MEXICO V. PHILIPPINES MEANS “BAD BLOOD” San Mateo, CA- The long await World Cup “2” has finally been set to take place in Sacramento, CA. Golden Boy Promotions has brought the concept back for an encore after a successful trial run in 2005. In the inaugural event, located in Arizona, Mexico fighters battled Thailand’s finest in four title fights. The event gave young and hungry fighters and chance to fight on a big stage and represent their country, adding more attention and fan fare. In the encore, many of the same Mexican fighters who fought in the first World Cup will risk their belts, this time against fighters from the Philippines. MY TREATMENT IN MEXICO WAS “SUPREME” Back in 2000, I accompanied Luisito Espinosa and his training team-comprised of his late father, Dio, and his brother, Lando-to Merida, Yucatan, Mexico one week prior to his WBC title bout against the hometown fighter, Guty Espadas. While in Mexico, the Espinosa team was surprisingly treated very well by the locals and hotel staff. Prior to the fight, event handlers accommodated every need Espinosa requested from meals to transportation. FANS FROM BOTH COUNTRIES RESPECT PUGS! More importantly, the boxing fans in the venue during and after the fight did not heckle or throw bottles at Espinosa, as it was in a previous fight in El Paso. They even congratulated Espinosa, even in defeat, praising Espinosa’s courage and heart. Fast forward to 2006, when in Manila to cover Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Oscar Larios, Filipinos treated Larios like a rock star. Everywhere Larios went; fans greeted and praised the tough former champion. At the Araneta Coliseum, fans gave Larios as warm welcome into the arena and even a loud applause when introduced. NO COMRADERY IN PACQUIAO-MORALES TRILOGY However, in the United States, it is hard to find any friendliness between Filipinos and Mexicans during the fight weeks of all three Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales bouts. Several fights between fans broke out during the bouts and even beer was thrown into the ring after Pacquiao stopped Morales in the second bout. You can find some Mexicans who admitted their support for Pacquiao, like writer Victor Perea, but you cannot say the same for Filipinos. In the end, the die-hard patriots of their respected countries have created a strong and heated rivalry between Mexican and Filipino fighters. Even Juan Diaz, WBA Lightweight champion, admitted that he would love an opportunity to take down the Mexican Assassin, Manny Pacquiao. WORLD CUP “2” FAVORS MEXICAN CHAMPIONS Two title fights appear to be locks for the August 11th show at the Arco Arena home of the NBA Sacramento Kings. The first is a bantamweight title fight between champion Jhonny Gonzales and former champion, Gerry Penalosa. Gonzales looked very impressive in a dominating comeback fight against Irene Pacheco back in March. Penalosa also gained a lot of respect and attention in a loss to Daniel Ponce De Leon on the Marco Antonio Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez card. Although the scores were lop-sided, Penalosa had the power punching Ponce retreating late in the bout, prompting some writers to score the bout in favor of Gerry. Let’s just say that had three of the judges from the Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout judged the Penalosa bout, Gerry would have won the decision. In this fight, Gonzalez does not have the devastating power Ponce has but he is much more technically sound and has enough power to TKO any fighter. In his last loss against 122lbs Israel Vasquez, Jhonny dropped Israel Vasquez and was up on points until the Vasquez’s power bailed him out. Penalosa has the defensive skills to give any fighter fits but his lack of sustaining power and combinations in his last fight against Ponce De Leon make Penalosa an early underdog. ”BOOM-BOOM” READY FOR TITLE SHOT It will be a quick turn around for Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista, who fought a war back on May 5th to earn a mandatory shot at WBO champion, Daniel Ponce De Leon. Bautista’s superior boxing skills carried him the way against a hard-nosed Sergio Medina in 12 rounds. Bautista dropped Medina twice, but was dropped himself. This was Bautista toughest fight of his career as Medina was Bautista’s first real threat. Although he has shown great power and technical skills, he can still be hit and has been on canvas more than once in his career. Daniel Ponce De Leon is a very confident fighter and is even more awkward than Bautista’s last opponent. Both fighters are willing to leave everything in the ring, so expect this fight to be a wild slugfest till its conclusion that could possibly warrant a re-match. QUICK JABS… PACQUIAO SUFFERS POLTICAL & EMOTIONAL LOSS Many fans have considered Manny Pacquiao’s defeat in his congressional race as a victory in boxing. However, Pacquiao lost a lot of money, some of which were stolen, while on the campaign trail. He was obviously given false poll predictions and surveys, making him believe he was winning when in reality he stood little chance of prevailing before he even ran. He was booed in Cebu when Paclanders hoped that their message for Manny to stick to boxing could be heard. My advice, Pacquiao should focus on humanitarian work because his story still inspires all Filipinos living in poverty. PACQUIAO’S BOXING FUTURE STILL UP IN AIR While Pacquiao’s political are put on