BOBBY ENDS YET ANOTHER FISTIC CAREER
New York, NY-You won’t be seeing Kevin Kelley back at Madison Square Garden any time soon, unless he’s interviewing somebody for a TV broadcast. “The Flushing Flash” felt like he was having D?j? vu after a crushing left hook to the rib cage sent the former featherweight champion to canvas, where he once again could not beat the count, and was knocked out by another southpaw. Similar to a dreadful night for Kevin back in 1997 at the hands of Prince Naseem Hamed, Kelley, Saturday night fell victim to the powerful punches of Bobby Pacquiao.
MANNY’S BROTHER MAKING NAME FOR HIMSELF
Now stepping out of the shadows of his brother, Manny, “The Sniper” is starting to build his own fame and recognition. His older brother, “The Pacman”, has built a reputation known to all as the “Mexican Assassin”. Whether Manny likes that moniker or not, his battles and victories over some of Mexico’s best featherweights has sold out arenas and thrilled many fans. Bobby is an assassin in his own right. Kevin Kelley is another name now added to a growing lists of careers ended at the hand of the “Career Killer”.
BOBBY PACQUIAO: A STEPPING STONE NO MORE!
Looking at Pacquiao’s career, it’s obvious that “The Sniper” was more of a club fighter than a contender. Living in poverty in General Santos City, Pacquiao was fighting where he could for a paycheck, mostly under the promotions of Rod Nazario. Once Manny Pacquiao became the biggest boxing name in the Philippines, Bobby started to get offers for fights against real contenders, mostly because of that famous last name. Former Manny victim, Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym got his revenge, knocking out Pacquiao-Bobby that is-back in 2005.
BOBBY PACQUIAO LIVES IN MANNY’S SHADOW!
To most promoters, Bobby Pacquiao was the name they could use to draw a growing Filipino boxing fan base, while using him as a stepping stone to their house fighter. However, the pride of this Filipino and the help of the best trainer in boxing has turned Bobby’s career around. In his last three fights, Bobby had his back against the wall and each time came back to not only win, but virtually ended the career of his opponent. Before knocking out Kelley, the “other” Pacquiao defeated Carlos Navarro and Carlos Hernandez: two fighters who have not fought or will not fight again.
MARQUEZ, THE NEXT CAREER BOBBY WILL END?
Right now, Pacquiao is in an unfortunate position of an opponent that none of the major players in the super featherweight division would want to fight. Now under the Top Rank banner, a fight with a Golden Boy fighter, Marco Antonio Barrera, is out of the picture. Erik Morales is headed towards a rubber match with Manny Pacquiao in November. Therefore, the only big name out there that Bobby can fight is a fighter who is used to being avoided, Juan Manuel Marquez. Even though the former unified featherweight titlist was robbed silly against Chris John in Indonesia, (The sports leader, ESPN’s Dan Rafael wrote that John won, and yet he never acknowledged seeing the fight) very few in the United States have seen the fight. Therefore, Marquez must now fight every fight like it is his last. His “comeback” fight will take place later in the summer and should go against Bobby Pacquiao, it would draw a lot of interest.
MARQUEZ CAME BACK TO DRAW WITH MANNY
Filipino fans still have a bitter taste in their mouths, when Marquez came back from three early knockdowns to salvage a draw against the Pacman. Marquez would be the toughest fighter Bobby has ever faced, but his skills and most importantly his confidence, have both gotten much better. It’s hard to believe that just two years, mentioning Bobby Pacquiao’s name in the same breath as Juan Manuel Marquez would have been a case of mistaken identity.
