The immediacy of the Internet, the fact that its doors never shut, has made instant pundits of us all.
So, quite naturally as Sugar Ray Leonard like to say, snap judgments have been made over the respective boxing coverage as to both American Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Pinoy Idol Manny Pacquiao.
Such comparative assessments will only grow in number and volume as their inevitable showdown is reduced to a contract that both will execute, most likely for a mega bout come November.
Snap judgment circulating right now: That New York Post scribe George Willis and Daily News counterpart Tiny Tim Smith are both pro Mayweather, anti Pacman journalists.
The assertion is that they favor Money May because all three are African American.
Similarly, I’ve been targeted as pro Pacman, a guy who prefers Pacquiao over Mayweather.
Don’t you say it, don’t you say I resemble that.
Does that make me anti-American? If so, then I have partners in crime such as HBO pundit Larry Merchant.
Merchant and I rarely agree on much but I think we’re in sync in viewing Pacquaio as being a more fan friendly fighter in terms of style and as having contributed more to the sport than the extremely talented Mayweather has.
Using similar, faulty logic, then I suppose all but one or two Filipino writers must be rubber stamps for Manny and his agendas.
I can agree that Smith more than Willis favors Mayweather and that neither writer hides such favoritism.
Manny Pacquiao certainly enjoyed the Texas style hospitality, treatment he got in Dallas (Top Rank, Chris Farina Photo)
I will respectfully disagree with anyone who claims theirs is some circle of racial solidarity.
I say Mayweather gets preferential treatment for them and from others who have white skin because L’il Floyd and such scribes and other folks share the same nationality.
Look to the NBA, I say, and tell me whether Yao Ming or LeBron James gets preferential media attention in the United States.
Sure, James is a bigger superstar but Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, one white and one black, generally had fawning coverage of their on the court exploits.
News flash: Americans prefer Americans just as Filipinos embrace their own or just as all of Mexico embraced Julio Cesar Chavez.
Do you think any foreign born hoopster could ever match the love we had for Michael Jordan?
Is thee racial bias against Pacquiao in my country?
They came to a campaign rally so I think you can put these women down as Pacquiao voters for sure (Michael Marley Photo from Sarangani Province)
Frankly, I don’t see it but maybe I’m as blind as the proverbial bat.
Come June 4 in New York, Pacman will be named the Boxing Writer’s Fighter of the Year for about the 12th time and also cop his Fighter of the Decade honors.
In fact, it’s red, white and very blue (sad) Mayweather who is outraged that the Fighting Congressman took the ten year award instead of him.
Maybe the scribes are mainling, that A-side meth, I don’t know.
So much for any widespread USA media axe to grind against Megamanny.
Having a black skinned president doesn’t mean my homeland has no prejudice, no racial bias and no remaining issues on that front.
I was a first grader living in Virginia and, to this day, I recall asking why the “colored people” could not use the same bathrooms and water fountains that Caucasians did.
But, when it comes to Pacquiao being a victim of discrimination in America, well that’s Comedy Central material.
Rumor has it that the vast majority of those 50,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium on March 13, paying hard earned money, to watch the Filipino use Ghanian Joshua Clottey like a heavy bag, share my nationality. Such prejudice, such hatred, such favoritism of Mayweather…it makes me laugh.
Head ‘Boy Jerry Jones is so biased that he forked over seven million greenbacks to host the Pacman bout.
I couldn’t help but notice that, on a recent visit to Pacman’s Big Boy Mansion in Gensan, he noted with pride of his toddler, Queen Eliabeth, “she’s American, she was born in Los Angeles…”
Don’t think we don’t have any Congressional districts where Manny might get as many votes as he just did in trouncing Billionaire Brother Chiongbian in Sarangani.
Smith puts Mayweather “in the driver’s seat” for Big Fight negotiations because his PPV number against fellow American Shane Mosley hit 1.4 million.
That’s misleading because neither Floyd or Manny can fight anyone except each other for a $40 million paynight.
Smith or anyone else who compares to the just over half that number of TV buys for Pacman-Clottey is being deceitful.
The proper comparison would be to Pacman-Miguel Cotto which registered a 1.2 million PPV buy rate.
Match those numbers up and I see a split decision for Mayweather, not some slam dunk which puts Pacquiao to any shame.
Ask yourself, what would the PPV number be if Mayweather had fought Clottey? My answer would be, how low can we go…if you know wha I mean and I know you know what I mean.
Actually, its been a lovefest here for Pacquiao, who has won USA hearts and minds with his smash and grab style and humble persona.
Mayweather remains the “most popular” villain in boxing, a role he relishes and prospers in.
Maybe he’s the most notorious American fighter but the key word is American.
News flash 2: Sportswriters in all sports, just like political pundits, have their favorites.
So call Smith and Willis Mayweather fans.
As Groucho Marx might put it, if this Super Fight gets any hotter, we will all need some big fans.
But, until Manny and Floyd settle the suremacy issue in the ring, let’s chill with this crock about Pacquiao not getting a fair shake in our Nifty Fifty collection of states.
It’s a conversation for simpletons.
You like Mayweather Rocky Road ice cream, I like Pacquiao pistachio.
Different flavors, yes, but we can still all scream for ice cream.
You want to inject color into this situation, so do I.
But it’s not black and brown, it’s all green, Money May green.
