Before I get labeled a sourpuss let me point out a couple of things here. First, I enjoyed every second of the bout between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, and the only reason I am beginning this article on a bit of a sour note is so that I can end on a high one. Right? So here goes.
When I first found out that my holiday in America was to coincide with the announced date for the Pacquiao v Marquez showdown, and that furthermore I was able to get credentials to attend the bout, to say I was ‘made up’ as we say over here, is an understatement. For most UK based writers and fans, a trip to Vegas to catch a fight of any kind is an ambition, to catch a world title fight a great ambition, and well, to catch a fight between two fighters considered on a collision course to prove which of them is the greatest at the weight, that’s just off the scale.
The featherweight title fight between Pacquiao and Marquez, was for me and any hardcore boxing fan, the most eagerly awaited fight at the weight since Morales v Barrera I. It was that rarest of commodities, a unification battle between two peak, fresh, talented and willing warriors, out to prove they are the man. In short, for me it was a dream ticket.
What was sad in reality however, at least by my perception, was that the fight was practically invisible to those outside of hardcore fans. During my stay in America when I told people I?m over to catch a fight at the MGM Grand, I was invariably greeted with mute incomprehension when I told them.
“Manny who? Where?s he from? Oh, are they little guys??
Only one guy seemed to know about the bout, A shuttle driver who ran me to LAX airport, who chimed in when I told a few of the other passengers that I was in the US partially to take in a fight. However, he was of Filipino descent and had boxed in the army for a while. He was genuinely excited about the matchup, knew who both guys were, and was definitely going to watch it; in other words, a hard core boxing fan.
California, from what I understand is a hotbed of boxing. Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, and Oscar De La Hoya, three of the biggest names in the sport, all campaign out of California and there were numerous signed photographs of Ricardo Lopez in the Sushi shack opposite my hotel in LA. Little known to me, Manny Pacquiao was training hard in the Hollywood hills just hours after I had been wandering down the strip in search of action of a different kind.
So I found the lack of knowledge or interest in the fight a little disconcerting. Maybe I?ve been unlucky and talked to the wrong people, but I can only base it on anecdotal evidence. That, and the fact that there were empty seats in the arena the night of the fight.
In fact, the undercard bout featuring Miguel Cotto was probably better known to casual sports fans as he has been more aggressively marketed due to his Olympic credentials.
Back when boxing was a mainstream sport, I don’t feel this was the case. From what I have read of great title bouts in the lower divisions, these fights used to draw huge crowds.
It?s easy to forget in the age of satellite linkups and global franchising of sports, that boxing really was one of the first global sports. Long before satellite linkups, long before TV, long before even Radio, boxing had a following around the globe. Although the sport was nowhere near as highly organised or profitable as now, there was an impetus which drove fighting men to ply their craft overseas.
Ever since the days of sail and later steam ships, fighters sailed the high seas to ply their trade and prove which country had the best man in each division, even before there were official world championship belts, the first of which was owned by Tom Cribb in 1822.
A look back into the history of boxing shows that even before powered flight and television broadcasting opened the world up, prizefighters were an international commodity. Jem Mace, cited by many historians as the father of modern prizefighting, traveled the world, taking in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and America after beginning his career in England. Tom Molyneaux, the first black heavyweight superstar, was feted by aristocratic London when he arrived to challenge Tom Cribb, the English heavyweight champion who himself boxed an exhibition for the Tsar of Russia.
These men were famed throughout the British Empire and the Americas, and despite the fact that most people wouldn?t have seen a photograph of them, fierce debates were raged in taverns over the bragging rights of each nation?s champion.
More recently, take a look back to the ?golden age? of boxing, when men like Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong and Beau Jack took on fighters from all over the world. It shows that there were many men from overseas who were minor stars. Kid Chocolate (Cuba), Dick Tiger (Nigeria), Kid Gavilan (Cuba), Emile Griffith (Virgin Islands), Alexis Arguello (Nicaragua), and Roberto Duran all played their parts in some of the biggest fights in history, and there are countless other Puerto Rican and Mexican stars who are too numerous to mention.
So how is it that there isn?t the general buzz about a fight between a Filipino and a Mexican? Is it that the televisation of the sport has killed the buzz of a live event, and that in the greater scheme of TV sports boxing simply cannot compete?
