Thanks for those. I haven't seen any of the 24/7 yet for this fight. I read that Teddy Atlas thinks Margarito might pull this one off.
Missed this: "Make no mistake Pacman is every inch the legend and more than Mayweather is... the record is conclusive on that:" Don't agree at all. Mayweather is unbeaten. Never even been dropped. Took a count once because he hit someone and hurt his hand. Pac has lost and been stopped. Mayweather was unbeaten in the decade that Pacquiao was awarded the "Fighter of the Decade" award. Pacquiao lost 3 times didn't he? Sorry, but no way did Pacquiao deserve that. And as for his titles in 7 different weight groups.......well, that's more than dubious. As has already been stated, it would help if the champs he fought were allowed to weigh in on the weight that they were actually champions at. And making De LaHoya come all that way down in weight proved nothing. That wasn't the same De La Hoya Mayweather beat. Mayweather is the only man to win titles in 5 different weights without losing along the way. Pacquiao is good, no doubt, but Mayweather is the best boxer of his generation. Yeah, he is a brat. Yeah, he is in-your-face. Yeah, his arrogant. But also, yeah, his bloody superb!
For my money Pacquiao is the legend here... not Mayweather. Maybe personalities do come into it. For that Pacquiao has it hands down... but then again maybe that's perhaps another issue entirely. While Mayweather is superb... and defensively as slick as they come... probably one of the slickest. I've still never heard a convincing explanation as to why he's attempted to hold Pacquiao to a standard that he didn't hold any of his other opponents to (with the exception of Mosley who had previously been involved in the Balco scandal - even though he actually was able to pass the Nevada State boxing commission tests). The drug tests are a great excuse to duck and dodge for Mayweathers camp in my opinion. Pac's camp and Freddy Roach agreed to the drug tests finally... albeit in a different time frame than was originally wanted by Mayweathers camp... but then Mayweather started talking about more money... again stalling the fight. There are a lot of questions about the test... as to why Pacquiao won't/can't take it... but to me all of those are superceded by the whole issue of him being asked to take a test that no one else is bound by. When there is an agreement to take the test... all of a sudden Mayweather needs more money. Mayweather to me doesn't match up with the greats of the past who often took all comers. Mayweather is far too worried about losing his 0 losses history. Meh... just really doesn't do it for me. [ame="http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=cqva73VBiFQ&feature=related"]Here's a radio bit full of good info regarding the testing differences between Olympic and Nevada State Boxing Commission.[/ame] Good stuff. One thing I bear heavily in mind is that many of the comments and much of the original suspicion comes from Mayweather's dad who is a total wasteland at the best of times.
Yeah, I think it's safe to say there is something wrong mentally with Mayweather Snr. I still don't agree that Pacquiao is a bigger legend than Mayweather. I think people go a little over board with Pacquiao - not to say I don't like him, I do. Take this weekend for instance. There is a bit of doubt as to whether he can beat Margarito. If it was Mayweather taking this fight everyone would criticise him for fighting someone that got KO'd in their last fight and has been banned. No one would expect mayweather to lose to Margarito, but rightly or wrongly, not everyone is as confident in Pacquiao. I didn't see Pacquiao taking the Mosley fight when he could of. I don't see Pacquiao actually looking to fight anyone out of his own stable. There are fights out there other than Mayweather for him, but he won't take them unless the other guy agrees to be dehydrated.
Is it hype, though, to build up the fight? To get more television viewers? The promoters do that a lot. The "24/7" shows on HBO are an example of playing the audience to get more money out of them. Pacquiao certainly has holes in his defensive forms. Even forgetting his losses that occurred years ago, today he is not unbeatable. He leaves openings here and there. I can see them from the safety and comfort of my couch. I just don't see how he can lose this particular fight, though. I don't hesitate to call this fight for Pacqui. On Saturday we'll know. I've already made plans to watch it on PPV with my son. Give me Mayweather though, and I would make no prediction. *That* fight could equally go either way.
Three thoughts now that we've seen it: 1) Come on, what weight class does Manny have to go into to find some competition? :dunno: 2) Nobody can say Margarito doesn't have heart. 3) The ref and Margarito's corner both need to be reprimanded and retrained. That fight should have been stopped several rounds before the end. I don't care if he is Mexican. There's no excuse for letting someone take a beating like that.
