.JPG&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Andy Lee Kicks The Blues")
Weekend Afterthoughts On Manny Pacquiao Vs. Juan Manuel Marquez V, Pacquiao's Religious Switch, Yuriorkis Gamboa's Next Fight And More
Thanks, Next Media Animation, for rendering much of this blog post redundant. That's quality coverage -- Mitt Romney's losing stink infected Manny Pacquiao, Pacquiao lost because he loves cockfighting and women and has the wrong religion and doesn't train hard enough, etc.
We've already had plenty to say about the past weekend: My stories on Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez 4 that night, on the undercard, and the next day; Jeff Pryor's view; a note on the replay schedule from Alex McClintock; Andrew Harrison's take on James DeGale's win; Joseph R. Holzer's take on the NBC Sports card; my write-up of Mikkel Kessler's win; and Mark Ortega's ringside coverage of a couple cards, although one of them kicked off the weekend more than it was part of it.
But damn if weekends like this past one don't leave the boxing world with plenty to talk about for days afterward. Eat it, Taiwanese animators! We can discuss what's next for both Pacquiao and Marquez at length, or offer reflection on Marquez and the performance enhancing drug suspicions, or what's next for Yuriorkis Gamboa, better than any silly 1:42 YouTube clip.
Weekend Afterthoughts
- Next for Marquez. Marquez said he might retire, and it would be hard to think of a more fitting career finale than for him to have gone out with the win over Pacquiao that he's been chasing for what feels like his entire career. Thing is, he could make gobs of money with Marquez-Pacquiao 5, and that kind of cash is hard for fighters to turn down. As a fan, I'm more interested in him facing Brandon Rios, and Rios' team is interested in it, too, because as I've mentioned before, I am not generally not as interested in rematches of fights where one person so conclusively defeats the other. Chris John is talking about trying to get a Marquez rematch, too, but that's ridiculous since John has stayed at featherweight and Marquez has moved as high as welterweight. If Marquez-Pacquiao 5 does happen, it won't be until after the spring, and it would force Top Rank to make Rios-Mike Alvarado II, which is a fight I wouldn't kick out of bed.
- Next for Pacquiao. Pacquiao's family really wants him to retire, and watching Jinkee freak out ringside as her husband lay unconscious felt almost too voyeuristic, and makes it hard to blame her. I'm conflicted over cameras showing such scenes; obviously, it's part of the story, and it's dramatic, to say the least, and it's not that I'm opposed to broadcasters covering some of the less appetizing aspects of the sport. But it feels gratuitous, sometimes, cheap, invasive. Anyway, Pacquiao has talked as though he's down for another Marquez rematch, his promoter Bob Arum is drooling uncontrollably at the notion while his coach Freddie Roach -- who has had an awful year, with all of his guys losing all the time in 2012 -- is more open-minded to advising retirement if it looks to him like Pacquiao is finished after such a big knockout, and I think he's the one with the best perspective on this: Maybe Pacquiao should fight again, or maybe he shouldn't. Rushing into a rematch or retirement isn't wise either way. I'd maybe like to see Pacquiao take an easy fight just to get a sense of what's left, but he's too big of a one-man business to invest much money in a fight like that when Pacquiao-Marquez 5 would do as much bank as it would, I'm afraid.
- The business of Pacquiao-Marquez. And this rivalry does do business. It sold out and had the second highest live boxing gate of 2012. Apparently Pacquiao-Marquez 4 is tracking to do better than Pacquiao-Marquez 3 in pay-per-view buys, and while that's the kind of "It's tracking to be a huge!" thing promoters say all the time, they at least provided some specifics on why they believe that. And I'm inclined to agree with Arum that Pacquiao-Marquez 5 is now a bigger fight than Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather, in part because no one will believe Pacquiao-Mayweather is competitive anymore. Mayweather-Saul Alvarez is also probably bigger than Pacquiao-Mayweather. I'm not sure that's anything to celebrate; Pacquiao-Mayweather likely would've been the richest fight of all time, and now it's spoiled. Not that I had high hopes it would happen after two failed negotiation sessions years ago.