As our own Thomas Gerbasi pointed out, in general, boxing promotion sucks. Sure, promoters are good at selling the fights and fighters to the established boxing fan base, but terrible at getting across the characters and stories of the men in a way that will have a more broad appeal to the general sports fan. After all, let’s face it, no sport contains more drama and uncertainty than boxing does, and no sport is as stark and honest in its execution.
When Ray Robinson arrived in London, the whole of the city talked about it. It was a cause celebre and a major national event. The only occasion I can think of in recent times that is comparable is Mike Tyson’s visit to Brixton in London, when he was literally mobbed by the afro-Caribbean portion of the neighbourhood. In fact, Tyson is probably the only figure in modern boxing who carries the tradition of heavyweights stretching back from Ali to Dempsey as the universally acclaimed sports star.
Perhaps it is also because in general, champions don?t travel the world like they used to, and the world tour has been substituted with a tour of the regional venues within a single nation, usually the fighter?s home country if they are from America or Europe. If a fighter is from a less prominent boxing nation, like Pacquiao is, or a Mexican like Marquez, then business is almost invariably conducted in the USA.
Fighters rarely leave their comfort zone, which is understandable to a degree. It?s easier and safer to set up shop in one territory and have a regular team and training staff and a regular camp. Certainly having read about Sugar Ray Robinson?s experiences when he was put up above a noisy pub in Putney, London, called the Star and Garter, there are certainly downsides to traveling.
However, I think something has been lost in all this. There was a certain carnivalesque quality to the traveling road shows of fighters and their retinues. Certainly Muhammad Ali kept this tradition more than alive when he embarked on his world tour. Of course this was a necessity in Ali?s case as a young champion, because of his tremendous unpopularity as a black Muslim heavyweight champion of the world, and the difficulty in finding venues or people willing to stage his fights in America.
Ali?s popularity grew however as a result of him fighting abroad. Between 31 July and 28th October 1965, the new champion fought exhibitions in Honduras, Puerto Rico, Sweden, England, Scotland, and the Bahamas, before defending his title against Floyd Patterson in Las Vegas.
He then defended his title in Canada against George Chuvalo, and fought Brian London and Henry Copper in England, and then Karl Mildenberger in Germany – in each case fighting on the opponent?s home turf. This is almost impossible to envision today.
When he finally regained the heavyweight title after being stripped of his license and then losing his title shot against Frazier, he traveled some more, fighting Joe Bugner in Kuala Lumpur, Jean Pierre Coopman in Puerto Rico, Richard Dunn in Germany, and ill-advisedly wrestler Antonio Inoki in Tokyo.
It?s impossible to assert that all of these excursions didn?t aid in making him the best-known sports star of all time. No modern athlete can claim to have been as well known as Ali was in his prime, and few have a name as potent as Ali?s even now.
In part you also have to accredit Ali?s remarkable showmanship and incredible salesmanship. He created a whole persona for himself and sold it with his own remarkable brand of hoopla, comedy and bravura.
Now personalities like that come along rarely. Ali had the perfect intersection of talent, looks, charisma and wit that nobody before and since him had, but that isn?t to say that boxers cannot be marketed and market themselves.
Roy Jones Jr., to most people, is a modern great, and one of the most naturally gifted fighters of any era, but he?s never been a huge global star. Outside of boxing fans, nobody in the UK has heard of him, few have even heard of Oscar De La Hoya or Shane Mosley. This despite the fact that all of them have been involved in some of the biggest-grossing bouts in history.
You only have to look at Roy Jones for the answer as to why that is – he is hardly a one-man promotional machine. He failed to put any effort into promoting the last fight with Tarver, and seems to be allergic to publicity opportunities. Boxing?s biggest stars simply are not promoted on a global level the way they used to be. The sports section of most of the British newspapers will probably only carry a short column cut adrift in a sea of football (soccer) coverage, and there will be precious little in the way of buildup. In order to convince the newspapers to carry the story there has to be a hook.
Despite the fact that any boxing fan in the UK will be salivating at the prospect of watching Pacquiao v Marquez, guess what, it?s not even being shown live, having been relegated to a repeat on Sunday Morning at 9.00 AM.
It appears that boxing is becoming more and more fragmented. Fighters are largely only heavily promoted on their home territory, except where a promoter such as Frank Warren has a deal with a US cable outfit like Showtime to showcase foreign talent.