1) Here's hoping for Pacman v Mayweather! 2) No doubt. During the early to middle rounds I could actually see him making a comeback but Pacquio's stamina was incredible. After that there was no going back. Still an entertaining fight though. 3) To be fair, Margarito was taking a beating near the end but there was no absolutely clear signs of him giving in. I'd say it was a difficult call to make and referees in particular have to be wary of getting these things wrong. With that said, I agree it shouldn't have gone to the scoreboards. It was a hell of a fight, and well worth the wait. Both fighters look to have good futures ahead of themselves and with some training may face off again sooner than we think.
I really wish I had chosen to stream this fight and not UFC 122 which was a snoozer. I always enjoy lopsided Pacman beatdowns in lieu of the fantasy fight with Mayweather. Its always fun to see a small guy just whomp on a bigger dude.
That's the problem: he wasn't going to give in. Ever. In the post-fight interview he said, and this is almost a quote, "I'm Mexican. I won't ever quit." And then his cornerman said, in so many words, "He's Mexican. I won't ever stop his fights." That's not a good attitude to have, because he's asking for a career-ending debilitating injury for life. But ya -- I'll be happy to watch Margarito again. I salute his heart while simultaneously saying he was stupid not to quit in the 9th or at least the 10th round. I halfway want to find out he took an illegal drug just before the fight because it will make Manny's performance that much more incredible. On the other hand Margarito would never get another fight, and that'd be sad. This was a great performance. That's funny: he received a severe ass whooping, and I'm saying he's a great fighter.
One of the best fights in a long time. Manny Pacquiao is just too fast. Just tooooooo fast. He got in trouble on the ropes their for a second (three clean shots from Margarito OUCH!) but stuck to a game plan. Smart. Because off your game plan and on the ropes is NOT where you want to be with Antonio Margarito. Yeah I thought it should have been stopped in the later rounds. Manny even landed 3-4 clean head shots and then immediately looked over at the ref like... "WTF? He can't even see anymore"... so yeah it should have been stopped. Regardless of whether Margarito would have stopped or not... because we all knew he wouldn't. You could behead him and he'd still be coming for you. Fact. Manny's footwork was superb. He faded to the right so often. A very very slick bit of footwork. He would land a shot or 5 and then fade to the right putting him in the one spot that's very hard to respond to. Manny's face compared to Margarito's face pretty much said it all. Given the massive size difference... it was an awesome sight to see man stay on the ropes and trade with Margarito. Wow. Just wow. AMAZING FIGHT!!! Pacman pretty much could retire now because what is left? We all know Mayweather is ducking and dodging... and he's got legal issues. Seems he prefers to beat up women instead. The undercards were good as well... Guillero Rigondeaux's split decision over Ricardo Cordoba was less than impressive for the fact he spent the last half of the fight running and potshotting with single shots. Given how stellar he'd been in the first half. His movement is superb. Unbelievable. His accuracy is AWESOME. He telegraphs nothing... but he's still fighting like an amateur and hoping to run off the clock after he has the points secured. Mike Jones VS Soto-Karrass - were the judges even in Texas? Did they hire blind people!?!? WTF?!?! Robbery. Man it was ridiculous. I knew it.... if you watched it you knew it... and all of Dallas Stadium booing the decision knew it too.
I missed out on the undercards quite a bit unfortunately. I was at a friends and before the main fight we were just ****ing around. I think if there's anything Margarito should have learnt from his career now, it's that it's better to lose like a fighter than to win like a pr**k.
Here's some interesting reading regarding Pacman's strength and condtioning... was hoping it would be detailed. Excel spread sheets, specific drills, diagrams and schedules... all of that!!!... lol... but we know that won't happen in the superstitious world of boxing... but still an interesting read: Strength coach Ariza is architect behind Pacquiao's historic ascent Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...ariza.manny.pacquiao/index.html#ixzz15JYmBprB http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20....ariza.manny.pacquiao/index.html?xid=FanHouse
Plus he doesn't gas out. In the prelim fight, I think it was Jones who had that unanswered barrage of punches for like a minute and half, missed 90% of the blows, and couldn't fight after that. He was plainly out of gas for the rest of the fight, and it went the distance. Not Pacquiao though! There's a lesson there for boxers. Indeed. We actually got bored and popped in a recording of an old Manny fight to pass the time. Me and my two buddies said exactly that from the couch. There's no excuse for that. (I see it in the UFC sometimes too. Grrr.)
Fights for Pacquiao? Maybe the winner of next weeks fight, which I believe Williams is the betting favourite at the moment. He reckons he can come down in weight. Will Pacquiao actually defend his 154 pound title at that weight, or will it now become a new weight group at 150 limit? Another terrific performance though.
