LIFE COMING BACK TO THIS CORNER
San Francisco, CA-Having been handcuffed emotionally by things going on around me, that I have no control of, has affected both my work and personality, but I realized during lunch Wednesday that I am who I am, and at the same time what this three-ring circus called professional boxing is as well. That being said, I feel like Independence Day came one day late this year for Pedro Fernandez. I?m not complaining though, instead I?m celebrating!
TODAY IT’S THE NEGATIVE OF PAC-LARIOS
Now that I?ve aired my emotional status, here?s one of two takes on Manny Pacquiao?s sensational win over Oscar Larios. First of all, being one of the few guys that has fought and can still hold a pen; I truly believe that a number of individual entities all failed Larios in Manila. In case you didn?t see it, Oscar won two rounds, with the last being the third. From that point forward, Manny was serving, and Oscar was eating nothing but knuckle sandwiches.
NOTHING AFTER SHAKING PAC IN THE THIRD
The point I?m trying to make here is that after eight rounds, in my mind, Larios was a beaten man. He didn?t have the firepower to rock Pacquiao in his beaten down condition. In the third, Larios did have such an opportunity. Rocking the Pacman all the way down to his customized boxing shoes, Oscar as a decided underdog took a chance and went for it. Taking a minute to recover from an on the ropes raking, Manny then took control of the fight and never relinquished it.
BULL SPIT MYTH INVOLVING GOING THE DISTANCE
After eight, Oscar had enough physically. He was weakened, and at the same time being battered by a harder punching man. This is where a fighter is more susceptible to permanent, or what is better known as the ?residual? effects of professional boxing. The beating was such that I was screaming at the television set, ?Don?t let him come out (for the tenth)? Much like a bull who has his vision blurred before they send him out to face the matador, Oscar, certainly at this point, had absolutely no chance of winning!
THIS IS WHAT?S WRONG WITH BOXING!
Some of you fans, and even the entities that I am highly critical of not stopping this rout, will say some bull spit like, ?Well he had a chance of going the distance.? What? There is no additional badge of honor that need be attached to a fighter?s chest in going the route. This additional four round beating Oscar absorbed like a pugilistic sponge, and the damage that resulted from such, is for the moment unknown.
RABID FANS GETTING A PASS THIS TIME!
Bloodthirsty fight fans can?t be blamed for not knowing what these kind of beat downs mean later in life for a boxer. With the fans off the hook, we have the officials. The Philippine Boxing Board, Commission, or whatever they want to call themselves, wanted more than anything for Pacquiao to score a knockout, and with the life being sucked out of Oscar a little more each round after eight, the chance of such occurring greatened.
IF HALF THE HEAVYWEIGHTS HAD OSCAR?S STONES
In the 12th and final round, the KO almost happened when Pacman dropped him hard, but Larios, having basketballs where some heavyweight fighters have blueberries, got up and finished the fight.
DOCTOR & REFEREE SHOULD BOTH BE SPANKED!
OK, thus far we have chastised both the referee and the ringside Doctor, because there wasn?t any point after eight rounds in which they couldn?t have mercifully stopped the Pacquiao onslaught between rounds. Shame on them for being fans of Manny Pacquiao instead of unbiased boxing officials. Every Filipino wanted Oscar flat out on his back period! Any other finish would not be climactic enough.
MEXICAN ?GODFATHER? FAILED LARIOS AS WELL!
There are few men I respect more in boxing than Larios? manager, Rafael Mendoza. Dubbed the ?Mexican Godfather,? Mendoza is a noble man who has been in boxing since 1967. Having managed many Mexican greats, he has never had a contract. This is the same way the late Eddie Futch did business. All that said, I?m appalled that Mendoza did not himself stop the fight.
SOME SAY, ?THAT?S BOXING!? I SAY, ?THAT?S WHAT?S WRONG!?
Being an old-school guy, Mendoza, and a lot of other people in the business will say, hey that?s boxing. No, that?s what is wrong with boxing. There is no way a human being should be subjected to undue and unwarranted beatings. If a racehorse hurts his leg, he/she is not expected to keep racing. After the eighth round Saturday night, Oscar Larios was a three-legged horse, and yet he was forced to race four more rounds.
TOMORROW AT WWW.RINGTALK.COM PART II
On Friday morning (US ET) we will bring you Part II. In this expansion of thoughts, I?ll talk about all the positives that came about with a Manny Pacquiao victory, but just like a coin has two sides, today you get the negatives, tomorrow the positive.
