Welcome to my Brian?s Boxing Mailbag, the boxing mailbag that answers more Manny Pacquiao questions than any other on the web. We have the usual dosage of Pacquiao questions this week, but also a variety of other questions including comments on Lucian Bute, Erik Morales, and Mike McCallum among others. Before we get to the questions, some thoughts on the world of boxing:
Lucian Bute scored a highlight reel KO over Alejandro Berrio to win the alphabet soup trinket that Joe Calzaghe discarded. The fight was competitively entertaining until a big right hand stunned Berrio and a follow up flurry bobbled his head and ended the fight in the 11th. Bute is by far and away the best and most popular boxer fighting out of Canada. He is a welcome addition to the boxing world. His message board hype has created a mystique that is rivaled only by Edwin Valero. That hype was mostly created by Canadian fans who were hopeful for a good fighter from their home country, because honestly, when was the last time there was a top tier fighter from Canada? Bute has established himself as a stud number one contender just like Pavlik recently was for Jermain Taylor?s middleweight crown.
Another fight that happened this weekend was the Felix Sturm vs. Randy Griffin fight from Germany. I didn?t care much about this fight from the time that it was mentioned all the way up until it happened. Sturm is an average belt holder, and nowhere close to the real champion at middleweight. His challenger, Griffin had done very little to belong in the ring with even a mediocre champion like Sturm. With that said, the amount of coverage for Sturm vs. Griffin was surprisingly plentiful. Certain news websites were covering the fight as if somebody other than Sturm?s immediate family gave two shits about the fight. They were covering the fight as if they thought that Randy Griffin was a quality deserving challenger, which he wasn?t. Any garbage that promoters are going to push, there is some reporter out there who will lap up the garbage and put it on the front page of their site.
Listen Sturm, if you want to take tune up fights and fight no-names, fine. But don?t try to hype up meaningless title defenses or make a big fuss about routine record padding fights. You will only end up making yourself look silly (ie. Looking like the second coming of Sven Ottke). Sturm was not even able to take care of business against an undeserving challenger, just barely scraping with a draw in his backyard. After that performance I have very little desire to see Sturm in action. Strike one was a KO loss to Javier Castillejo, strike two was a underwhelming draw against a no name opponent, and strike three is a willingness to consistently fight a poor level of opposition. Three strikes and you are going to have to do something spectacular if you want me to pay attention again.
I criticize Sturm for his poor choice of opponent, but at least it was not as bad as Cristian Mijares? foe last weekend. Mijares decides to follow up his dominant performance versus Jorge Arce against the 16-7 Franck Gorjux? What a waste of momentum. These are the fighters that ?World Champions? are choosing to fight? And boxing fans wonder why boxing is losing popularity compared to UFC and MMA.
But enough of my bitching, onto the questions!
Canadian Pride
I watched Lucian Bute win the Super Middleweight Championship with a hard knockout. I have followed Bute for a long time and have seen him grow and evolve. I think that he is fully developed and is now the best super middleweight in the world. I think he would even beat Calzaghe and Kessler. I know this is a bold statement but I believe it to be true.
-J.J.
J.J.,
Bute is a very good young fighter and one who has a chance to make a major impact in the sport. His win over Alejandro Berrio was very impressive because I thought that Berrio was a quality and a very dangerous fighter. But with that said, I don?t think that Bute has much of a chance right now against the likes of Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler. Both of those men are polished veteran champions with phenomenal skills. Bute is an excellent number one contender though. The winner of Calzaghe vs. Kessler should fight Lucian Bute next, although the winner will likely fight Bernard Hopkins instead.
Another Pacquiao vs. Juan Diaz Question
Remember when I said you will remember this email if Pacman defeated Barrera? My only mistake was Barrera stood still till the 12th round.
Okay what is your opinion with Juan and Manny’s possible duel? This is my prediction if the fight happens. Juan doesn’t have the power like the Pacman but he has the speed so does Manny. They both got stamina. The way he fought the other Diaz last time will be dangerous if that was Pacman. Julio Diaz doesn’t have that power of Manny. Manny is much faster this time and his footwork is beginning to improve as well. But I can say that this is a very good fight to watch. Pacquaio’s power is for the light middleweight and when he fought last time he was 144 pounds so 135 is nothing right?
