SB Nation User Blog: SC

Manny Pacquiao's History in Title Fights

SC — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:05:42 -0000

Manny Pacquiao's domination of Lehlohonolo Lebwaba in 2001 signaled his true arrival on the world stage. (Photo via sports.espn.go.com)

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In preparation for this weekend's super fight between WBO welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto and world junior welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, Bad Left Hook will look back on the major title fight histories of both men.

This morning, we looked at Miguel Cotto. Now, a glance at Manny Pacquiao.

We are considering only fights for the Ring Magazine championships, as well as the titles of the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.

December 4, 1998: Manny Pacquiao KO-8 Chatchai Sasakul (WBC Flyweight Title)

Really one of the more underrated wins of Pacquiao's long, amazing career. Sasakul was one of those Thai fighters whose resume wasn't the strongest in terms of opponents, but the man could certainly fight. After Pacquiao, he boxed another ten years (last fighting in November 2008), and never beat another major opponent. When interviewed by The Sweet Science, Sasakul remembered Pacquiao as the best puncher he ever faced:

TSS: You’ve fought in both boxing and Muay Thai and fought more than 150 times. Who would you rate as the best puncher you’ve faced?

Chatchai Sasakul: Manny Pacquiao!!! One good punch from him and I was out. He has very heavy hands.

TSS: What happened in that fight? You were schooling him until you got caught with a few good shots.

Chatchai Sasakul: I lost my focus I guess and he took advantage of it. I don’t remember much about that fight (laughing)!

April 24, 1999: Manny Pacquiao TKO-4 Gabriel Mira (WBC Flyweight Title)

Go back and watch this fight now. It's amazing for a couple of reasons. First, even though he hadn't really developed his body and was but a 20-year-old kid at flyweight, it's hard to not notice that Pacquiao was huge as a flyweight. It's again more incredible to me that he won titles at flyweight than it is that he won the championship at 140 when I look at him now and look back at him then. The second amazing thing: How limited Pacquiao was. He was a totally one-handed fighter, pretty bad defensively, and just raw as all hell. Mira (19-7-1, 15 KO coming in) got Pacquiao in some early trouble, but was banged out in the fourth under a furious Pacquiao assault.

September 17, 1999: Medgoen Singsurat KO-3 Manny Pacquiao (WBC Flyweight Title)

Singsurat was Pacquiao's last fight at 112 pounds, and for good reason. Singsurat ran Pacquiao ragged, never relented on pressure, and knocked him out with a third round body shot. Manny was awful in this fight. I don't think this loss really means much of anything anymore. In fact, I don't think any of Pacquiao's losses really mean much of anything anymore. Pacquiao skipped 115 and 118, going straight up to 122. If you really think about that, a full three-class jump seems crazy, but it wound up working out OK.

June 23, 2001: Manny Pacquiao TKO-6 Lehlohonolo Ledwaba (IBF Junior Featherweight Title)

Pacquiao's true coming out party. On the Oscar de la Hoya-Javier Castillejo undercard, Pacquiao took on the South African titlist Ledwaba and ripped him apart. Ledwaba was never the same after the loss to Pacquiao, although to his credit he hardly went to fighting a bunch of bums or anything. He took over a year out of the ring after losing to Pacquiao, after having fought in both February and April of 2001 before meeting the rising Filipino slugger.

November 10, 2001: Manny Pacquiao TD-6 Agapito Sanchez (IBF, WBO Junior Featherweight Titles)

A really dirty fight, with Sanchez getting docked two points for low blows. The bout was stopped after six on a Pacquiao cut, caused by an accidental headbutt in the second round and made worse with another headbutt in the sixth. Without the two points for the low blows, Pacquiao would have been dealt a loss here. The scores after six were 58-54 Pacquiao, 57-55 Sanchez and 56-56. Even one of those points back would have given Sanchez a win.

June 8, 2002: Manny Pacquiao TKO-2 Jorge Eliecer Julio (IBF Junior Featherweight Title)

"This is some prospect, Bobby. To me he's every bit as exciting as Prince Naseem Hamed." -- Jim Lampley, 2002

Pacquiao was featured on the Lewis-Tyson undercard with this fight, a pretty heavy beating of a veteran contender. Julio was on the downswing, having lost to Johnny Tapia and Adan Vargas in recent fights, and Pacquiao destroyed him. Julio would fight once more, losing a 10th-round TKO to Israel Vazquez in 2003.

We get into the meat of Pacquiao's title fight career after the jump.