hold for now, Manny’s next opponent is still unknown but all signs are leading towards Humberto Soto. Soto is set to fight on the undercard of an HBO PPV event featuring Miguel Cotto next week. Should Soto defeat his opponent, Bobby Pacquiao, a September or October fight against Manny would be the easiest fight to negotiate since both are under the Top Rank promotional banner. Fights against Juan Manuel Marquez or any other Golden Boy Promotions fight seem doubtful until a clear resolution over a contractual dispute between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions is made. Currently, attorneys for Golden Boy Promotions have request a deposition hearing for Pacquiao sometime in June. TWO ASPECTS TO THIS CASE… The dispute stems from Manny Pacquiao signing a promotional agreement with Golden Boy Promotions on September 2006. Based on motions and court filling submitted by both sides, these are the facts of the case so far. Sometime last August, Richard Shaffer and Oscar De La Hoya believed that Pacquiao, through his representatives Shelly Finkel and Nick Kahn, was willing to sign a promotional agreement with them. However, Pacquiao claims that he was already in negotiations, through his lawyer Geng Jacal, with Top Rank to sign a co-promotional deal with Arum and that the Golden Boy offer came unexpectedly. After signing the contract, Pacquiao reportedly told Bob Arum that he made a mistake and felt pressured to sign the deal. Pacquiao’s loyalties and trust were with Top Rank, who promoted most of bouts in the United States. Pacquiao then returned the signing bonus and advance to Golden Boy Promotions and signed a four-year co-promotional agreement with Top Rank and Manny Pacquiao Promotions. Top Rank claims that Golden Boy violated a clause in the bout agreement (contracts fighters sign for a particular opponent on a specific date), which state that Pacquiao cannot enter an “agreement or contract for (Pacquiao) to participate as a contestant in a boxing contest”. Golden Boy Promotions argues that the clause does not necessarily mean Pacquiao can’t sign a promotional agreement since no specific opponent and date are in the agreement. According to Top Rank, the clause was intended to protect their investment of the Pacquiao-Morales III event. After news of Pacquiao signing with GBP, a Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera seemed to be a lock throughout the media, which could have caused fans to skip the third Morales fight in favor of a Barrera rematch. PPV buys were lower in the third fight than in the second one. Another aspect to the lawsuit is whether Pacquiao signed an inferior contract. Top Rank claims that the agreement Manny signed had no time table for bouts, meaning GBP could conceivably offer Manny one fight a year and keep Pacquiao for as long as seven years. COTTO’S CHANCE TO BECOME SUPERSTAR On June 9th, Miguel Cotto will have his annual “Puerto Rican Day” fight in Madison Square Garden in New York City. His opponent will be Brooklyn native, Zab Judah, who is fresh off a year long suspension and an abbreviated return bout last month. As in most Judah fights, he’ll be dangerous in the first four rounds but as history shows, once a fighter adjusts to Zab’s style, he’s done! More importantly for Cotto, this could be the big fight he needs to propel him to bigger fight and more exposure in the sports world. In Puerto Rico, Cotto is as big of a star almost as big as Felix Trinidad in his heyday, but that has not translated into big success in the States as Trinidad once had. If Cotto can look impressive and people would care enough to watch him, he could be the opponent Floyd Mayweather needs for another mega event if Oscar De La Hoya looks elsewhere. CROSSROADS FIGHT FOR SOTO AND B. PACQUIAO On the undercard, Humberto Soto will attempt to seal his mandatory shot at Juan Manuel Marquez or to a richer prize in Manny Pacquiao, taking on his brother, Bobby Pacquiao. Soto has remained very consistent in subsequent fights since his upset win over Rocky Juarez, though he has never been really tested since. If anything, Bobby Pacquiao will test Soto’s chin and could give the Mexican some troubles early in the bout. Pacquiao is a lefty, like his older brother Manny, and has really good power with the left hand. The problem with Bobby has always been inconsistency and stamina late in fights. In some fights he looks unbeatable and in other fights, his 27-12-3 (12 KOs) seems to accurately represent Bobby’s skill set. Bobby has performed better as an underdog and has never been in a dull fight. However, the Soto camp could not have asked for a better fight to prepare of a big fight against Manny Pacquiao. GOING ON HIATUS FOR SIX WEEKS Unfortunately, this will be my last column for about six-weeks as I will take several courses during the summer to prepare of Law School in the upcoming fall. I would like to thank all those who congratulated me for graduating last week. While I’m gone, I hope that a huge bout can take place in September that could bring some of the same attention to sport that the “World Awaits” event brought. The only fights that can be made that could bring some mainstream attention is either: Joe Calzaghe vs. Jermain Taylor, Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez or Marco Antonio Barrera, or Shane Mosley vs. Miguel Cotto. Let’s hope that GBP can make these fights happen and capitalize on the success of the May 5th event.