-Super Mandie
Mandie,
Yes, I remember that email and I remember telling you that picking Pacquiao to beat Barrera was not exactly going out on a limb. Picking the winner of that fight was as easy as it can be for a super fight. But kudos anyway. We both got that one right.
I seem to get asked at least one question regarding a potential Pacman vs. Baby Bull fight every week. There is tremendous interest in this fight, especially from Pacquiao fans. I still think that Diaz wins this fight. Yes, Manny weighed 144 pounds on fight night so he probably could fill in the weight comfortably and be a lightweight. That does not mean that he will be nearly as effective at his new weight though. There is no guarantee that Manny?s power will follow him as he moves up to the next weight class. Diaz is naturally bigger than anyone that Pacquiao has ever faced. I predict that Juan smothers the attack of Pacquiao and takes his power shots on way to a unanimous decision.
I have heard that Manny is having trouble making the 130-pound weight class. If that is the case, then perhaps Pacquiao should stop gaining unnecessary muscle mass. Big muscles on a boxer look great but actually have a negative effect. The more muscle mass that a boxer has, the slower his punches and his reflexes become and speed and reflexes are the most important assets in boxing.
Questions Only Wilbur Can Answer
Do you think Valuev has had turds the size of a strawweight?
Have you ever heard of there being any gay fighters? If not do you have any suspicions? If I had to bet on it I would say Manny Pacquiao has some homo erotic tendencies. He looks like he enjoys the clinches just a bit too much.
Could Laila Ali beat a journeyman male fighter? Who was the better dancer Laila or Floyd?
Who has the nicer rack? Buster Mathis Jr, Riddick Bowe, or The American Dream Dusty Roads?
-Dick Peters
Dick,
Well done sir. You have made me blush in embarrassment and that is not an easy thing to do. I am a simple hard working American who is not used to hearing questions of this nature, but I will do my best to answer them.
Nikolay Valuev is a very large man. At 7 foot, 320 pounds I would say that his turds are at least the size of a small dog. If ?The Russian Giant? ate a lot of fiber and the moons aligned just right I bet he probably could squeeze one out the size of a small strawweight boxer; say Ivan Calderon size.
I have not heard of any gay boxers although there are two who I have suspicions about. The first is Emile Griffith, the great multi division champ from the 1970?s, who has been rumored to be gay for a long time. I believe that Griffith admitted to being bisexual but preferring women in an interview once. The other boxer who I used to have strong suspicions about was DeMarcus Corley because it is widely known that he enjoys wearing women?s underwear. But then I found out he has like seven or eight kids, so there goes that idea. Corley is just a straight guy who likes to wear thongs and bras, a modern day Ed Wood if you will.
No, I don?t think that Laila Ali could beat a journeyman male fighter. Most journeymen fighters that I know are still pretty rugged and men are naturally stronger than women. Laila could kick my ass, but that isn?t hard to do.
I didn?t watch Dancing with the Stars so I can?t comment on who was a better dancer. I supported Floyd?s appearance on the show however, since having a boxer show his face in prime time is good for the sport.
And finally, The American Dream Dusty Roads had the finest man rack that I?ve ever seen.
The Prime Pacquiao
Hi again Brian. Visited the Dojo already? What?s wrong with the sensei? I was laughing when I read your reply to him last week. Well anyway here is my questions on a prime Pacquiao. In his rematch with Barrera, I witnessed a not so aggressive Pacquiao. Is it his conditioning or is he just giving Barrera a graceful exit? Hence I saw two different Pacmans, in Pacquiao- Morales III and Pacquiao-Barrera II? Do you agree with me? I see a very good yet brutal fight in Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Diaz, provided Pacquiao is in his best shape. However I would like first for Manny Pacquiao to fight David Diaz as a tune-up fight. Your comments please.
-Hardknuckles
Hardknuckles,
Oh yes, I visited the Dojo the other day and the sensei was nowhere to be found. He?s pretty much scared of me. I have renamed his from Sensei Kreese to Sensei Nancy Lad.