October 26, 2002: Manny Pacquiao KO-1 Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym (IBF Junior Featherweight Title)

The 27-year old Rakkiatgym was one of those Thai fighters who had no resume, had never beaten anyone, and never did beat anyone. Pacquiao knocked him down four times. There appears to be some sort of minor urban legend that Rakkiatgym died after the fight, but he, uh, did not. He fought on until 2006, when he lost to Valdemir Pereira.

July 26, 2003: Manny Pacquiao TKO-3 Emmanuel Lucero (IBF Junior Featherweight Title)

Lucero was unbeaten. Three rounds later, he wasn't.

November 15, 2003: Manny Pacquiao TKO-11 Marco Antonio Barrera (Ring Magazine Featherweight Championship)

Ring Magazine champion Marco Antonio Barrera was the favorite in this fight. Sure, Pacquiao had a chance, at least a puncher's chance, but the veteran, in-prime, established Barrera surely would be too wily for Pacquiao. After all, he'd kryptonited Hamed already, and beaten his rival Erik Morales.

Pacquiao had other plans. It was without question the worst beating Barrera ever took in his career (hopefully that won't change). His corner stepped in to stop the carnage in the 11th round. Pacquiao was leading 97-90 (twice) and 97-89 on the official scorecards.

May 8, 2004: Manny Pacquiao D-12 Juan Manuel Marquez (Ring Magazine, IBF, WBA Featherweight Titles)

Marquez went down three times in the first round, but miraculously and courageously battled back to outbox Pacquiao for the majority of the last 11 rounds. It was an epic fight, heroic on Marquez's part, and was really the final time we'd ever see Pacquiao so outclassed for any real length of a fight.

March 15, 2008: Manny Pacquiao SD-12 Juan Manuel Marquez (Ring Magazine, WBC Junior Lightweight Titles)

Yep, it took four years and the same opponent for Pacquiao to fight for a recognized major title again. Another toe-to-toe battle that saw Marquez climb off the canvas and arguably beat Pacquiao. But Pacquiao won a contested split decision in a fight that would have been Fight of the Year in most years, but had to contend with the first two Vazquez-Marquez fights in 2008.

June 28, 2008: Manny Pacquiao TKO-9 David Diaz (WBC Lightweight Title)

Pacquiao moved up to 135 pounds and put the leather to David Diaz, who gave it his all but was badly outclassed in speed. One of the popular quotes that has gone around since this fight, alleged to be such a mismatch and discredited by a few, is that David Diaz came closer to beating Pacquiao than would Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton. It's true, too.

May 2, 2009: Manny Pacquiao KO-2 Ricky Hatton (Ring Magazine Junior Welterweight Championship)

Ricky Hatton was in shape, still in what should have been prime years, and hadn't taken too much punishment over his career. No, he didn't move his head like he should have, and the talk has always been that he just didn't follow Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s gameplan. But that takes nothing away from the one plain fact: Pacquiao ran Hatton over with brutal force, putting him on the canvas twice in the opening round and knocking him out near cold in the second round.

Total Record: 10-1-2, 9 KO

Pacquiao inching further as favorite in Vegas

SC — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:08:23 -0000

Manny Pacquiao has become an increasingly bigger favorite on the Vegas books for Saturday night. (Photo via www.digitaljournal.com)

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The Vegas lines for Saturday night's showdown between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao opened fairly modest, with Pacquiao at -200 (bet $200, win $100) and Cotto a +180 underdog (bet $100, win $180).

But as the fight grows nearer and money piles in for Pacquiao, the line has moved. Pacquiao is right around -240 or -250 on most books, and some books have even put him down at -300 at this point. Cotto has moved to right around +190, and in some cases around +200.

This all doesn't mean much for how the fight will play out, really, but it's certainly worth noting that Pacquiao is the clear favorite in Vegas. For those putting money on this fight out in Nevada, the choice has been made, and it's not a 50-50 toss-up for them.

Kevin Mitchell-Breidis Prescott eliminator for Khan undercard

SC — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:43:54 -0000

Kevin Mitchell will meet Breidis Prescott on December 5 in a lightweight title eliminator. (Photo via www.boxingdaily.co.uk)

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Terence Dooley reports that a WBO lightweight title eliminator has been signed for the December 5 Khan-Salita undercard. England's Kevin Mitchell will meet Breidis Prescott in the bout.

