AFTER SEEING THE TAPE, FORGET ANY REMATCH!
When I finally got to see the Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao fight on Tivo, I must say that the right hand of Morales was most impressive. Utilizing his advantage in height, reach, and with the proper positioning of his lead (left) foot on the outside of Manny?s lead right foot as he?s a lefthander, Morales was spearing Manny on the way in. That being said, Pacquiao needs to go in another direction and not agree to any rematch with the much bigger Mexican warrior.
SO WHERE DOES MANNY GO YOU ASK?
First of all, Pacquiao is just too darn small to fight at 130 lbs. Personally, I think it?s a stroke of luck that Manny was able to strike gold in the featherweight class at 126 lbs. Astute boxing fans realize that Pacquiao was at one time the WBC 112 lb. champ. And that moving up 14 lbs., well historically Pacquiao is the only flyweight champ to win a title ever at featherweight.
ONLY 130 LB. GUY TO FIGHT IS BARRERA!
Stealing a word from Muhammad Ali, the only-est way I?d ever fight at 130 lbs. again if I were Pacquiao, would be against reigning champion Marco Antonio Barrera. And from all indications, a second fight with Barrera is not a sure-win as Marco has shown in besting Morales, that he still has something left. Then again, styles make fights. If Barrera-Pacquiao cannot be made, Manny needs to go back to 126 lbs. and start drilling people again.
DOES PACQUIAO BEAT THE OTHER FILIPINO GREATS?
Some of the Filipino fighters that have made significant (see title) strides that I?ve seen perform include Rolando Naverette, Andy Ganigan, and the (hopefully) recently retired Luisito Espinosa. Of this bunch, Gannigan, a Filipino living in Oahu, Hawaii, he and Pacquiao would probably not be a fair match because Ganigan was way too big. If for some reason they did meet, Andy hammers ?Pac-Man? into a KO defeat as size is the decisive factor here. In 1982, Andy had come within a hair of knocking out then lightweight champion Alexis Arguello, this after knocking out Fox Sports analyst Sean O?Grady in his prior outing. One fight later, Ganigan quit when Jimmy Paul beat him.
.ROLANDO NAVERETTE GIVES MANNY HELL!
Another guy who was a few pounds heavier than Pacquiao was ex-WBC 130 lb. titleholder Rolando Naverette. Like Ganigan and Pacquiao, this fiery Filipino was a southpaw. Winning the WBC title by catching an unsuspecting Cornelius Boza Edwards in August of 1981 cold in Italy resulted in a fifth round KO win for Naverette. Like Pacquiao, a native of General Santos City in the Philippines, Rolando defended the title once before dropping it to Rafael ?Bazooka? Limon about a year later. Going 54-15-3 with 31 KO?s, Naverette would have given Pacquiao a fit before being left-crossed into submission.
ESPINOSA IS THE FORMER PHILIPPINE RING KING!
Luisito Espinosa was a Filipino that sprung on the scene with a stunning first round knockout over champion WBA bantamweight (118 lbs) champ Khaokor Galaxy in 1989. Tall and lean, Espinosa was a puncher destined for greatness. Or so many people thought. After defending the belt twice, Luisito was shaken early by Israel Contreras before his being halted in five heats. Six years later, Espinosa again pulls off the upset and takes the WBC featherweight laurels away from Manuel Medina.
AS CHAMPION, LUISITO FOUGHT AROUND THE WORLD
Defending the title six times, Espinosa lost the green belt in a fight with Cesar Soto in 1999, with the winner getting $1 million to fight Prince Naseem Hamed next. Losing, or so said WBC Judges Chuck Williams 115-114, Terry Smith 116-114, Gale Van Hoy 116-113, Espinosa was idle for 11 months before engaging Guty Espadas Jr. for, you guessed it, the vacant WBC title that Soto discarded in order to fight Hamed. Having gone 3-4 since Guty, and seeing all four setbacks were KO?s, with the latest coming last month. We?re hoping that Espinosa retires now at 47-13, with 26 KO?s and two championships at different weights.
HAD THE REACH ON ?PAC-MAN,? BUT NOT THE SPEED!
Luisito is freakishly tall for a bantamweight. And even at featherweight, he was big! But Pacquiao?s speed and Luisito?s not so granite chin, this would most likely result in Espinosa getting hammered like a roofing nail inside of eight heats!
ALSO TODAY, THE FIRST OF SERIES ENTITLED ?UNFILTERED?
The ?Unfiltered? look at Aaron Pryor today is the first in a series on boxers and people in boxing. And when I say ?Unfiltered,? I mean the good, the bad, and if it?s there, the ugly too. We hope that you enjoy this new feature at www.RingTalk.com and that you tell your friends about one of the few places on the Net not controlled by sponsors. And we thank you for visiting ?Ring Talk.?