- Marquez and PEDS. No worries on the PED thing, Marquez said -- he expect he'll pass his Nevada State Athletic Commission drug tests. Duh. It's just urine. Of course he'll pass it; even if he was juicing, his strength coach is a former BALCO chemist who has bragged of beating the most sophisticated tests. Marquez also said he would take advanced tests next time, which is good of him to offer and all, but I'll believe it when it happens, considering his promoter opposes any kind of testing other than state-administered tests. For those looking for reasons to believe Marquez wasn't juicing -- and I really hope he wasn't -- Pacquiao said he didn't notice any significant additional punching power from Marquez. I wonder if that's Pacquiao being the ultimate no-excuses sportsman, or if his brain was still rattled, because Marquez had never dropped Pacquiao, not even once, prior to Pacquiao-Marquez 4, and verifiably had never been knocked out cold by him. The CT scan came back OK, though.
- Pacquiao's preparation. Some, including everybody's friends at NMA, have made a fuss about Pacquiao training two months vs. Marquez training four months. I do think Pacquiao ought to have trained a bit more, and I'm soley basing that off Roach wanting him to have reported to camp earlier and Roach knowing his fighter better than me. But four months is pretty long by industry standards; more doesn't always equal better. Anyway, Marquez didn't seem to have overtrained, based on that performance, and I suspect Pacquiao could've used more time in camp. For as much as athletes thank God for their wins, it is awfully entertaining to hear Pacquiao's mother explain that the problem was him switching from Catholic to Protestant. Funny that being a Protestant made him devote too much time to his faith, according to Momma Pacman, yet God didn't make sure he won that fight. It's entertaining because I am entertained by true facts.
- The rest. Naturally Mayweather had to exploit this opportunity to say something dickish about Pacquiao's success being due to "piggybacking" off of his own, and making it look like he was respectful of Pacquiao when he clearly was fronting, since he was praising both mens' performances despite acknowledging that he hadn't seen them. Leave it to Mayweather to be phony about being nice, then nasty while pretending to be nice... Junior lightweight Yuriokis Gamboa still wants lightweight Adrien Broner, despite his lackluster performance on the Marquez-Paquiao 4 undercard, but my old favorite fighter really ought not pursue that fight just now. Juan Manuel Lopez might overestimate how desirable the long-coveted Lopez-Gamboa battle remains, but I'd still far rather see that, and think Gamboa is wrong about the ship having COMPLETELY sailed off. Both men are coming off a shaky period, including long layoffs, and would probably still make a very fun little scrap of it... Featherweight Javier Fortuna reportedly injured his shoulder during the Patrick Hyland fight on the Pacquiao-Marquez 4 undercard. I wish he had injured it during one of the numerous occasions he was punching Hyland after the bell, the prick... There's a new batch of ratings out from the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board reflecting a lot of this past weekend's fights. I encourage you to peruse them... A couple members of Pacquiao's team, including the oft-slimy Michael Koncz and the usually amiable Buboy Fernandez, stand accused of attacking a photographer trying to get pictures of Pacquiao post-knockout. They are acting like, and sound like, and look like, they are guilty as sin. Seems to me they deserve fines and/or suspensions from the state of Nevada, and to be fired by Pacquiao. Below is just one photograph from the sequence capturing it.
