Beating Oscar De La Hoya will do wonders for a fighter?s career, but there often is a malaise that comes with a victory over the Golden Boy.
De La Hoya has long been boxing?s most popular fighter and biggest attraction. Yet Felix Trinidad didn?t usurp him after his controversial 1999 win over De La Hoya in a battle between then unbeaten welterweight champions.
Nor did Shane Mosley, who defeated De La Hoya twice.
And one can almost guarantee that neither will Manny Pacquiao.
That hasn?t stopped any of those men, though, from believing they?d inherited De La Hoya?s mantle as boxing?s biggest seller and making financial demands to boot.
Pacquiao, whose dominant effort in an eighth-round stoppage of De La Hoya on May 6 made him a unanimous pick as the No. 1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world in the Yahoo! Sports rankings, is the latest to fall victim to it.
Promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy had all but wrapped up a scintillating bout between Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton for May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
But Pacquiao, who is in the Philippines and hasn?t spoken to Arum, has begun to make noises about not taking the fight unless the purse split is made greater in his favor.
Arum and Schaefer worked a 50-50 purse split, a reasonable deal given the huge money Hatton brings to the table from British television.
But Pacquiao suddenly began saying he wouldn?t take the fight without at least a 60-40 edge in his favor.
Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, was in an ornery mood on Thursday and not of a mind to speak much about Pacquiao?s reasoning.
He reasons ? and probably correctly so ? that Pacquiao will ultimately realize he?s making a mistake and agree to the lucrative deal that was offered.
It?s not as if Hatton has no other options, however, so there is some urgency for Arum to get Pacquiao?s signature on a contract.
?I don?t know what the hell is going on with him, but it will get done, I guarantee you,? Arum said. ?The only way it gets aborted is if Hatton gets tired of waiting and takes another deal.?
Trinidad blew an eight-figure payday in 2000 when he declined to accept a rematch over his insistence that the deal terms be flipped from the first fight. Their 1999 fight set what was then a record for pay-per-view sales for a non-heavyweight bout, hitting 1.4 million, a figure that wasn?t surpassed until 2007, when De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather sold 2.4 million for their super welterweight bout.
Mosley made a similar miscalculation when he turned down a third fight with De La Hoya.
Pacquiao only need to look at those two men and the extraordinary amounts of money they let slither through their fingers because they reasoned that a win over De La Hoya made them as popular and big of an attraction as the Golden Boy.
Pacquiao is one of the sport?s most popular fighters, but despite the one-sided victory he scored, he?s still not De La Hoya.
The quicker he realizes that, the better it will be for boxing and, more importantly, his bottom line.
With that, here are the results of the January Yahoo! poll. Given that none of the top 10 fighters were in action since the last rankings were released, it?s not surprising that there were no changes from December.
1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 260 (260 of 260 first-place votes) Record: 48-3-2 (37 KOs) Title: WBC lightweight champion Last outing: TKO8 over Oscar De La Hoya on Dec. 6 Previous ranking: 1 Up next: Likely vs. Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas Analysis: The unquestioned best at this point.
2. Joe Calzaghe
Points: 229 Record: 46-0 (32 KOs) Title: Ring light heavyweight champion Last outing: W12 over Roy Jones Jr. on Nov. 8 Previous ranking: 2 Up next: TBA Analysis: Mulling retirement.
3. Juan Manuel Marquez
Points: 222 Record: 49-4-1 (35 KOs) Title: Ring lightweight champion Last outing: TKO11 over Joel Casamayor on Sept. 13 Previous ranking: 3 Up next: Feb. 28 vs. Juan Diaz in Houston on HBO Analysis: Stature grew in light of Pacquiao?s performance against De La Hoya.
4. Israel Vazquez
Points: 148 Record: 43-4 (31 KOs) Title: Ring super bantamweight champion Last outing: W12 over No. 7 Rafael Marquez on March 1 Previous ranking: 4 Up next: TBA Analysis: Eye surgery may put return off for several more months.
5. Bernard Hopkins
Points: 144 Record: 49-5 (32 KOs) Title: None Last outing: W12 over Kelly Pavlik on Oct. 18 Previous ranking: 5 Up next: TBA Analysis: With few lucrative fights, retirement may be his only logical choice.
6. Antonio Margarito
Points: 139 Record: 37-5 (27 KOs) Title: WBA welterweight champion Last outing: TKO11 over No. 8 Miguel Cotto on July 26 Previous ranking: 6 Up next: Jan. 24 vs. Shane Mosley in Los Angeles on HBO Analysis: Could move up several spots if he handles Mosley?s speed well.
7. Rafael Marquez
Points: 90 Record: 37-5 (33 KOs) Title: None Last outing: L12 to No. 4 Israel Vazquez on March 1 Previous ranking: 7 Up next: TBA Analysis: Still recovering from grueling Vazquez trilogy.
8. Paul Williams
Points: 83 Record: 36-1 (27 KOs) Title: Interim WBO junior middleweight champion Last outing: TKO8 over Verno Phillips on Nov. 29 Previous ranking: 8 Up next: Will face Winky Wright in April Analysis: Plans to fight at 147, 154 and 160 in 2009.
9. Miguel Cotto
Points: 62 Record: 32-1 (26 KOs) Title: None Last outing: TKO by 11 to No. 6 Antonio Margarito on July 26 Previous ranking: 9 Up next: Feb. 21 against Michael Jennings in New York on PPV Analysis: A win will set up a summer rematch with Margarito.
10. Ivan Calderon
Points: 31 Record: 32-0 (6 KOs) Title: WBO light flyweight champion Last outing: TD7 over Hugo Cazares on Aug. 30 Previous ranking: 9 Up next: TBA Analysis: Immensely gifted boxer has no power.
Others receiving votes: Chad Dawson 27; Vic Darchinyan 14; Mikkel Kessler 8; Juan Manuel Lopez 7; Chris John 5; Ricky Hatton 4; Kelly Pavlik 3; Wladimir Klitschko 3; David Haye 2; Fernando Montiel 2; Arthur Abraham 1.