I see the same Pacquiao only now he is a smarter fighter than he was before. He used to be seek and destroy, but if he did that against Barrera, gunning for nothing but a knockout, he could have gotten in trouble. Barrera was fighting a survival fight just waiting for Manny to make a mistake so he could react. But unlike what Pacquiao in the past might have done, Manny did not make any mistakes and just patiently out worked Barrera giving himself the best chance to win. If Barrera had stood and fought instead of fighting to survive we would have seen a knockout.
The last I have heard about Pacquiao?s next opponent was that he was going to stay at 130 pounds and try to secure a return match with Juan Manuel Marquez. So if that is true, potential fights with the Diaz?s at lightweight will wait for a future time.
Questions By Country
I?m just curious, what country sends you the most number of questions Brian? Philippines? USA? Mexico?
-Restlessmind
Restlessmind,
I definitely get the most questions from The Philippines. The citizens of The Philippines have Pacquiao fever right now and cannot get enough. I only wish that boxing was as explosively popular in the United States as it was over there.
Pacquiao?s Declining Punching Power
Hello Brian, namesake of Brian Viloria. This is my first question to your boxing mailbag. I like the way you comment and give objective analysis. I would like to ask you to comment about Pacman’s power punch. My observation is that, Manny Pacquiao?s power punch is declining. You can observe with his last fight, Pacman wasn’t able to KO Barrerun. But before that, two observations from boxers like Jorge Solis commented that his wife hits harder than Pacquiao. Pacman’s latest sparring partner Cervantes had commented also that he never appreciated the power punch of Manny as expected. In fact, Barrerun, commented also after the fight that he never felt the fist of Manny compared before. I think, trainer Roach knew about it, that is why he transformed Manny into more of a boxer type. Roach just called it complete fighter. I think the age ate the power of Pacman. What do you think Brian? Thank you.
-Reynoldsman
Reynoldsman,
Manny Pacquiao is still a big puncher, but I agree that his power has not been as prominent in recent fights as it has been in the past. As Manny gains muscle mass he loses a bit of speed, and speed is what creates his power. He was a harder hitter at 122 and 126 than he is now.
On the flip side, as a fighter steps up his level of opposition he will not be able to KO all of his opponents no matter how hard he tries. If a world-class fighter is determined to survive, even more so than winning the fight, then he will not get knocked out. That is what he saw when Manny fought Barrerun, as you call him.
And the quote from Jorge Solis, he said that about Pacquiao immediately after getting KO?d by Pacquiao so you have to wonder how he has the right to that opinion.
Dimitri Kirilov vs. Z Gorres
I saw Dimitri Kirilov fight Jose Navarro on the undercard of the Juan and Julio Diaz bout and his style is not that impressive but he is a power puncher who counters with good right hooks. He is also a Freddie Roach trained boxer. What is your opinion on a potential fight between Z Gorres and Kirilov since this is very possible considering Gorres won the IBF eliminator against Eric Ortiz. Thanks and more power in your mailbag.
-Jess Beltran
Jess,
Kirilov is not a huge puncher, I see him as more of a slick boxer and a counterpuncher. He should have won the decision in his Luis Perez for the IBF title but was robbed by the judges. That means that Kirilov has beaten three quality fighters in three consecutive fights (Luis Perez, Jose Navarro, and Reynaldo Lopez). You may not be impressed, but Dimitri is a quality fighter and a major player in the super flyweight division.
Z Gorres is also a fighter who impresses me. His last fight against Eric Ortiz I saw live from ringside and Ortiz was never in the fight. His battle with Fernando Montiel was probably his most notable fight even though it was a split decision loss. Kirilov vs. Gorres would be a very competitive chess match between two boxer/counterpunchers. This fight would almost assuredly go the full twelve round distance and the winner would be whoever wants it more. I would not be shocked if Gorres came out victorious.
Erik Morales vs. David Diaz II
In the first fight between Erik Morales and David Diaz for the WBC Lightweight Championship, I thought Morales won. Who do you think will win if ever there is a rematch?
