Exit Oscar “Golden Boy” De La Hoya. Enter Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao.
If you thought Pacquiao was big (market-wise) before, he’s huge now. Already the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, he’s arguably the top gate attraction in the sport after his thrashing of one of the top all-time gate attractions.
He may not have De La Hoya’s leading-man good looks, but fight fans — at least the male ones — don’t like their heroes too pretty. And what Pacquiao lacks in looks, he makes up in fire, the likes of which we haven’t seen in the ring since Roberto Duran.
So what is ahead for the PacMan? Well, his next super fight — they’re all super now for the little Filipino — will likely be against England’s Ricky Hatton, the two-time junior welterweight champion.
“Bring it on. I’d definitely like to do it,” the personal Brit replied after his lop-sided win over Paulie Malignaggi three weeks ago. “No one will beat me at junior welterweight, I really believe that. But what sort of champion would I be if I stayed at my normal weight. I only have a couple more years left. I want big fights.”
Against Pacquiao, Hatton could stay at his normal weight of 140. (Pacquiao weighed 142 for his bout with De La Hoya.) The bout would be a natural between two very aggressive fighters, but there is another fight out there that would be even bigger than Pacquiao-Hatton.
With all the accolades being heaped on Pacquiao, how long do you think it will be before Floyd Mayweather makes headlines by saying he could beat Pacquiao without working up a sweat? Fighters may retire, but egos never do.
Personally, I would like to have seen a third Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez war, but Pacquiao may be too big now for Marquez. (Though I suspect Marquez, the Ring Magazine lightweight (135) champ, would still take the fight.) They fought to a draw in their first meeting, in which Pacquiao put Marquez down three times in the first round. Pacquiao won the rematch on a very close decision.
With Pacquiao looking so good at 142 against De La Hoya, there is all kinds of possibilities for the PacMan in both the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions, but the big money bouts are in the talent-laden latter. How about Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto or Sugar Shane Mosley, to name a few?
Who does Pacquiao want to fight?
“I’m just a fighter and I’m just doing my job,” he said after handing the Golden Boy the worst beating of his career. “I think that’s my promoter’s job to make my next opponent.”
Just line them up and he’ll knock them down. Bob Arum’s gotta love him.
As for De La Hoya, he’ll have to be content putting together some of those fights mentioned above. The fighter may be through, but De La Hoya’s still golden as a promoter.
(The Dream Match, otherwise known as De La Hoya’s Nightmare, can be seen at 10 p.m. Saturday on HBO prior to the Wladimir Klitschko-Hasim Rahman heavyweight title fight.)
PIRES FIGHT ON TV
If you missed the Nov. 29 card at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I., which featured New Bedford cop Jason Pires and Providence Olympians Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade and Jason “Big Six” Estrada, it’ll be on at 7 p.m. Saturday on CN8, the Comcast Network.
Pay close attention to the opening seconds of the Pires-Frank Houghtaling bout. Making his first ring appearance in almost six years, Pires went down something like 20 seconds into the fight from a punch nobody saw, including yours truly. Pires, however, came back to win the remaining five rounds and looked good doing it.
And if you haven’t seen Andrade, I highly recommend you watch this 20-year-old in his second pro fight.
WILLIAMS MOVES UP
One welterweight unlikely to fight Pacquiao is Paul Williams. That’s because the 6-1 southpaw is no longer a welterweight.
He relinquished his WBO welterweight title prior to winning the WBO interim junior middleweight title with an eighth-round TKO of three-time champion Verno Phillips. Williams (36-1, 27 KOs) is now the mandatory challenger for the official WBO junior middle champ, Sergeii Dzinziruk (36-0) of the Ukraine.
HOPKINS IN TITLE BID
Demetrius Hopkins, nephew of Bernard Hopkins, gets an unexpected title shot Saturday when he takes on WBO junior welterweight champion Kendall Holt at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Hopkins (28-0-1) was originally scheduled to fight Germaine Sanders on the undercard, but when Ricardo Torres pulled out of his title bout with Holt because of illness, Hopkins jumped at the chance for a title shot. The bout will be carried on Showtime at 11 p.m.
HOOKS AND JABS
Promoter Bob Arum has released plans for a PPV title doubleheader on Feb. 21, in which WBO/WBC middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik (34-1) defends against Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1) and former welterweight champ Miguel Cotto (32-1) takes on Michael Jennings for the WBO belt vacated by Williams. … The Antonio Margarito-Shane Mosley title fight on Jan. 24 has been moved from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. … A cruiserweight elimination bout between Matt Godfrey of Providence and Herbie Hide has been approved by the WBC, with the winner taking on the winner of the Giacobbe Fragomeni-Krzysztof Wlodarczyk title bout.
Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Contact him at [email protected]