I want to see Marquez to have a tune up fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. before facing Pacquiao again for their 5th fight. Pacquiao still leads the series 2-1-1. Had the Canadian judge, Guy Jutras, not made a mistake in scoring the first Pacquiao-Marquez fight, the Pacquiao_Marquez series would have been 3-0-1 in favor of Pacquiao. Pacquiao can no longer fight Mayweather Jr because Pacquiao have won over Mayweather Jr in terms of money through Mayweather's "substantial" monetary settlement of defamation case filed by Pacquiao as reported in maxboxing(dot)com authored by highly respected sports journalist Thomas Hauser through his investigative report titled "The PED Mess: Part One". You may see the two series investigative report of Thomas Hauser on http://www.maxboxing.com/news/other-boxing-news/the-ped-mess-part-one and from the second part of the series http://www.maxboxing.com/news/max-boxing-news/the-ped-mess-part-two This is the reason why the Mayweather Jr.'s camp has been silent and only released a post fight Pacquiao-Marquez 4's statement expressing Floyd Jr's concerns about Pacquiao's health after the latter was knocked out by Marquez which was considered a complete turn around from Floyd's natural brashness. Mayweather will never never fight Pacquiao because he already lost in terms of money. Mayweather will never never fight Pacquiao because Mayweather has been exposed in the Thomas Hauser's report that Mayweather "has been tested positive on three occassions for an illegal performance-enhancing drug". According to the report, "Pacquiao’s attorneys , on June 4, 2012, served document demands and subpoenas on Mayweather, Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy and USADA calling for the production of all documents that related to PED testing of Mayweather for the Shane Mosley, Victor Ortiz and Miguel Cotto fights." It further said that "the documents were not produced...that there was a delay in the proceedings while Floyd spent nine weeks in the Clark County Detention Center after pleading guilty to charges of domestic violence and harassment. Upon his release from jail on August 2nd, settlement talks heated up. On September 25, 2012, a stipulation of settlement ending the defamation case was filed with the court. The parties agreed that the terms of settlement would be kept confidential. Prior to the agreement being signed, two sources with detailed knowledge of the proceedings told this writer that Mayweather’s initial monetary settlement offer was “substantially more” than Pacquiao’s attorneys had expected it would be and an agreement in principle was reached soon afterward." Based from the passages of the first report, there is a collusion among USADA, Golden Boy, and the Mayweather clan to cover up Floyd's PEDs use, hence the substantial amount of monetary settlement. As for me, for Marquez to be ready to fight Pacquiao again and to prove that Marquez is not juicing (as suspected by an overwhelming number of media outlets), Marquez must fight Mayweather. You know, a tune up fight. Pacquiao just breeze through the punches of Marquez in their 3 previous fights. Marquez punches couldn't even hurt a fly. Pacquiao couldn't knock out the Mexican cheat like the bigger Antonio Margarito. but Pacquiao reconfigured Margarito's face and damaged Margarito's eye. He couldn't knock out Miguel Cotto (only TKO - a referee stopped contest). Pacquiao could only reconfigure the faces of his opponents with the exception of Clottey. However Margarito could only break Pacquiao ribs as stated by Pacquiao but Margarito could not knock Pacquiao out. Now, all of the sudden, Marquez has now the capacity to make a one "lucky" punch - fully loaded and heavy punch and sent Pacquiao to lala land. Thanks to Marquez's new found trainer, Angel "Memo" Heredia. Heredia really made "wonders" in transforming an aging Marquez (39 y/o), faster than Pacquiao, bulkier than Schwarzenneger, and stronger and more powerful than Vitaly Klitchko - ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Senor Angel "Memo" Heredia is an admitted PEDs trafficker who just four years ago testified against a prominent track coach Trevor Graham when both were caught supplying PEDs to besmirched American track and field stars Maurice Greene, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery. Nacho Beristain , together with Heredia, are creating a buzz on their "new and scientific" methods in transforming Marquez into a one "loaded" punch Goliath. If I were Marquez, he must retire now. Heredia is a snake that cannot be trusted. Later on, Marquez will be blackmailed or be sold off to US authorities by Heredia. The expose may open the floodgate of lawsuit against Marquez who nearly killed Pacquiao with a vicious "lucky" and "loaded" punch (did the people in the ring checked Marquez fist if they were loaded with plaster of paris similar to what they are doing in Mexico?) Marquez's obsession and passion to defeat Pacquiao is too much and so tremendous that Marquez is willing to drink a bucketful of P.E.E. With Heredia's presence in Marquez's training team, It is not farfetched that Marquez is also willing to take P.E.D. just to defeat Pacquiao. If Marquez wants to stay and later on encash his chips, he must fight Mayweather Jr. After disposing Floyd, Marquez will be ready to fight Pacquiao again for another lucrative and high paying match. Or Marquez may choose to retire and seal his legacy as the one who knocked Pacquiao out with one lucky and "fully loaded" (steroid loaded?) punch. At least in Mexico, Marquez will surpass Julio Cesar Chavez's legacy. In the event Marquez fights Mayweather Jr, I dont want to dub their bout as "Marquez-Mayweather 2: OVERDOSE" because I dont think its polite...ehem. After Marquez wins over Mayweather, I dont want to celebrate with Marquez and say "VIVA Juan Manuel 'PEDinamita' Marquez" because I dont think it is polite either....ehem.
