It’s a new age, let’s try to toss it out there for discussion, although it’s always appreciated when the most gruesome epithets directed to me are spelled correctly. I know, I know, I ask for too much. That’s just me.
Anyway, Bob Arum stopped through SF yesterday, trying to drum up attention for the Jan. 21 Pacquiao-Morales rematch he’s promoting almost a year after Morales took an action-packed (of course, since they’re automatic action fighters) decision over the Filipino superstar.
Bob’s a charming guy who I go way back with, and he made some decent points.
I think it’s a borderline call on a column, and I love boxing, as most people know. Pacquiao is a huge figure in the Phillipines, Morales is very big in Mexico and they both are tremendous ambassadors for the sport. It’s far better to write about these guys than another stupid thing about Tyson, I’d say.
But they’re featherweights. They’re not major American stars. They don’t get much attention from 90 percent of sports fans in America. It’s hard to argue all the time for boxing when boxing doesn’t percolate much on the ESPN-talk-show-NFL-dominated radar.
So I’m asking: Does Pacquiao, especially, have a fan base strong enough to merit a column leading into the fight? Arum says the Bay Area will be his No. 1 pay-per-view market for this bout. I believe him.
Is this the stuff of a column? Or maybe enough to egg my boss to send someone to Las Vegas for the bout? (OK, I know the answer on that one.) Once again, all derogatory comments should be directed to me, spell-checked and if it’s not anatomically possible, I’ll assume you’re either a Kwan or an Artest fan and ignore it.
Posted by Tim Kawakami on January 13, 2006 at 02:02 PM in Boxing, Tim Kawakami | Permalink
