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BOXING RANTS: DRUGS, HISTORY AND LOOK-ALIKES By Christopher Cruz PhilBoxing.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 Five days to go and the biggest fight of the year will unfold. It is ironic that the fighter going up in weight is the favorite, against a tough-as-nails champion who has lost only once. Such are the monumental expectations heaped on Manny Pacquiao, who has come up all the way from 106 lbs to stamp his class as arguably the best fighter of his generation. Will welterweight prove too far a bridge for PacMan? Or will he further add fuel to comparisons with all-time greats of yore such as Henry Armstrong and Sugar Ray Robinson? - o - Is it me or does HBO's 24/7 reality series on the Pacquiao-Cotto fight just fail to convey the significance of a Pacquiao victory? He's gunning for a record seventh title in as many weight classes, for goodness' sakes. Watered down weight classes and alphabet soup bodies notwithstanding, nobody has done this. Just think about that for a moment. And no, putting it in the last episode wouldn't have much of an effect now. Just because it's a "reality" series doesn't mean historical significance is a no-no... - o - If Miguel Cotto wins this, he will most probably secure his place in Puerto Rican boxing lore as one of the greats alongside Wilfredo Gomez, Wilfred Benitez and Felix Trinidad. Furthermore, all the talk about him being on a slide since that horrendous beating from Margarito will probably be deleted and stored in the Recycle Bin. If he takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr next and beats him, the Recycle Bin will be emptied, and he will probably go down as an all-time great. - o - Anybody noticed how similar Cotto trainer Joe Santiago and Pacquiao best buddy Boboy Fernandez look? Santiago is the middleweight version of the heavyweight Fernandez. - o - Why is everybody on Kermit Cintron's case? He gets in with a welterweight beast in Margarito and loses, everybody dismisses him. He strings together a few wins and musters enough courage to rematch Margarito only to lose by knockout, everybody can't wait to end his career. He takes on a Margarito-clone one weight class higher in Perro Angulo and puts a beating on him, and nobody notices! What's worse, HBO still continues to build up Angulo instead of the guy who soundly defeated him. So I can't really blame him if he creates a stir just to put his name out there. Kermit has picked up where Floyd Sr. and Jr. took off, directly accusing the PacMan of taking performance enhancing substances. The problem with all of these is that nobody seems to have any proof to back up their accusations. - o - David Haye's victory over the giant Nikolai Valuev puts him within strking distance of the Klitschkos. Whatever happens, it doesn't look like an American will be the heavyweight champion anytime soon. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Christopher Cruz. |
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