Steroids, Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao, and Paulie Malignaggi
OK, the biggest story in boxing, still, is the steroid controversy with Manny Pacquiao. The die hard Filipino boxing fans have come to his defense immediately while many other fans remain skeptical, or at least curious. The point is, at this point, nobody knows for sure other than Manny Pacquiao and perhaps his trainer Freddie Roach.
It is not anything new for society to try to explain what appears to be super human behavior. Pacquiao is a beast in the ring and has that look on his face screaming that there is no other place that he’d rather be. He is freakishly strong and that strength has turned some heads in a bad way.
Whether it was a prefight ploy to rattle Manny or legitimate concern, Floyd Mayweather, JR., has stirred up a bees’ nest and now the entire boxing world is demanding answers. The Pacquiao fans are content with Manny’s answer. He doesn’t want any blood tests close to the fight, claiming that any blood drawn could weaken him for the biggest opportunity of his life, and he may be right. The skeptic would claim that he knows how to play the game, knows how to use an illegal substance to where it will run out of his system right before the mandatory and scheduled test.
There hasn’t been much wiggle room given by Team Pacquiao. They are either going to have it the way that it’s been with a drug test immediately after the fight, or they are going to move on…and the opponent selected for the replacement of Floyd Mayweather is not exciting anyone.
Paulie Malignaggi has been named as the man that will square off against Pacquiao should Floyd Mayweather not come around. Malignaggi is a C fighter, maybe a C+, but he doesn’t belong in the same arena as Pacquiao. He was stopped by Ricky Hatton, split two fights with Juan Diaz, and battered by Miguel Cotto. He’s got a lot of heart, but no power, and ZERO chance of being competitive with Pacquiao. I would put the odds at 100-1 or more. It might even be a first round stoppage.
I don’t think that they can sell Malignaggi as an opponent. It’s a ploy by Team Pacquiao to show Floyd how easily they could replace him and to back off of the steroid testing. Mayweather, JR., seems to be willing to bend now and there should be a happy medium met to make this fight possible. There is more drama however.
Pacquiao is now, reportedly, filing suit against Floyd Mayweather for defamation of character for the continual comments about steroid abuse. Miguel Cotto, the last man to lose against Manny, has voiced his opinion, bothered by the fact that Pacquiao has refused the Olympic style drug testing. If Manny is guilty of using illegal performance enhancing drugs, Cotto may be the unluckiest guy in the world. Both losses would have come to cheaters, one to the “hands of plaster” Antonio Margarito, and one to a boxer that may have come in unnaturally strong.
This is such a hot topic in boxing right now and it will add to this mega fight. The public interest is at an all time high and perhaps that was part of the plan by Team Mayweather. I don’t think that Manny Pacquiao is amused by the allegations or considers them part of the promotional game. He is angered by this and will fight his heart out to defeat “Money Mayweather” on March 13th, should the fight come off.
Stay tuned as the story develops. This should get more interesting by the day…
Felix Trinidad Returning…Again?!
The all time boxing greats just can’t seem to stay away from the sport. Sugar Ray Leonard kept coming back, Joe Louis came back, and Evander Holyfield won’t leave. Most end up with the same fate…sprawled out on the canvas, counting the ring lights. Felix Trinidad may be destined for that.
In 2001, Trinidad was soundly defeated by Bernard Hopkins. He was battered and mentally destroyed over twelve rounds. It was one of those occasions where one fight can destroy a fighter. Felix was never the same. You put this fight and his inactivity together, and you’re not going to have half the fighter you once did. Winky Wright proved it.
In a comeback effort, Winky Wright played with the once widely feared Trinidad, jabbing him to death over twelve rounds and sweeping the scorecards. It was a humiliating defeat, but Trinidad still came back. This time, he was up against Roy Jones, JR. It was a battle of “who had more left,” and Roy easily won, dropping Trinidad several times and playing with him, much the way that Wright had done. It was more evidence that Tito should hang them up and retire.
This is boxing and the all time greats hardly retire when they should. Trinidad is being lured out of retirement to fight fellow Puerto Rican superstar, Miguel Cotto. Cotto has stated that he only wants to fight one more year and then hang them up and perhaps this showdown with the man that he’s been often compared to is what he wants and is good for him. It doesn’t appear good for Trinidad.
Much like the fighters of the past, I’m sure that Trinidad has watched Cotto’s performances in the ring and sees the flaws and how fighters with less power than he possesses have hurt him. The problem is that Cotto wouldn’t be facing a prime Trinidad. He’d be facing an older and inactive fighter that can’t pull the trigger anymore. It’s safe to say that Felix will be carried out of the ring when this fight happens, and it probably will.