So let's go ahead and get yours and my first thought out of the way: Yes, Prescott lost his last fight, and no, he does not deserve to be battling for a title shot by any stretch of the imagination. Since the first-round stoppage of Amir Khan, Prescott has gone back to being woefully unimpressive despite the fact that his right hand is always dangerous. In February, Prescott fought veteran Humberto Toledo. He was beating Toledo easily but failing to thrill in the process before Toledo bit him for a 10th round disqualification.

Then in July in his second ESPN2 bout of the year, Prescott knocked down the 22-year old Vazquez in the first round, but then Vazquez came back to pretty thoroughly outbox the favored Colombian slugger.

Vazquez (25-3, 12 KO) isn't a name, though, and his upset of Prescott didn't make waves the way Prescott's knockout of Khan did, so I guess we're supposed to sweep it under the rug and forget about it. It's gross favoritism shown by the sanctioning body.

Promoter Frank Warren, who put the fight together, believes it's "the right fight":

"This time I’ve had time to study Prescott," Warren said. "Kevin needs a challenge and is capable of beating Prescott.

"Before Prescott boxed Amir I hadn’t even seen a tape of him, but the trainer and the team were keen on him, so I went along with it. I think Amir could beat him if he prepared right for him."

Meanwhile, the deserving Vazquez has to sit back and hope something comes along. The only losses on his record are to Saul Alvarez (twice) and Timothy Bradley -- not bad, huh? During that fight, Sergio Mora sat in at ringside and said he'd sparred with Vazquez and the past, and knew how good he was. Vazquez used tricky timing and a varied offensive plan to neutralize and frustrate Prescott, and in the end earned a hard-fought win.

But again, he wasn't supposed to do that, so he's ignored. What a crock.

Mitchell (29-0, 22 KO) does deserve this sort of fight. The 25-year-old from Dagenham made an official move up to lightweight this year after campaigning for a while at 130 pounds. He's a heck of a good fighter, really, one of the more promising in the UK. Like anyone, he needs to fear Prescott's right hand, but the more you watch Prescott, the more you realize he's a lot like countryman Edison Miranda. He's a lot of fear wrapped up in one punch, easily worked around by anyone who can box.

Miguel Cotto's History in Title Fights

SC — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:36:15 -0000

Miguel Cotto's first major title came to him with a shredding of Kelson Pinto back in 2004. (Photo via a.espncdn.com)

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Pacquiao's is very interesting (and perhaps a bit more limited than you might expect, as he wasn't always fighting for major titles), and Cotto's is really strong, and might hopefully wake people up to the fact that maybe, just maybe, Miguel Cotto isn't some schlub that the mighty Pacquiao will bulldoze past.

We are considering only fights for the Ring Magazine championships, as well as the titles of the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF.

September 11, 2004: Miguel Cotto TKO-6 Kelson Pinto (Vacant WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

Cotto was 20-0 at the time, and the Brazilian Pinto was a perfect 21-0 with 19 knockouts. Also take into account that Pinto had twice beaten Cotto when the two were amateurs, and this one was no gimme. Pinto, a shade under six feet tall and huge at 140 pounds, was ripped to pieces by the Puerto Rican machine. He was wobbled early, knocked down in the second, and when he was floored again 32 seconds into the sixth round, his corner mercifully halted an entirely one-sided beatdown. Pinto landed 11% of his punches in the fight and could stop nothing Cotto threw at him.

For those that think Cotto's post-Margarito career is what it looks like when a guy has been beaten up bad and "lost it," it's not. It's Pinto after Cotto. The Brazilian fought four more times, winning three of them against guys who had a combined three fights between them, and losing a technical decision to Vince Phillips. Pinto's last fight came in 2006.

December 11, 2004: Miguel Cotto TKO-6 Randall Bailey (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

Bailey, who's still around with his cannon right hand keeping him in the game, was stopped on cuts. Cotto put him on the canvas twice. Bailey's never had a chin, and like Pinto he couldn't find any way to slow Cotto.

February 26, 2005: Miguel Cotto TKO-5 DeMarcus Corley (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

A more contested fight than Pinto or Bailey, as Corley came out and traded shots with Cotto early. Corley disputed the fifth round stoppage, saying it was early. Both fighters were docked points for low blows and Corley hit the canvas three times. Corley's complaining about the stoppage is also a bit questionable itself, as he willingly took a knee under heavy assault, which prompted the referee to stop the bout.

June 11, 2005: Miguel Cotto TKO-9 Mohamed Abdullaev (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

Abdullaev was another old amateur foe of Cotto's. The former Olympic gold medalist took Cotto out of the competition in the first round at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. As with Pinto, Cotto got his revenge in the pro ring. Abdullaev had some success against Cotto, but ultimately had his eye swollen so badly that he couldn't continue.

