Fearless vs. Pacman- Raising the Bar

By Will Cruz: The man from Caguas, Puerto Rico they call “Fearless”, and the one and only “Pacman” from the Philippines, will square off on November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This fight could not come at a better time for boxing in light of the recent loses of Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest. These two were true warriors in the ring and gave us fight fans a reason to get excited about a sport which has been scarred by disappointments, infamous decisions, and lack of true matchups not influenced by money, or politics.

However, they only gave us a taste of how great the sport can truly be and how much potential it still has to carry on to the next generation. Growing up I watched Julio Cesar Chavez, Pernell Whitaker, Mike Tyson, and one of my favorite fighters of all time, Felix Trinidad. Granted, these times are not that long ago, but I remember falling in love with the sport because of these great champions and those before them. Always willing to fight the best to be considered the best.

No one can argue this. But for a while boxing has taken its hit and to top that off, the heavyweight division has stunk, and the MMA world has grown in popularity all over the world in such a short amount of time, so much that some people would rather watch MMA than boxing. The bar had been lowered and we were forced to get “excited” for fights that deep down inside as fight fans, we knew were not the best possible fights or even included the best fighters.

Instead we have been kept somewhat interested with things like 24/7 on HBO, The Contender, and other tactics to try and bring something fresh to the sport. I am not knocking these attempts, but in reality at the end of the day I believe true fight fans just want to see good fights.

But every once and a while fighters come along, step up to the plate, put their foot down and make it happen for us. Some have criticized both Cotto and Pacquaio for their differences on issues such as catch weight, money split, and whether the fight should be for a title. When it came down to it though, the warrior in each of these fighters put these things aside and did not allow the issues to interfere with what they know will be the biggest risk of their great careers.

They could have pulled out, they both had other options, but instead they said “get it done Bob, get it done”. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, I believe Cotto will surprise people and win this handily with his boxing ability, timing, and power. However, I’m proud as a fight fan that both of these guys respect the sport, respect the fans and are willing to lay it on the line to give us a tremendous fight. Sure, the millions of dollars doesn’t hurt, but if there are two fighters that deserve that amount of money to fight each other right now, it would be these two guys.

They have raised the bar once again, and the fight is still 3 months away. There is a reason why tickets for this fight at the MGM Grand are flying, why there was so much talk about the fight before it was even signed, and why boxing fans all around the world, from all nationalities are planning to send out party invitations for November 14. Manny Pacquaio raised the bar when he knocked out Ricky Hatton.

Many questioned Hatton’s abilities, and defense for that fight, myself included. However, Manny did what he had to do and it only took him less than 2 rounds to do it. That is what you expect, and he delivered. Miguel Cotto stepped up and fought a man who nobody wants to fight; Joshua Clottey. And with blood in his eye for 9 full rounds, when it would have been easy to quit, he fought on to a hard earned victory.

The greatest of his career in my opinion. These two warriors have continued to take steps forward. They deserve all the credit, and the fight deserves all the hype it gets. We can only hope that other fighters continue to be vocal about the fights they truly want, and that Promoters not get in the way of making it happen.

Wishful thinking in my part perhaps, but I don’t know if boxing can survive this ebb and flow for many more years to come. Ultimately, it comes down to the fans, the people that spend their hard earned money on PPV events and tickets to these fights. Like any other business, it strives on high demand. Boxing does not lack a high level of skilled fighters or good prospects, it lacks the matchups that put these fighters in against each other on a consistent basis. I challenge the fans and fighters to create the high demand the sport needs because when this happens, everyone prospers.

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