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Bob Arum's Careful Matchmaking Costs Pacquiao a Third FOY in 2010 By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Thu, 08 Oct 2020  Since the Ring Magazine started to give recognition to the best fighter of the year in the late 1920s, only seven boxers have won the annual award twice in a row. This exclusive group included Joe Louis who won it in 1938-39; Rocky Marciano in 1954-55; Ingemar Johanson in 1958-59; Joe Frazier in 1970-71; Muhammad Ali in 1974-75; Evander Holyfield in 1996-97; and Manny Pacquiao in 2008-2009. Per record, two fighters could have won more than two consecutively, namely Louis and Pacquiao. Louis after winning the award in 1936 but was upstaged by Henry Armstrong in 1937 and after winning twice in a row in 1938-39 was upstaged by rival Billy Conn for the award in 1940. And Pacquiao after first winning the award in 2006 was upstaged by Floyd Mayweather in 2007 and after winning back to back in 2008-2009 was beaten for the honors in 2010 by Sergio Martinez. For the record, Muhammad Ali holds the record for the most number of FOY awards with six followed by Louis with four and Frazier, Holyfield and Pacquiao with three each. How exclusive was this group? Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather could only show two FOY awards which they won in different years at that. You know what, Pacquaio could have tied Louis with four in 2007 or in 2010. Alas, Pacquiao could not match Mayweather's record in 2007 where he could only show minor title wins over Jorge Solis and Marco Antonio Barrera in their rematch as compared to Floyd's world title victories over Ricky Hatton and Oscar de la Hoya. 
Pacquiao drops Solis. But Pacquiao could have made a stronger bid for a first ever third straight Fighter of the Year award in 2010 had Bob Arum not gone back to his old habit of careful matchmaking. Note that by late 2009 after Manny had won his sixth and seventh world division championships by knockout over Ricky Hatton at 140 and stoppage of Miguel Cotto at 147, Mayweather had made a comeback and there was global demand for their confrontation. In fairness to Arum, he did try to make the match between Manny and Floyd in early 2010 but after a bitter, acrimonious protracted negotiation, no deal was reached with both parties blaming and accusing each other. In the end, it was determined that it was Arum who decided to stop further talks. Both fans and experts were divided as whom to blame for the negotiations falling through but many believed that Pacquiao being the reigning world and pound for pound titleholder deserved respect and at least equal treatment by the Floyd camp. They also thought that Arum as the premier promoter and champion builder that he was generally perceived to be, held the key to the fight pushing through never mind his stormy past with former top ward Floyd. With Pacquiao on top of the world, Arum was seen as possessed of options that would not only maintain but even improve his standing and stature. Winning a third fighter of the year award in 2010 after Manny had been named as Fighter of the Decade 2000-2009 on the strength of his back to back FOY awards in 2008-2009 would have been high on Arum's agenda. 
Pacquiao and Mayweather fought too late in their careers. But it was not to be so. After the public's demand for a clash with Floyd was not met, Arum was expected to find a suitable alternative foe for Manny in his opening fight for the new decade. Which was not wanting. Shane Mosley, fresh from his brutal knockout of Antonio Margarito for the WBC title had issued his challenge for a Pacquiao unification fight. Then there's the then undefeated WBA champion Andre Berto who also declared his desire to meet Pacquiao. But what did Arum do? He chose Ghanaian WBO top contender Joshua Clottey as Manny's opponent in a title defense bout held at the newly opened Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight was somehow a marketing and commercial success though it failed to draw the expected 50,000 audience. But as a fight that would enhance Manny's reputation, it failed dismally. What could one expect from Clottey whose reputation was built upon his stern early title challenge of Cotto, the man Manny manhandled for the WBO crown just months before? Clottey maintained an antennae hands covering the face defense for almost the entirety of the 12 round bout and hardly posed a semblance of threat in losing a near shutout decision to Manny. 
Pacquiao drills a left at Clottey. Arum would have been expected to make up for this boo boo of a match and verily, he pounced upon a chance for Manny to vie for and win his eighth world division championship at super welterweight with the WBC. Earlier, Argentine Sergio Maravilla Martinez vacated the WBC super welterweight title after winning the WBC middleweight crown in highly impressive manner over American defending titlist and noted KO bomber Kelly Pavlik in a huge upset. With the win, Martinez thus became a leading candidate for the Fighter of the Year 2010. But instead of looking for the right, suitable and well deserving opponent, a top rated contender at 154 lbs at that for Manny as a countermove, Arum managed to convince the WBC to anoint Tony Margarito as Manny's title foe for the vacant 154 lbs. On paper, the Pacquiao-Margarito appeared like a fine matchup that followed the earlier pattern which characterized and distinguished Manny's ascent as top pound for pound multi division world champion-a small great fighter not only holding his own but dominating bigger good men. Now, what was wrong in this matchup? Margarito lost a brutal KO to Mosley in dropping his WBC welterweight crown in a fight where he was discovered with a pair of gloves padded with cement like substance for which he was indefinitely suspended from fighting in the USA. Coming off that loss and lengthy inactivity, Margarito through the machination of Arum was able to get a license to fight in California, have himself rated by the WBC and given the mandate to fight Pacquiao for the vacant WBC super welterweight crown. One flimsy reason given by Arum as to why Margarito deserved this shot was that the Mexican owned a stoppage win over the then still up and coming Maravilla Martinez a few years back in Spain. Wow! As the fight went, all Margarito had was his imposing size and what was left of his skill and punching power. 
Pacquiao disfigures Margarito's pretty face. After a competitive few rounds, soon the fight degenerated to a mismatch, a rout even as Manny had to repeatedly motioned and plead the referee to stop the carnage. Which the referee did not heed to resulting to Margarito suffering a career ending eye socket bone breakage. The victory looked good on video newsreels but many were unconvinced that it was yet another major unquestionable accomplishment. Meanwhile, Maravilla Martinez took on old nemesis and former conqueror American Paul Williams who to not a few seemed like the second coming of the dreaded Tommy 'The Hitman' Hearns in defense of his WBC middleweight crown. After a furious opening round where both fighters had their moments, Martinez sent Williams crashing unconscious face first to the canvas with a crushing left hook to the jaw. The fight earned Martinez not only the KO of the Year but also the Fighter of the Year awards. Pfft went Pacquiao's dream of a third consecutive Fighter of the Year honor and potentially his fourth in five years. All because of Arum suddenly reverting to his old ways of selective matchmaking. We could only now imagine what could have been had Arum pitted Pacquiao against Mosley in 2010, not in 2011 after Shane had lost to Floyd, or even just the then still unbeaten and highly regarded Andre Berto. And later paired him against a rated and well deserving super welterweight contender like Sergio Mora or Alfredo Angulo, not Margarito for the vacant WBC title. Winning those putative fights impressively would have given Pacquiao a stronger bid for the 2010 FOY award. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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