September 24, 2005: Miguel Cotto KO-7 Ricardo Torres (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

In my view, the most underrated, overlooked great fight of the decade. Sure, those that saw it know it's a great one, but it rarely comes up too quickly when discussing the great scraps of the 2000s.

Cotto and the ultra powerful Torres went toe-to-toe in a vicious battle, and though Cotto had eaten some good leather from previous foes (particularly Corley and Abdullaev), he had never faced someone as strong or good offensively as Torres.

Torres went down on a left hook in round one, but roared back to start an assault that culminated with a knockdown of the Puerto Rican in round two. Cotto somehow survived the storm. A body shot knocked Torres down again in the fourth, and though the Colombian never stopped swinging for the fences, the momentum had absolutely shifted. Torres hit the mat again in the sixth, and for a fourth and final time in the seventh. An overjoyed Cotto struck the famous celebration pose in the photo to the right. It was a phenomenal fight, all action to say the least.

March 4, 2006: Miguel Cotto TKO-8 Gianluca Branco (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

The Italian veteran Branco, 35 at the time of this fight, was mostly known in the States for giving Arturo Gatti a pretty decent fight in 2004. Cotto dominated seven rounds, and Branco pulled out 49 seconds into the eighth with a shoulder injury.

June 10, 2006: Miguel Cotto UD-12 Paulie Malignaggi (WBO Junior Welterweight Title)

To be stereotypical, Paulie Malignaggi never looked like a tough guy, never really acted like one, and certainly didn't (and doesn't) punch like one, at least by pro boxer standards. But there's a lot more John Wayne in Malignaggi than meets the eye, and that's what we found out with this fight. Malignaggi wound up with a fractured right orbital bone and a pretty serious jaw injury, and overall took a fairly horrific beating from Cotto. But the New Yorker did not back down, and both men came out of an exciting, dramatic fight bigger stars than they were before. Cotto won an unanimous decision, the first time in a major title fight he was taken the distance.

We continue with Cotto's welterweight career after the jump.

December 2, 2006: Miguel Cotto RTD-5 Carlos Quintana (Vacant WBA Welterweight Title)

Fellow Puerto Rican Quintana was unbeaten and coming off of a pretty big upset of Joel Julio, a red-hot prospect many expected would be a major star himself by now (he's not). With Quintana as one of the world's best welterweights and Cotto moving up in weight, there was some intrigue going on. Cotto punished Quintana early and often, and after a nasty fifth round body shot, Quintana decided to not come back out for the sixth, making Cotto a two-division titlist.

March 3, 2007: Miguel Cotto TKO-11 Oktay Urkal (WBA Welterweight Title)

Veteran Urkal used every cheap trick in the book to keep himself in this fight, when it was clear to anybody watching that he was hopelessly outgunned. The fight was rather kindly stopped in the 11th round, getting an inevitable result over with. Cotto led 100-89, 97-92 and 98-91 on the official scorecards. Urkal didn't come to win, he merely came to exist and cash his check.

June 9, 2007: Miguel Cotto TKO-11 Zab Judah (WBA Welterweight Title)

One of the better fights of 2007, and the last time Judah showed any real guts in the ring. Cotto's reputation for being a dirty fighter largely stems from this fight, as he popped Judah with some pretty wicked low blows in the first and third rounds. Judah had wobbled Cotto in that opening round, and that was his receipt. Judah hung around as long as he could, but eventually was overcome by the younger man. Cotto forced Judah to a knee in the ninth, when he knocked Judah down hard in the 11th, the referee stopped the fight.

November 10, 2007: Miguel Cotto UD-12 Shane Mosley (WBA Welterweight Title)

A spirited, super competitive fight between two men who gave their very best. Mosley was thought to have seen his best days go by him, but after two beatings of Fernando Vargas, he decided to drop back down to 147 pounds, and he made it clear he was far from finished. He gave the unbeaten Cotto as good a fight as anyone ever had, and lost a close but clear decision, on scores of 115-113 (twice) and 116-113. Cotto and Mosley looked like fighters that could have become great rivals, but it hasn't played out that way.

April 12, 2008: Miguel Cotto RTD-5 Alfonso Gomez (WBA Welterweight Title)

To be honest, a disgusting mismatch from the moment it was made, as for whatever reason Top Rank decided that Cotto needed an easier bout, and HBO approved Gomez, one would assume, because of his status as a popular fighter from "The Contender." What no one counted on was the fact that "The Contender" wasn't really that popular to begin with, and people certainly didn't stick around to follow the post-show careers of those pugs.