-El Terrible
El Terrible,
Morales did very well against David Diaz the first time, but in a rematch he will only be older than he was the first time. Morales has been through so many wars and has battled so many tough opponents. Those tough fights, and his age, have finally caught up to him. Morales is not the fighter he once was and was never very effective at 135 pounds at any point in his career. I like Diaz to win another decision if this happens, but I doubt it will happen because Morales is retired and I have heard nothing to say that he will come out of retirement. Despite his spirited effort in almost lifting the belt from Diaz, Morales has opted to hang up the gloves and I agree with his decision.
Test The Waters First
In Pacquiao-Morales 2, I saw the best in Morales and Pacquiao at 130 lbs. Both were very well prepared and conditioned. In Their third fight Manny came much heavier. Just slightly slower but his power improved tremendously. At 135 pounds, I guess the only tough test for Manny is whether he can handle the power punches of his bigger opponents? Erik hung with David Diaz’ punches just fine. That is why I think Manny should test David first. Thanks again for the reply to my previous question Brian. Godspeed.
-Ronald
Ronald,
There are much tougher tests at 135 pounds than simply handling the punches of lightweights. The biggest test is Juan Diaz, who is not a hard puncher at all. Juan Diaz presents a style that will be very difficult to handle even if Manny takes Diaz? best punch on the chin and doesn?t blink. I find it hard to endorse a fight with David Diaz when there are so many better options out there for Manny. David Diaz represents a less appealing opponent than any one of the following: Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez, Edwin Valero, Rocky Juarez, Humberto Soto, Joan Guzman, or even Jorge Barrios.
I would much rather see Pacquiao take superfights every time instead of taking a ?testing the waters? tune up fight against David Diaz. Manny is not at the point of his career where he has done it all and there is nothing left to prove. That is very far from the truth. There are many hills left to climb and many quality deserving contenders and champions left to conquer. One of the exciting aspects about Manny?s career is that he was blessed to be in an era where there are enough good fighters out there for him to prove his greatness. Pacquiao might see that opportunity slip him by if he wastes his time fighting average fighters like David Diaz.
McCallum The Underrated
I grew up in the 1980?s, a golden age for boxing. One of my favorite fighters was Mike McCallum. He was as good as the other guys from the 80?s like Hagler, Leonard, and Hearns but he never got his just due. McCallum, in my opinion, was one of the most underrated fighters in history. Do you agree? Who are some of the most underrated boxers today?
-Randy
Randy,
I agree that Mike ?The Body Snatcher? McCallum was a bad ass, and one that was never fully appreciated by the general public. He had immense talent and went to the body with ferocious effectiveness. People were avoiding this guy for a reason. I wouldn?t say that he was as good as the all time greats that you mentioned, but he was a small step below, and perhaps if he was given the right opportunities during his fighting days he could have been included in that group.
Some of the underrated fighters of today: Steve Cunningham, the IBF Cruiserweight Champ, is a well-rounded, game fighter who is a joy to watch. I don?t understand why this guy is not getting TV dates for his fights.
Kassim Ouma has the potential to become a quality champion but with a fluke loss to Karmazin that went unavenged and then losing to Jermain Taylor after being grossly outweighed, his stock is lower than it should be right now.
Joshua Clottey is a very good, worthy welterweight contender but you never hear him mentioned with the big names at welterweight. He belongs in the ring and could hang with the likes of Mosley, Cotto, Williams etc.
Celestino Caballero holds the WBA Super Bantamweight belt and has a win over Daniel Ponce de Leon. Yet Ponce de Leon is the more popular and more hyped up fighter. Caballero is a better fighter and is pretty exciting to watch too.
There are more underrated fighters out there right now but the ones I listed are off of the top of my head. There are many underrated fighters today because unless they are being shown regularly on HBO or Showtime, hardly anyone is watching them. It is easy to fly under the radar in boxing nowadays.
PinoyGlad Writes A Book On Pacquiao
Hi, Brian, got a new email for the mailbag. Please bear with me, it’s a long one.
Juan Diaz showed a tremendous performance against Julio last Oct. 13, if Pacquiao decides to climb the 135-lb division and beats David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title (even though I agree with you that David at this point has no business being in the ring with Pacquiao), and a unification bout would be held between Juan and Manny, do you see any chance for Pacquiao to snatch all the belts via a very competitive split decision?
