On Friday, I made the trek from Boston to Lincoln, Rhode Island to cover the Peter Manfredo-Donnie McCrary fight for this site. With me were BoxingHerald.com Director of Operations Ed Anderson, BH Director of Broadcasting Peter Czymbor, and BoxingHerald?s newest staff member Pat Hall, who will be conducting interviews for the site in the future. Because I had a team with me, I wasn?t forced to write a ringside report (Czymbor took care that business). So instead, I walked around the Twin River Casino, talking to fight fans about the sport.
Some of the questions I asked:
What is wrong with today?s fight game?
Who is the world?s best pound for pound fighter?
Do you want to see Oscar De La Hoya fight Manny Pacquiao?
For the latter question, the answer was a resounding ?yes?.
There has been much controversy revolving around a potential Pacquiao-De La Hoya fight because De La Hoya is a light middleweight and Pacquiao is a lightweight. That 19 pound size difference, some feel, will create a freak show rather than an actual prize fight. But the majority of the boxing world believes the discrepancy in weight will only add intrigue matchup ? this faith was confirmed for me when I spoke with fans on Friday night.
Nearly every person I talked to had zero hesitance in saying they?d like to see the bout. Some people feel that De La Hoya needs to retire, and that Pacquiao will be the one to force him to quit; others simply want to see if Pacquiao can carry his power up to the welterweight division. But after speaking with the people who make up the heart of the sweet science, I have no doubt in my mind that Pacquiao-De La Hoya is what the fans want. Let?s hope it happens.
Horgan Hits:
-Speaking of Manfredo-McCrary, I thought Manfredo looked great on Friday. He has underrated hand speed and a deadly straight right. Now that he?s won three in a row, he can start thinking about another title eliminator. But he needs to be careful about his next choice of opponent: one more loss and he can kiss world championship dreams goodbye.
-I saw the movie Mirrors last week and advise that you don?t do the same.
-Do any real fight fans care about a De La Hoya-Sergio Mora bout? I know that both guys have big names, but that fight would provide little action and little significance. De La Hoya has already beaten fighters much better than Mora, and even if Mora were to upset De La Hoya, his win would be tainted by the fact that ?The Golden Boy? is now ?The Golden Man? at 35 years old. I, along with the rest of the boxing world, would rather see De La Hoya against a plethora of opponents before he fought Mora. But then again, De La Hoya has spent a career of making fans happy by fighting the best out there; it?s now time for him to do what makes him happy.
-Thanks again for making BoxingHerald.com your go-to source for everything boxing. We have something HUGE in the works, so keep checking back here in the coming weeks.