I think it?s sad that a tremendous fight like Pacquiao v Marquez isn?t being talked about in every bar across America, and Britain too. This is for the UNDISPUTED featherweight title, the winner will be the king of what has historically been one of the hottest and most competitive divisions, and has produced some of boxing?s most famous fights.
Just reading off a list of the names of the main men in the division in the last twenty or so years gives you an indication of the depth of the talent pool. Salvador Sanchez, Barry McGuigan, Azumah Nelson, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Wilfredo Gomez, Naseem Hamed, and now of course Pacquiao and Marquez.
Anyway, that’s enough of the half full section of this article; let’s get on to the fight itself, or at least my take on it.
I arrived late in Vegas, and after wandering around like a lost soul for about an hour and finally managing to find my room and my press pass, I got into the Arena about 6.30 PM. I was just about in time for the second biller, Cotto v N’dou, which in honesty was a little bit of a letdown, as the limited N’dou fought without much passion or pressure for the majority of the bout.
However if this bout disappointed, from the very moment the fighters entered the arena for the Pacquiao v Marquez bout, there was a palpable tension and anticipation amongst the crowd which got the heart beating, and the first round of course didn’t disappoint.
From the very first bell, expectations were both exceeded and confounded. I had expected that Pacquiao would be the man pressing the issue from the very first, but to my surprise it was first blood to Marquez as he popped a jab and a long right into the side of Pacquiao?s head. Marquez was not only winning the round, but bossing it from ring centre, rather than skirting the edges he was commanding centre stage and throwing hard leads as well as counters.
As is well told now, his good work was undone rapidly, as he was drilled with a short but accurate left which split the guard as he wound up a right hand; his over aggressiveness cost him. It drew a huge roar from the crowd, especially the Filipino section, and a sharp intake of breath and an ‘oooooooooh’ was drawn from the press section.
It was more of a flash knockdown than a serious knockdown, and Marquez was soon on his feet. It looked like he would be able to survive the round, but Marquez, perhaps due to machismo, or perhaps feeling he needed to carry on firing back to avoid the stoppage from Joe Cortez against as heavy handed and aggressive opponent as Pacquiao, elected to stand and trade after the eight count.
He was throwing heavy shots with his shoulder right behind him, a risky strategy against Pacquiao at the best of times, let alone just after he has gotten his dander up after knocking you down. The two were winging away at ring centre when Pacquiao connected with another jolting left, and this time Marquez went down even more heavily. Again he rose and threw himself back into the range of the tumultuous punching machine in front of him, and again he tried to fight his way to safety, by now his nose bleeding heavily. It was a matter of time before Pacquiao got an opening again, and when he did, this time he dropped Marquez so heavily that he just lay on his back staring into the bright TV lights holding his bleeding nose. It appeared for a moment that he might not have the will or the physical strength to make it up, and for all the world I thought my Vegas boxing adventure ended here.
However, I was wrong, and Marquez, showing the sort of bravery that makes great fighters and great champions, rose on eight, hauling himself up with the aid of the ropes.
It was here that an excellent piece of refereeing by Cortez prevented us from being deprived of one of the best featherweight title fights in recent memory. It is easy to say that with hindsight, it would have been quite justifiable for Cortez to end the fight, and perhaps the fact that Marquez was still firing back at that point in the fight helped him to make that decision.
Remarkably, even though very wearied, battered and bruised, Marquez managed to compete on fairly equal terms with Pacquiao for the remaining 30 seconds of the round.
There was a collective holding of breath and shaking of hands between rounds, as many waited for what they presumed would be the summary execution of a depleted Marquez.
Whilst it was clear that Marquez was badly hurt still at the beginning of the second round, remarkably he began to find his rhythm and was now slipping and riding Manny’s shots a little, taking the sting out of the same shots which had dropped him three times a round earlier, and now using his jab and his beautiful counter long right hand to keep Manny increasingly at arm’s length.
This pattern was to be continued with subtle nuances for much of the remainder of the fight, as Manny’s work rate gradually slowed, no doubt in no small measure due to the deterring effects of eating Marquez’ counter right and left hook. Marquez notably got more and more into his rhythm, and was rolling and slipping underneath the left hook of Pacquiao more and more often, and popping the jab and right hand whenever Manny tried to surge in with impunity.
I gave Marquez every round between the 3rd and 9th. By the end of round 9, I had the bout 85-83 to Marquez, as he was controlling the pace and flow of the rounds. It wasn’t that Pacquiao wasn’t having any success, he was, but whenever he tried to up the pace and control the round, Marquez would respond with a big flurry and rattle Pacquiao. They beat on each other like two drum messengers, but Marquez always had the last word.
