There is a lingering sense of bamboozlement attendant to the wake of Manny Pacquiao?s stunning knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez a month ago. I gather that?s been a common affliction in the Philippines since Dec. 8/9, too. I feel your pain in California. So let?s put our heads together.
My head says that Pacquiao twice got nailed by punches unlike any he had taken in the previous five years. A clear sign of slippage, but not totally unexpected for a lower-weights boxer who just turned turned 34. But my heart says Pacquiao was thoroughly dominating the fight and fought much as he has since his ascension into the 140s, and there?s something, well, screwy about his losing that I can?t quite get over.
It?s hard to deny that Marquez?s suddenly markedly more-muscled physique enters into our queasiness about the outcome, even after he passed post-fight tests and even though he took a pounding. Frankly, Marquez boxed less well most of this fight than in the first three bouts with Pacquiao, so if he was roided up, as at least half the people reading this suspect, it didn?t necessarily contribute to his victory other than perhaps aiding his resiliency.
As for the two knockdown punches thrown by Marquez, they landed so flush that you wouldn?t have had to be Joe Louis to put any opponent on the mat with them. And while you wouldn?t have to be in the early stages of Parkinson syndrome to to get nailed by such big blows, the dramatic outcome at least suggests Pacquiao is becoming susceptible to getting tagged. He should set up one or two good farewell fights and then concentrate on politics.
None of this taints Marquez, no matter what our gut feelings may be about how he increased his musculature so visibly. Let?s not forget that Pacquiao?s detractors have accused him of the same thing.
Some of the bamboozlement emanating from Pacquiao fans borders on hysteria. That was brought home to me Tuesday by a Filipino friend here in California whose political views often clash with mine but whose boxing sentiments tend to mirror mine.
He wants me to persuade the San Francisco Chronicle, which got most of the credit for documenting baseball star Barry Bonds? substance issues, to carry an investigation or crusade against steroids in boxing that might quickly stir, say, Sen. Dianne Feinstein to lead the charge for federal reform. Money presumably would be no object.
After all, he said, it looks like disgraced cycling star Lance Armstrong is going to ?fess up publicly about his steroids use, so watch the public welcome him back to stardom with open arms. Therefore, my friend?s reasoning goes, more steroids-fueled unfairness will ensue such as that which befell Pacquiao.
Neither the Chronicle nor Feinstein is likely to rally to that cause, I said, and we hung up miffed at each other.
Boxing?s profile has made some strides in the Bay Area thanks to the rising stardom of Andre Ward, Nonito Donaire and Robert Guerrero, but it?s strictly a niche sport here, not a major one. Much of the Chronicle?s motivation for the thousands of newsroom dollars it cost to nail Bonds was that Bonds was the most important player on the second most important sports team in the Chronicle?s circulation area.
Consider how well that reporting paid off.
Not coincidentally, Bonds? failure to reach baseball?s Hall of Fame was announced Wednesday. Essentially Bonds and similarly tainted superstar pitcher Roger Clemens — two of the greatest players of my lifetime — are being punished for all the evidence that has accumulated because of the extent steroids have become a scourge.
(An aside: Although steroids must be eliminated so that non-users aren?t at a disadvantage, not including great players like Bonds, Clemens and gambler Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame is sanctimony at its worst. Sheer hypocrisy)
In the five years since Bonds and Clemens retired, the incredible array of overstuffed ballplayers prevalent then has been depleted. They look normal now, a lot better.
Football players still look like comic book drawings, and more needs to be done to stop that. That seems to be the next step.The point is, steps are being taken, as Armstrong well knows. It?s too expensive, in today?s anti-taxation climate, to advance a public agenda against steroids any faster than we are advancing it.
Marquez looked like a comic-book drawing in the Pacquiao fight, too, and eventually the tide rising against steroids will change boxing, too. Rest assured, friends, that it?s a fast-rising tide, whether or not it has risen soon enough for Pacquiao to surf away from the sunset.
