At 8:59 PM Pacific Standard Time, I felt a great disturbance in The Force. Millions of Filipino hearts skipped a beat when the heads of Jorge Solis and Manny Pacquiao clashed causing the ringside doctor to check Manny for a possible stoppage. A few seconds later, the fire finally caught under Pacquiao’s ass and Mannymania ran wild all over Solis. ????????????????????????????????????????????????? Jorge Solis was awkward.? That is the understatement of the year.? Solis has all the grace and athleticism of a new born fawn. If you’re a Mexican boxer, do you have to be legally associated with promoter Fernando Beltran in order to appear on a Top Rank card? Geneva Cruz needs to wear a bra when wearing a tight green dress and singing the Philippines national anthem.? Male adolescent Filipinos across the world are having wet dreams about the outline of Cruz’s nipples What is with Manny’s less than manly entrance music.? Maybe it is me, but Tagalog does not lend itself to a warrior’s entrance.. While Top Rank’s production for the televised event was not as glossy as HBO’s, I sure enjoyed the team of Al Bernstein, Wally Matthews, and Genaro Hernandez. Speaking of production, Top Rank could have gone easy with all those pyrotechnics around Manny Pacquiao.? Don’t they remember what happened to Michael Jackson during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in the mid-1980s? How pissed off do you think Justin Fortune was feeling?? He puts in all the dirty work in preparing Manny Pacquiao and then Freddie Roach shows up to be the main man in the corner.? Justin is probably more of gentleman than me, but I would be pissed.? I wonder who collected the lion’s share of the training fee? I wonder how much input Top Rank’s world class matchmaker Bruce Trampler had in making Pacquiao vs. Solis.? I am sure Trampler was aware of Solis’ dangerously odd style and the possibility of head clashes through out the night. Manny Pacquiao is #1 pound for pound…in excitement.? Yet again, he showed technical flaws that can be exposed by strong and technically sound fighters like Juan Manuel Marquez and Humberto Soto. Manny wants Juan Manuel Marquez next.? I do not see the Filipino icon clashing with Marquez, a Golden Boy product.? Sure, Bob Arum of Top Rank and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy will say all the right things in public, i.e., “I am willing to work with a rival promoter.”? But I am giving 20 to 1 odds that the fight happens.? E-mail me to take the bet. Joe Goossen should refrain from behaving like a sports psychologist.? Between most rounds he gave Brian Viloria the impression that he was clearly winning the fight against Edgar Sosa and creating a very blurred reality.? Maybe Viloria needed the encouragement or ego stroke, but what Goossen should have done to take a page out of Cristian Mijares’ trainer’s between round strategy. With Mijares clearly dominating the action against Jorge Arce, his trainer constantly told Mijares he was doing a terrible job and needed to do better, that the fight was in the balance.? Maybe if Goossen would have taken that approach, Viloria would have put more effort into his failed attempt against Sosa. Even with that said, you cannot blame Joe.? The Hawaiian Punch has been watered down for a few fights now.? People keep asking, what has happened to the Viloria of old?? Well, maybe his competition was not that good in the past?? Maybe he is not as good as many thought?? Man, I knew Mijares was good, but the ass whoopin’ he put on Arce reminded me of the one Joe Calzaghe put on Jeff Lacy.? Shame on Arce’s corner for not stopping the fight around the seventh round, there was no way Arce was going to catch Mijares. A Special Message to the Fat Neck Braced Raccoon Boxing Writer Whose Time Has?Passed Dear Mr. Fat Raccoon, I am glad you enjoyed my article last week on Mijares vs. Arce.? I am even more pleased that you took time from your own weekly writing to indirectly mention it.? You seemed somewhat perplexed by comparison of Mijares vs. Arce to Barrera v. Marquez and Marquez vs. Vazquez.? Sure, the fight was a bit one-sided, but still very entertaining. I hope you continue to learn from my “blog”.? If Boxing Confidential is a blog, I scratch my head thinking what your website’s classification would be.? Anyhow, I hope that you continue to read my work and get acquainted with boxers from the 21st Century.? Easy on the stories about you and your old ass cronies from twenty-years ago, Michael Marley and other old farts may enjoy them, but the rest of us, well, we can truly give two flying fucks about what you guys were doing in the lobby of the media hotel for Arguello vs. Pryor I. Sincerely, Ricardo P.S.????? I hope that you are now aware that there are many fine boxers from South of the Border whose last name is not Barrera, Morales, or Marquez. P.P.S?? Let me see how long it takes Internet boxing’s knitting circle to pass word to the Fat Raccoon, seeing that I buried this letter in the very end of my notebook. [email protected]
