155) champ BJ Penn. That and “Ring Talk Radio” later today at RingTalk.com.