In the 10th, Manny found something that bit extra, and it looked like his seemingly endless reserves of stamina might just carry him to a late rounds victory, as Marquez’ pace slowed slightly, allowing Manny to land some eye catching bombs and just steal the round on my card. There was one round in it, with two to go on my card, and in the final two rounds these electrifying little men put on a showcase of what two determined winners do in these circumstances.
Though both badly marked up, Marquez bleeding heavily still from his nose, with welts and bruises evident around his brow and cheekbones, and Manny cut over his left eye and with a slit along the bridge of his nose, the two went for broke in the last rounds. Marquez probably felt he was ahead, and was determined not let it slip away, whilst Pacquiao had been informed by Roach that he needed something big going into the last two, and was looking for that killer left hand punch which had been so effective all those rounds ago.
A quick note here on the controversy surrounding the card of judge Burt Clements, who was chastised for incorrectly scoring the first round 10-7 rather than 10-6. In deference to Burt, I was in some confusion myself over what the score line should have been. Commentator Jim Watt, part of the UK’s sky commentary team, scored the first 10-7, citing the fact that prior to the knockdown he felt that Marquez dominated the round.
I did find it bizzare that given the intervention of Jose Sulaiman in the scoring of the Brodie v Chi matchup that the scorecards were not then amended. I understand that Marc Ratner has issued a statement that he did not feel there was any precedence for the scorecards to be changed. Perhaps as Jim Watt pointed out, the fact you don’t have to give a 10-6 for three knockdowns, nor in fact a 10-8 for one knockdown, is why this decision hasn’t been changed. It’s a judgment error rather than a ruling error as such.
In a sense I am glad, I do feel that Marquez would have been a little hard done by had the bout gone his way, and in any result in a very close fight with many rounds where nobody was clearly dominant (take for instance the fact I scored the last two even), a draw is a good result, or good enough, though I felt the scoring a little inexplicably erratic in either direction with 155-110 in either direction, on the cards of John Stewart and Guy Jutras. Certainly the fact that Jutras scored the second round for Marquez is surprising as he was still under heavy fire.
In closing though, it was a great fight and nothing should be allowed to detract from the fact that these two warriors showed championship level heart and desire in the ring. I told all my friends back in the UK about the bout, and urged them to watch it, and I hope they did, and I will do likewise about the rematch. Hopefully I’ll be able to attend the second fight, and I believe that it can be an even better fight than the first one. I believe that Marquez is capable of avoiding his disastrous start the second time around, and that Manny will be able to work on improving his slightly predictable movement for much of the fight this time around.
It appears that the rematch will not be immediate, with Marquez telling members of the Mexican media that he will be making other plans, whilst Manny is looking for a showdown for the WBC belt against Injin Chi.
Anyone who is calling Marquez a coward for not wanting to fight an immediate rematch is quite clearly an idiot. Marquez showed the heart of the whole lion enclosure at the MGM in not just rising from three knockdowns, but going on to dominate the majority of the rest of the fight. He has a right as the champion with two belts, (many people have forgotten that Manny has none, having inherited the people’s championship from Barrera) to earn a living defending them before taking on Manny again.
Pacman has got to be favourite to beat Chi in what will surely be another great fight, and I think ultimately we will see the rematch some time next year, and this time around it will be an even bigger fight. I for one can wait for the rematch, and I am sure that the two men will face each other again eventually, hopefully for a true unification match. Those who are getting impatient would do well to remember how long we waited for the rematch between Morales and Barrera, after their first controversial contest. Almost a full two years passed before we got the rematch, and it was a bigger fight for it.
My only concern is that in the meantime one or the other might lose and spoil the party. Pacquiao showed some limitations in that fight which Barrera failed to reveal or exploit, and Marquez has written the guidebook on how to nullify and beat him, not that anyone else is necessarily capable of doing the same. Manny’s style is a young man’s one, and he is a fighter who will peak early, burn brightly and fizzle out in but a few years.
Marquez at 29 is at his peak, but could begin to decline at any time, and the pounding he took in that first round won’t help preserve his skills.
What is certain is that both men are a credit to the sport, and that the second time around their matchup will be far more well attended and subscribed, and that their first fight will go a long way to making stars of both men outside of their own fan base.
