The disgusting attack on Mumbai is hard to put aside, I know. But I am pinching myself knowing that we have momentary distraction from such travails and such terror next Saturday night.
Don?t look now but Monday officially begins Oscar vs. Manny Big Fight Week.
Not only will this provide great entertainment value, it says here it is going to be a crackerjack fight. I hate to spit on the so called purists parade that way but they will be sorely disappointed as they root for a flop of a fight, for a messy mismatch.
I want to discuss a theme that has been on my mind since the fight was first made, or even before then.
It?s something that has been ignored by the critics who label this fight a brutal mismatch or a mere circus for commercial reasons only. To get to the long and short of it, many are missing what matters most when that first bell rings.
Much has been made of the size disparity between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao. And rightfully so.
There is a reason they had eight classic weight divisions. There is a reason that Pone Kingpetch, Lord of the Flies from Thailand, never got into the ring against a Big Ugly Bear of a heavyweight champion named Charles ?Sonny? Liston.
But what?s been ignored in the Oscar-Manny runup is something I find, if not equally significant, important nonetheless.
And that is that the height different plus a crouching, pecking offensive style by Manny will always require the taller De La Hoya to be punching downward.
It is easier to punch at a taller opponent. It is much easier to propelling punches straight out at a level target.
No doubt, Coach Roach will have Manny attacking as a whirling dervish.
It?s one thing to try to swat an annoying mosquito or bumblbee. It?s quite another to try to swat a swarm of either type of pest.
The size difference and Pacman?s southpaw stance could be vital in this fight.
Surely, Da Pacman will be buzzing in and buzzing out, hardly ever remaining in a fixed position.
I?m not saying Oscar can?t win or won?t win but, trust me, he will have problems contending with this swarming style of Megamanny?s.
Mismatch? Brutal mismatch?
I don?t think so. In fact, that may be the only sure thing about this fight.
It won?t be totally one-sided unless you?re blind.