Gomez, who fights on the Cotto-Pacquiao undercard against Jesus Soto Karass, was game as always but frighteningly out of his league. Cotto stared him down at the end of round one and I remember being almost afraid for Gomez. The fight should have been stopped at least two rounds before it was. The fight shouldn't have even happened.

July 26, 2008: Antonio Margarito TKO-11 Miguel Cotto (WBA Welterweight Title)

We all know this one, know how great a fight it was at the time, and know the asterisk it carries today. Let's leave it at that.

February 21, 2009: Miguel Cotto TKO-5 Michael Jennings (Vacant WBO Welterweight Title)

Cotto got a rebound fight with the unqualified Jennings, who had climbed the WBO's ridiculous rankings for whatever reason you may wish to assign. Jennings was a bit better a matchup than Gomez and a bit less of a stinker than Urkal, but he was no match for the world class fighter. Jennings did the best job he could staying away from Cotto early, but once Miguel found him, it was all over.

June 13, 2009: Miguel Cotto SD-12 Joshua Clottey (WBO Welterweight Title)

The people that spent all their time complaining that they felt Clottey won this fight missed a hell of a lot, I feel. First of all, it was a terrific fight, hard-fought on both sides. It made Cotto, who fought through a bad cut to pull out a tight win, look better. And it made Clottey look better yet again. Both of them had their A-game. I felt Cotto did enough to win, as did the judges.

Total Record: 14-1, 11 KO

Kelly Pavlik will fight on December 19 in Youngstown

SC — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:06:49 -0000

Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik will return to action on December 19 in Youngstown. Pavlik faces Miguel Espino. (Photo via www.vegasnews.com)

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Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, who pulled out of two dates with Paul Williams, will fight on December 19 in Youngstown, Ohio against fringe (at best) contender Miguel Espino.

Dan Rafael has the story:

"We're fighting," said Cameron Dunkin, Pavlik's co-manager. "I have the contract here. The hand is good. He did therapy today and he ran today. The therapy, after three sessions, the hand has gotten much better. [The first] is still not closed all the way, but it's so much better. It's really good news. He just can't wait to fight. He really misses this.

"You can't help but have concern about the hand, but we've still got six weeks and that gives us enough time to be ready. He's been running and lifting weights because he was trying to push through for the fight with Williams on Dec. 5. He asked if Williams could wait until the 19th and it couldn't be done. We understood. Now he has another chance to go the 19th and he's going to go."

This might really surprise you if you've been following this story, what with Pavlik being on death's door and staring down the Grim Reaper and delivering a haymaker to his rotten, bony old jaw and saying, "Not today, demon! Not today!" but then I just decide, "Hey, whatever, at least he's getting back in the ring."

It's good that the staph appears to be clearing up. I'm happy to hear that. And you can't really say they didn't try to move the Williams fight to December 19, because they did. But Williams decided that it wasn't worth risking a third Pavlik pull-out, so he's fighting Sergio Martinez on December 5. All in all, can't blame Williams for that, and can't blame Pavlik for getting back out there.

Or is there someone to blame? Speaking with BoxingScene.com's Rick Reeno, Dan Goossen has a different take, as do other members of Team Williams:

“We wanted to fight on October 3, and he refused. We wanted to fight on December 5, and he refused. We would have been waiting here until December of 2011 for this fight to happen,” Goossen said.

Williams' trainer George Peterson was similarly not buying the Pavlik story that Espino became their focus thanks to Williams fighting on December 5 without him:

"All of a sudden since Paul signed a contract to fight Martinez, everything gets well. We know the deal. They didn’t do this [Espino deal] in no split second. We set up three training camps for his ass. These training camps are expensive and time consuming. I would hate to see Paul get in the ring with him now after going through all that. We're over him now. We are concentrating on Sergio Martinez."

Team Pavlik says they'd like to fight Williams in 2010, for what it's worth.

Espino (20-2-1, 9 KO) is a 29-year-old whose best win came in March over Alejandro Garcia. Espino floored Garcia twice, and Garcia quit with a hand injury. Other than that, he lost a fight to Daniel Edouard back in 2003 and one to Peter Manfredo Jr. in 2004, and his record is filled largely with no-names otherwise.

