“If Margarito can touch him, I can touch him too”…”That’s pretty weak”…”Arum can generate another big payday while doing a disservice to real boxing fans”…all recent comments made by some of the biggest names in the sport. Looking back at this week’s key quotes of note, Boxing Scribe Vivek Wallace offers his own unique perspective, giving fight fans “a little something to think about”. Check it out!
“Pacquiao is very hittable and that’s the problem he has with me because I can put your lights out. I’m at least three times faster than Margarito, so if Margarito can touch him, I can touch him too.” – Shane Mosley on Manny Pacquiao
Perspective: The greatness of Manny Pacquiao can often be so magnetic that many fail to see the weaknesses that also exist within him. Many will take the words of Mosley and criticize them without grasping the simple truth those words contained.
Behind the veil of invincibility, which covers Pacquiao, lies both a blessing and a curse. His durability is a thing to marvel, but reality tells us the reason his fights are so great is because they’re not just fights….they’re dog fights….of the variety which only leave one man standing in the end!
When you can’t hit a fighter, things tend to get a bit boring, as we often learn in the sport. But, when you can, the action never stops. Translation: In Pacquiao fights, the action never stops, because just like he constantly hits you, he is indeed constantly there to be hit too!
And when you scan the resume of Shane Mosley, one would be hardpressed to find a fighter, short of Ricardo Mayorga, who brawled their way anywhere near a victory over him – and even in that case, it can be attributed to a long reach with very good height in comparison.
Every loss on his resume came to someone who was difficult to hit and very technical in their approach, as evidenced in Vernon Forrest (RIP), Winky Wright, Miguel Cotto (before suffering career losses), and Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao will bring the speed factor, but limited reach will put him close enough to be hit, and limited height will place his head right in the line of fire! Mayweather has demonstrated a very decent chin over the years, and after two flush shots, he almost never recovered. Pacquiao will eat several of those shots.
With marginal defensive skills (at best), how will he handle these bombs in multiples? There lies the intrigue in this May 7th showdown. Stay tuned.
“If that’s the best in the world, that’s pretty weak!” – Timothy Bradley on Devon Alexander
Perspective: After last Saturday night’s victory over the previously undefeated Devon Alexander, Bradley used these words to describe his thoughts on the level of competition he had faced that night. In hindsight, the words were actually a better fit for the state of the sport itself, as several fight fans, including myself, walked away that evening feeling great disappointment after waiting so long to see a battle between two undefeated fighters in the prime of their career.
What’s worse is that only a month prior, many fight fans around the globe found humor in the fact that the final televised bout of 2010 featured a young fighter in his prime (Pascal) against a 46-year-old that many claim to be “tired of”; however, it was that very same man who shined the brightest amongst a group of young contemporaries who somehow continue to dominate headlines with little accomplishment to their name.
Many hate to hear old-timers talk about the “good ol’ days,” but this was yet another confirmation that that as much as we like to hype up today’s action, truth is, some things will never be the same!
“It’s a move that will squeeze out the last gasps of Mosley’s once-outstanding career so Arum can generate another big payday while doing a disservice to real boxing fans who actually care about the match-ups and not just a famous but faded name!” – ESPN’s Dan Rafael on Pacquiao vs. Mosley
Perspective: Wow! Danno didn’t only drop a few bombs here…..he pretty much emptied his clip! Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole kept it simple by simply calling it “garbage,” but Rafael actually threw a hint of logic in his statement for good measure!
As much as I feel their plight, unfortunately, I happen to be part of that contingent that simply doesn’t know what to think about this proposed showdown, because in a funny way, it leaves the sport in a very odd predicament.
Rafael touched on Arum basically feeding the fight public a bunch of hype by way of an old and familiar name, but lets look at this thing a little closer…..
We put so much leverage on two men, Mayweather and Pacquiao, that we often forget the sport co-existed well before them, and will have to exist well after them.
Case in point, what would it do to the credibility of the sport to actually see a 39 year ‘oldie-but-(no longer too)-goodie’ like Mosley defeat and/or stop Pacquiao? (Which is possible)
As if the sport doesn’t have enough drama to worry about, could you imagine what it would really do to the credibility of the sport as a whole to see a man many view to be washed up defeat the most highly-promoted fighter in the world today?
This is where these type of ‘filibuster fights’ that serve as pocket stuffers for promoters can really backfire. Just somethin’ to think about, although it’s already too late!
