While Murad Muhammad may be banging his head now trying to devise a counterpunch to be used against the legal team of Judd Burstein and Keith Davidson, I believe that it is fair to ask, at the same time, whether Manny Pacquiao’s dishing off Muhammad and hooking up with Shelly Finkel, et al would be a wise decision at all.
Yes, Murad has no right to abuse Pacquiao’s trust and confidence by concealing the entire agreement in all his fights, purse, PPV, gloves and the like. But throwing away Murad is no assurance that Shelly Finkel will not do the same, though we presume that Finkel is doing it, not only to snare the extremely famous and highly marketable Pacquiao out of Murad’s manipulative hands, but also with a sincere desire to help Pacquiao in his career, both in monetary terms and in taking care of the boxer’s health and future.
Unfortunate as it may seem, we may be kidding ourselves to presume sincerity and good faith in the world of boxing. Exploitation in the interest of the power of money has always been the name of the game in the realms of fight negotiations and promotions. Boxing, after all, is a multi-million dollar business. Boxers, literally and figuratively, die for and because of it.
The sincerity of the man is always measured by his actions. At present, the world has seen the fall of Murad and Nazario from Pacquiao’s good graces. We have yet to see if Finkel can really deliver and differentiate himself from Murad and the rest of those exploitative pack of wolves in the jungle of prize fighting.
So, is Shelly worth all the trouble? Or is Shelly no different from Murad?
With Murad out, and Rod Nazario playing his last aces to be in “Team Pacquioa”, Finkel’s true worth can be measured, not simply in their effort of exposing the wrongdoings of Murad (though we are grateful that he did), but more importantly, in the quality of fights he can bring before the Pacman.
Upon Finkel’s shoulder now lies the burden of proving that he is better than Murad. That he is more sincere and transparent in dealing with Pacquiao. To dispose of that burden, Finkel must be able to arrange a fight with a quality fighter within the leagues of Pacquiao’s former opponents. Truly, it is unwise to always put your fighter in brutal and savage fights with equally strong and savage fighters. The manager must be able to preserve the health and physical well being of his fighter by choosing the lucrative, but less risky fight. A victory may be Pyrrhic if in the process the health of the boxer was irreversibly compromised.
But there is a dilemma, on the other hand, that fighting patsy fighters will bring down the competitiveness and zeal of a fighter like Pacquiao. Doing so would imbibe within the mind of the boxer that all fights will be as easy as fighting patsy fighters. This will lead to his overconfidence in the fight and lack in interest in training. This will also bring to doubt the credibility of the fighter. It is common place that boxers are accused of compiling impressive record of wins by knockouts in order to boost their rankings. While in truth, those boxers that he had beaten are like lambs fed to the lion to fatten the latter’s lard. Thus, come fight time, the boxer suddenly and unfortunately realizes that not all fighters are lambs, but a more ferocious and stronger boxer than he is. He gets eaten alive in the ring in that process.
Hence, Shelly Finkel, the manager, must have the skill and the savvy to arrange a marketable and competitive fight yet less risky for Pacquiao’s health to ensure the latter’s longevity in the game, but of course, Shelly must ensure that Pacquiao is always on top of the heap. This would only mean fighting the top fighters at the right time and on right terms. Not every time and on the wrong terms.
Finkel’s worth can be recognized if he will be able to do this for Pacquiao. Indeed, exposing an alleged crook in Murad is a good thing to do, but being a boxing manager is not simply doing expose’ but, principally, arranging the lucrative fights for Pacquiao and taking care of his well-being. His worth is yet to be seen. As of this time, he has yet to ink his first fight with Pacquiao under his wings.
Is there a pearl within Shelly’s shell? We will see in the next few months.