He's got basically no shot, as this is a total comeback, shake-the-rust fight for Pavlik, who was last seen in February when he slaughtered Marco Antonio Rubio. You might say that Rubio was tune-up enough, even with the hand injury, but it's easy to forget Rubio was a top ten middleweight at the time. That was a perfectly legit fight.

Hopefully, Pavlik looks good and feels good, and maybe if Williams beats Martinez on the 5th, we finally move forward and get Pavlik-Williams in the spring or something like that.

Top Rank already had a Latin Fury show scheduled for that night, and now will do another split site PPV. Humberto Soto will be facing Jesus Chavez (ugh) in the featured fight from Mexico, and Pavlik-Espino will close the broadcast.

No loss could hurt Manny Pacquiao's legacy

SC — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:04:08 -0000

Manny Pacquiao's legacy is secure no matter what happens on Saturday against Miguel Cotto. (AP Photo)

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First things first: I am not (as of this moment, at least) predicting a loss for Manny Pacquiao this Saturday against Miguel Cotto. But for argument's sake, let's say he loses to Cotto. What does it mean? What does it say?

For a fighter like Manny Pacquiao, it is anything but destructive to his career, no matter how it were to happen, if it were to happen.

Pacquiao, you see, is special. Always will be. He's special because he legitimately tests his limits. Special because he's a genuine fighter. Special because of what he hasn't done as much as what he has done.

He's done a lot. Even in this era of meaningless belt-gathering, winning titles in six divisions is amazing. A seventh would come Saturday. And when you look at how Pacquiao did it, it's even more incredible.

His first major title came in 1998, when he beat Chatchai Sasakul at flyweight (112 pounds). He burst onto the world scene with a stunning domination of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba to win the IBF junior feather weight (122) title in 2001. His 2003 demolition of Marco Antonio Barrera stunned many, and made him the rightful world champion at featherweight (126).

He and rival Juan Manuel Marquez collided for a second time in 2008 to decide not just Marquez's 130-pound WBC title, but the vacant Ring championship, too. And Pacquiao won a narrow decision in a great, great fight. Three and a half months later, he wiped out 135-pound titlist David Diaz.

And earlier this year, he made mincemeat of Ricky Hatton to become the junior welterweight world champion. Not one of those titles was cheap, save perhaps a bit for David Diaz, who is hardly among the worst recent paper titleholders.

Cotto's WBO welterweight title would be another amazing scalp. And all of this leads me to what Pacquiao doesn't do, never has done, and what is just as important in terms of legacy as all of his talent and skill and phenom status.

He doesn't protect his record. He doesn't whine about how unfair everything is. He's never complained or bickered or gone out of his way to hand-pick easy opponents.

Manny Pacquiao will add Miguel Cotto -- win or lose -- to a list of opponents that includes Ricky Hatton, Oscar de la Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, among many other tough opponents. And he's beaten every one of those men, too, with only a draw against Marquez and one loss in three fights against Morales since he's stepped up into the truly elite ranks of the sport.

Pacquiao, at 30, could never fight again and be a shoo-in Hall of Famer on every single level. He's helped put the Philippines on the map as one of the world's premier boxing powers, and his accomplishments ensure that generations to come in the Filipino community will look to the sweet science. He is a sports hero the likes of which American fans will never quite be able to comprehend. He is one of a kind.

Manny Pacquiao steps into the ring again this Saturday to give himself yet another great test. Even if his unbelievable run from 2003-present hiccups against Cotto, it won't mean he was overrated, overhyped, or made out to be something he wasn't.

Pacquiao has exceeded every expectation anyone has ever had. He's everything he's been said to be, and then some. And it may yet be a long time before we see anyone quite like him. No matter what happens on Saturday, if you're a boxing fan right now, you'd be foolish to not cherish Pacquiao and the chance to watch him fight.

Haye, Booth talking Wembley for Klitschko fight

SC — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:13:03 -0000

David Haye says he'll be gone from boxing by age 31. He sees three more fights in his future. (AP Photo/Christof Stache)

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As the boxing world goes topsy-turvy over David Haye, the big quotes just keep flying in. His manager/trainer, Adam Booth, says that Wembley Stadium have contacted him about a fight between Haye and a Klitschko brother, and Haye himself says he sees three more fights in his future.

"Wembley Stadium have contacted me already. David against one of the Klitschkos will be one of the biggest fights in heavyweight history."

It's almost as if he doesn't realize that the vast majority of boxing's biggest fights, ever, have been at heavyweight, and that if you adjust for eras and inflation and all that, even the fact that Klitschko (either) versus Haye would be quite a big deal still wouldn't have it among the biggest fights in heavyweight history. But then again we have Floyd Mayweather claiming he's the most successful and greatest boxer ever, so why not this?