I know that your mind tells you that Juan Diaz could be the second Mexican to own a ?W? against the Pacman, if and when the latter decides to fight at a 135 lbs. and face the Baby Bull; but, Brian, could you please give us some details as to why you think Juan can beat Manny?
It?s not entirely farfetched, just as you claimed before, that Manny?s utmost power advantage over his opponents must be in the featherweight division. However, many of Pacquiao?s foes in the super featherweight relatively felt his exceptional punching power and did some damage, notably on elite fighters as well, I nevertheless thought that this might not be the case if he moves to lightweight and fight the bigger champions. I honestly think that Juan Diaz could probably handle Manny?s power more than Larios did when he succeeded to end the 12-round bout on his feet in July 2006. (A note should be made, however, that Larios endured a very tough fight with Manny without resorting to the now-notorious ?Barre-Run? scheme utilized by Marco Antonio Barrera in his last ring appearance; an unlikely strategy for a former ?Assassin? or Mexican legend or future Hall of Famer who was supposed to ?avenge? the worst lopsided defeat of his career, isn?t it?)
Anyway, a theory emerges: if big punchers like the Filipino Randy Suico and the Brazilian Acelino Freitas, who are certainly bigger than Manny, failed to deter the Baby Bull from stalking and attacking, are we inclined to envision similar scenario where Manny?s aggression and devastating power might not be enough to significantly hurt Juan Diaz or discourage the Texan from his vicious attacks? But ?styles make fights? and Juan is a very game guy. He is a stalker not a runner, Juan is a fellow brawler. He doesn?t have a well-rounded defense. He is not the most hard-to-hit target. He seems to be satisfied with his arms held close to his head while receiving blows from his foes in an almost my-turn-and-your-turn manner of exchanges. I believe if Pacman can surprise the Baby Bull with how fast he actually hits, especially when you contemplate on that speed being buttressed with impressive power. Justin Fortune revealed, no fighter can know how fast Manny really hits by simply watching videos of his previous fights, you have to be in the ring with Pacman to determine that level of speed. Thus premeditated theories cannot amount to anything.
If Manny Pacquiao could somehow back down Juan Diaz, hurt him and thus slow him down and break his average defense or his offense-as-defense shield, fight in and out, use lateral movements, and use the ring to his advantage through his excellent footwork, who knows maybe Pacquiao could turn the table and hand the Baby Bull his first loss just like the way Pavlik did to Taylor. But I think one thing?s for sure, that a Pacquiao-Diaz fight can give us an extremely exciting toe-to-toe action between two of the bravest and game guys in the slugfest department.
-PinoyGlad
PinoyGlad,
Very good email. Thank you for taking the time to write that out and send it in.
In my head I think of Pacquiao as a small fighter. If these two were in the ring together I have the feeling that the size differential between the two would be very apparent. An old boxing adage says that a good big man usually beats a good small man. Pacquiao fights at a fast pace, but nobody in boxing today fights at the same pace as Juan Diaz. He has a motor that is seemingly unmatchable. Perhaps Pacquiao can match him punch for punch, and he may have faster hands, but Diaz will be able to absorb the shots with his size advantage. Juan?s punches may not be hard, but his punches are crisp, accurate, and those clean shots do accumulative damage.
Your theory on how Pacquiao would beat Diaz is an interesting one. One thing is for sure. Pacquiao would need to hurt Juan in order to win. I question whether Manny?s power will carry to the higher weight class. He will need it to if he plans on defeating the Baby Bull. Diaz does not have a particularly good defense as you say, but his offense is his defense. He throws so many punches, his non-stop combinations leave very little opportunity to fire their own punches unless they want to eat a clean combination.
I am not sure what kind of strategy that Freddie Roach would employ if he were to train Pacquiao to fight Juan Diaz. I don?t think that he should advise Manny to try to fight Diaz like he fought Morales and Barrera. That would create an all action slugfest and a fight that would perhaps break all Compubox records for punches thrown and landed, but that falls right into the forte of what Diaz does best. If this fight were to happen, the onus would be on Roach to come up with a master strategy, one that I cannot come up with. Pacquiao is a great fighter though so I agree that he has a decent shot at a win over the Baby Bull.
That question concludes our fun this week. Send in your questions and I will answer them in the next edition of my mailbag. Have good one!
