MANNY READY FOR SUPER FEATHER TAKEOVER
Cambridge, MA- All in all it was a good weekend for those wacky super featherweight (130 lbs.) brothers from the Philippines. Older brother Manny Pacquiao (46-3-2, 35 KOs) secured the WBC championship belt by slipping through the hands of remarkably resilient elder Juan Manuel Marquez (48-4-1, 35 KOs), even if he goaded his way to victory via headbutt. Meanwhile, youngster Bobby Pacquiao (28-14-3, 14 KOs) finally programmed his record to have twice as many victories as defeats, while in the process becoming fodder for Urbano Antillon?s (22-0, 15 KOs) nascent career, one that will inevitably cross paths with Manny?s. Unless, of course, Manny and his trainer, Freddie Roach, take his career the kamikaze route and challenge Ricky Hatton (43-1, 31 KOs) at light welterweight (140).
PAC-JMM GOOD, PAC-ANTILLON SIGNIFICANT
While the gem of the weekend award this time around unquestionably goes to the rematch between Manny and Marquez, the influence of Antillon?s decisive defeat of Bobby Pacquiao on the division eclipses that of the aforementioned fight. Considering the potent combination of his 34 years and bloody experiences in the ring, Marquez fought surprisingly well?especially compared to most elder Mexican fighters Pacquiao usually shares the ring with?and, in fact, could very well have taken the fight from under Pacquiao had the latter not ?accidentally? headbutted him, causing an eyebrow-long wound described by one of the fight commentators as worthy of a Klitschko brother. That said, Marquez will not occupy a particularly salient position in his division ever again; the only reason he still does is because Pacquiao is extremely picky about his opponents and the division, for the most part, is starving for new blood. New blood is what Antillon-B.Pacquiao was all about.
ANTILLON: NEW GENERATION AT 130 LBS.
Friday?s fight put an exclamation point on the statement that even the mid- to lower-weight divisions are experiencing an influx of new fighters worthy of our attention, a sentiment a fight between Manny Pacquiao, an established champion, and a waning star such as Marquez could never express. Although defeating Bobby Pacquiao is not exactly a feat worthy of the Boxing Hall of Fame, Antillon?s perfectly placed body shots and, more importantly, his intelligent follow-up of the decisive shot that took Bobby down in the first round prove that Antillon has a feature relatively uncommon in younger fighters with the type of punching power he has exhibited: he can play boxing like the game it is, and not just fight well. He makes chess moves with his fists rather than just pounding with them. Although spectators must take into consideration that his targets have been particularly slow and weak ones as of now, thus giving him the space to flaunt his boxing skills, they must also take into account that if this trend in his career continues, he will have another Pacquiao to contend with in a few years? time. At 22-0, he is the Andre Berto (21-0, 18 KOs) of his division, one much less saturated with stars than Berto?s native welterweight.
PACQUIAO?S AIM IS IMPROVING
The importance due to the first Pacquiao fight of the weekend highlighted, Manny Pacquiao himself deserves some praise for the very visible improvement to his style he debuted against Marquez. While Pacquiao did spend most of the fight engaging in his typical bullfighting stances and disorganized, frenzied punching, there were more than the usual exhibitions of skill- as if he almost thought about where he was punching- and each and every one of those paid off. It is undeniable that Pacquiao has exceptional punching power; his weakness lies in that anyone fast enough and smart enough to avoid his predictably all-over-the-place flurries has a definite advantage. Perhaps Pacquiao?s team recognized this, pairing him only with fighters whose reflexes had been eroded by the many years of brutal fights, and only giving him tougher fare like Marquez after focusing his training on this deficiency. The training paid off: Pacquiao?s first deliberate punch in round three knocked Marquez down and could very well have cost Marquez the fight (I had the final score a point apart, as did judge Tim Miller).
VINTAGE PACMAN WITH ?ACCIDENTAL? TWIST
As the rounds progressed, however, it became apparent that Marquez was outsmarting Pacquiao; Marquez returned to dominate the three rounds after his knockdown, only to become the victim of an ?accidental? headbutt in the seventh and lose all his momentum to the gruesome gash on his eyebrow. At this point, Pacquiao, suffering a significantly less severe abrasion on his face as well, turns the fight into vintage Pacman: a salad of fists where they should and shouldn?t be (Marquez hits a low blow in the 11th), blood, patriotism, and near knockdowns all around. Marquez has the last laugh in the 12th, taking the fight back to where it was before the seventh, but the combination of the third round knockdown and Marquez?s decline in the later rounds is not enough to salvage him.
POSITIVE NOTE FOR THE DIVISION
Perhaps the saddest news regarding this fight is that just as a contender worthy of fighting Pacquiao and capable of challenging him emerges in Antillon, Pacquiao is packing his bags and hoping to move up to lightweight or even junior welterweight, moving towards the money but dangerously close to definite defeat. Pacquiao?s career now stands at a crossroads no one could have missed seeing in the near future: with no older, punchy featherweights left to bully around, what is Pacquiao to do; where is he going to go? His best bet would be to ask his brother.