Haye has said before that he doesn't plan to stick around for too much longer, and he's staying with that for now:

"So it'll be Ruiz, both the Klitschkos and a couple of defences, then I'm gone by the time I'm 31."

Everyone's always going to retire at 30, 31, and then they don't, but if all these guys stick to it, boxing is about to turn into a very violent tennis in terms of what might be considered peak years and what have you. Everyone is very intent on getting their money and getting out, which is understandable, but it's almost never happened that way. If this newest generation of star fighters really do stick to their guns, boxing might well change considerably. The long running-up of records may fall by the wayside a bit.

Of course it would take about a decade to really establish a trend like that, so it's of no consequence just yet.

Lovemore N'dou, Matthew Hatton ready for Friday scrap

SC — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:25:10 -0000

This Friday, Matthew Hatton gets the chance to step out of his brother's shadow a bit. He faces Lovemore N'dou in England. (Photo via images.sportinglife.com)

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In the enormous shadow of Saturday's Cotto-Pacquiao mega fight, it would be hard for the boxing world to pay much attention to any other fight this weekend. But on Friday from England on Sky Sports, a promising scrap will take place.

In Stoke, it will be Lovemore N'dou (holder of the semi-recognized IBO welterweight title) taking on Matthew Hatton, younger brother of the world-famous Ricky, in a fight that won't lack any for heart or determination, even if it doesn't pit the talent or fame of the Vegas main event the next night.

N'dou (47-11-1, 31 KO) is a 38-year old South African who lives in and fights out of Australia these days. He is likely best known to American fans as a former 140-pound contender and titleholder. In 2004, he lost a fairly competitive decision to a then-unbeaten Miguel Cotto, and had two televised fights in 2007 and 2008 against Paulie Malignaggi. Malignaggi routed N'dou the first time, but as the incoming titlist exercised his rematch clause. You probably recall that the second fight was infamous for Malignaggi's ill-advised hair extensions and a far more competitive bout than the first go-'round, paired with Ricky Hatton's comeback in Manchester against Juan Lazcano. That fight led to Hatton-Malignaggi, of course.

N'dou is fighting with the hope of landing Matthew's brother (a longshot) or his countryman, welterweight titleholder Isaac Hlatshwayo. He also had strong words for his Friday opponent:

"I don't think he's anything special. I'm going to expose him next Friday and make him realise he's still a donkey and he doesn't belong in the ring with me," Ndou said.

The younger Hatton (37-4-1, 14 KO) is simply not his brother. Never has been, never will be. At 28, he's certainly improved over the years, but those improvements have made "Magic" a C+ fighter at best.

Still, there's no denying his heart, courage or passion. He was set to take on the far more talented Zab Judah on two dates this year, but Judah for one reason or another pulled out. Hatton then looked to N'dou for a chance at a trinket and a potential bigger fight on down the line.

Last November, N'dou moved up to 147 pounds to take on the returning Kermit Cintron in Tennessee. The fight was off television on the Jermain Taylor-Jeff Lacy undercard, and from all live reports, was a truly ugly affair. But N'dou was one of but four men who have lost to Cintron yet gone the scheduled distance with him as well, proving his chin at the higher weight. In July of this year, Lovemore fought Phillip N'dou (no relation), beating his fellow South African on the cards.

Hatton's best work has been in his last few fights. With wins over veterans Ben Tackie, Ernesto Zepda and Ted Bami, he's made his case as ready to take that next step up. N'dou represents that. It's now or never for Matthew. He has also felt better training with Lee Beard than he did for years with Billy Graham:

“When you look at my record I’ve had four defeats,” he says, “but I only feel I’ve been legitimately beaten once and that was against Craig Watson last year. I don’t blame anyone but myself for that but I wasted a lot of years training with Ricky at Billy Graham’s gym. I enjoyed training with Ricky but Billy was doing nothing with me. I was almost training myself.

“So after the Watson defeat I thought, ‘I’m going nowhere here. I’ve got to do something for myself now’ and I left the gym and joined Lee Beard. I’ve had four good wins since the move and feel my career is just starting.”

Neither man is quite world class, but neither can afford the loss, either. Expect spirited action, a potentially fitting lead-in for the main course on Saturday. Bad Left Hook will bring live coverage of N'dou-Hatton starting at 5pm ET on Friday afternoon.

