MANNY Pacquiao’s fight against Ghana’s Joshua Clottey tomorrow (Sunday in the Philippines) is a throw back from the olden days of boxing – when the sports was as mainstream as baseball and hotdogs in the US.
Although sardonically labeled as the red light district of sports, boxing was nevertheless a popular spectator sports even before television was invented.
Grainy films of boxing bouts occasionally shown in cable television today were held in stadiums and open fields attesting to its popularity.
Heavyweight greats such as Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, Max Schmeling, Joe Louis and of course Muhammad Ali all have fought in open air stadium and arenas.
Their fights were also shown in free TV – some at delayed telecast and later on live.
Those were the days before cable TV invaded our homes, before casinos cornered the big bouts, before pay per view further took away the casual boxing fans from the live gate.
Boxing’s romance with the heavyweights also took away a large segment of fans, especially Hispanics and Asians whose natural built deprived them of competing in the open weight class.
It was not until the ‘70s when little big men were given a second look by boxing aficionados. It culminated with Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar de la Hoya making indelible imprints in the boxing world.
Today, Manny Pacquiao is making a case of his own.
For the first time in years, a marquee boxing match is back to where it once belonged.
Pacquiao goes up against Clottey inside the reconfigured Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas in what probably could be the biggest fight attendance in the last five years in the US.
Jerry Jones, owner of the US$1.2 billion stadium, is making 45,000 seats available to the fans and reports are that only 300 tickets are available two days before fight night. If demand for tickets continues to grow, another 5,000 seats could be made available.
Although it was a clever marketing ploy on the part of Jones – making the stadium a side attraction – he could not have done it without Manny Pacquiao topbilling the boxing card.
Pacquiao is the face of boxing today.
He is the biggest cash cow of the sports that is seeing a renaissance of sorts following his incredible and spectacular winning streak against bigger and Hall-of-Fame bound opponents.
Pacquiao’s fighting style and selection of opponents also bring back the nostalgic eras of boxing – where only the best fought the best and entertaining the fans came first before self-preservation and the lure of money got the better part of the sports.
On Sunday, Manny will be the bridge of the past and the future. And many are hoping he will still be here to stay after the Clottey fight. Win or lose.