@Meow Ming That punch was anything but lucky. It was a piece of art. But I like your name, and there are reasons to worry Marquez was up to shenanigans before the fight.
Erratum: It was not Judge Guy Jutras who made a scoring mistake on the first Pacquiao Marquez fight in 2004. It was Burt Clements' who made the mistake (which I believe he admitted/acknowledged in the past through media) in scoring that first round.
There's already a rumor that Pacquiao will be back to fight on April and possibly Pacquiao/Marquez 5 on Sept. If Pacquiao/Marquez 5 does happen on Sept. and Pacquiao win by controversial decision again Marquez will cry foul again that will pave the final chapter of their rivalry Pacquiao/Marquez 6. No need to fight jailboy Mayweather because Marquez is the man that can give a good show to the boxing fans that jailboy Floyd can't do..Chicago guy
Don't worry guys Pacquiao will bounce back at Paccquiao/Marquez 5. That's how boxing business is all about. Sometimes a fighter need to sacrifice himself for the next big one, just my opinion.
In my opinion Marquez/Pacquiao 5 will be more bigger that's why Pacquiao gave Marquez a chance to knock him out. We never know if Arum is cooking something. Maybe Arum said hey Manny let Marquez knock you out one time and i'll take care of you. Proof, when Paccquiao lost to Morales by points he cried but his lost to Marquez by knockout Pacquiao afford still to smile,
i know the fuck are people talking about. My man got knocked cold the most in the way of justification anyone can give is he got hit by a punch he didn't see or Marquez was on PED. If you really gotta justify you could say BOTH even tho there is no proof of the latter. This purposful stuff makes Mayweather look reasonable...
The "rumors" were about to be substantiated by Pacquiao's lawyers through subpoenas and would be scrutinized in front of the judge. The report says, "...the documents were not produced. There was a delay in the proceedings while Floyd spent nine weeks in the Clark County Detention Center..."
Upon Floyd's return from jail, "...Mayweather’s initial monetary settlement offer was “substantially more” than Pacquiao’s attorneys had expected it would be and an agreement in principle was reached soon afterward...."
If I were Pacquiao, I will only take half of the "substantial monetary settlement" from Mayweather. And the half will be paid to Floyd JUST to bring the results of his last three fights before the judge. If Floyd has nothing to hide, he will open the results of the drug tests which were covered up by his promoter Golden Boy Promotions and GBP's friend Travis Tygart of USADA. And mind you, Floyd will get the half of monetary settlement from Pacquiao if Floyd is really "clean" and not juicing up.
@Meow Ming Maybe you thought no one would read the article, or you didn't read it. It says there were 'rumours' abt three a samples being tarnished from May. Rumours. Thats what it says. Unsubstantiated. And guilty? Please explain which body with authority found him guilty?
@dsanthtwngs88 @tstarks @Chicago guy
Mayweather is also guilty of using Performance Enhancing Drugs on three occasions.
Its here:
http://www.maxboxing.com/news/other-boxing-news/the-ped-mess-part-one
funny how we always see action stars in the movies get knocked out cold yet we never say "hey, this guy should rest a few months before fighting again." if van damme can fight a few minutes after waking up from a ko maybe manny can do it too lol