Glen Johnson undecided on future, praises Dawson

SC — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:17:02 -0000

Glen Johnson praised foe Chad Dawson after losing to him in Connecticut on Saturday. The 40-year-old is undecided on his future in boxing. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)

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Glen Johnson has lost a lot of fights he didn't agree with, and he may have feigned disbelief (perhaps out of habit) when the scores were read for Chad Dawson on Saturday, but the veteran light heavyweight contender is full of praise for his two-time foe. He's also not sure if he's going to keep going at age 40.

"He fought a smart fight," Johnson said. "He did what he had to do ... I give him the applause."

...

"He was able to escape some of my bigger punches," Johnson said. "He didn't try to fight like he did in the first fight. He stayed away from it."

...

"(Dawson) was moving well," he explained. "He was able to keep me off balance. Every time I got aggressive, he would move to the side I was being aggressive on and slide out to the other side. So he was getting away from me."

Dawson may not have delighted many on Saturday, but he showed what he can do with his pure skill against an older, wiser, more aggressive fighter. Johnson is surely on the downside of a long, up-and-down career (one that deserved more ups than he was awarded), but he's by no means a bad fighter. Dawson made him look old, which was probably past due.

As for his future in the ring, he's not committing to anything:

"I really don't know," the Clarendon-born United States resident admitted when asked about possible retirement after the fight. "I'll just wait and see who wants to put me to work right now."

...

"At this point in time, nobody knows," he said minutes after leaving the ring. "It's all about going home and seeing if the phone rings and if the phone don't ring, then basically it is what it is. If it's my choice, I wouldn't quit yet, but you know again, I can't go to the dance by myself. So if I have an opponent to dance with, then we go to the dance."

Do fighters come any more genuine than Glen Johnson these days?

Richard Schaefer compares Haye to Ali

SC — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:37:05 -0000

If you ask Richard Schaefer, David Haye is the next Muhammad Ali. (AP Photo/Christof Stache)

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Boxing promoters are (in)famous for their extreme hyperbole and exaggerations, but Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer has gone nuclear with this one. From the Mirror:

New world heavyweight king David Haye has been hailed as the greatest boxer since the legendary Muhammad Ali.

...

Golden Boy boss Richard Schaefer declared: "David is a boxing superstar. There are a lot of champions - but to be a superstar is another thing. For that you need that other ingredient - charisma.

"Lennox Lewis was a great champion, but he was not as charismatic as David Haye. Evander Holyfield was a great champion, but not as charismatic as David. Mike Tyson was a great champion, but he was a crazy guy. People watched because of the freak factor. So if you sit back and think when was the last champion like him, it really was Ali."

Head.desk. Head.desk.

David Haye is not the king of the heavyweight division. The real world champion is Wladimir Klitschko. Haye is drastically behind Wladimir and brother Vitali in terms of resume and career achievements. A win over a paper "champion" like Valuev is not even close to enough. I know most media just throw the word "champion" around to every hump who gets hold of one of these trinkets, but come on. To believe Haye is the best heavyweight in the world is to be dangerously delusional.
Lennox Lewis was a great champion. Evander Holyfield was a great champion. Mike Tyson was a great champion. David Haye has not proven to be a great champion at all. Again, not a shot at Haye -- it's just that he's not there yet, even if you believe he will be.
Tyson was not simply a great champion and "a crazy guy." People were not buying Tyson as a freak show during his truly best years, they bought him because he was a ferocious specimen and a brilliant fighter; charismatic, exciting, vicious, and ultra talented.
Furthermore, with this claim, Richard Schaefer shouldn't be calling anyone crazy.

It's not that I don't understand why Schaefer said it, it's that it really isn't going to make Haye any more marketable. "He's the most alluring champion since Ali!" just reeks of a desperate attempt to market the fighter more than it does actually sell anyone on him. Schaefer might as well be ambling around the thoroughfare of Deadwood offering us soap with a prize inside with this bit of promoting. It's ludicrous, dishonest and will probably make more people dislike Haye. If there's one thing I know boxing fans get their underoos in a twist over, it's the blatant hype jobs like this one.

The Mirror continued the unintentional comedy with this comment:

Modest WBA champ Haye was embarrassed by Schaefer's Ali comparison, but claims he can reign for years.

Ah, yes. Modest ol' David Haye. Haye would actually rank among the least modest major fighters in the sport today, probably, alongside Floyd Mayweather Jr., Zab Judah and Vic Darchinyan. But hey, at least he knows he's probably not Ali.