By Jordan Stoddart: I sat there today, in my airy, slightly squalid, but ultimately Boxing focused bedroom this morning, and started concentrating on some fantastically detailed, and gloriously timeless pictures of some Boxers from the era of the 1970’s and 1980’s. My favourite was one of Ken Buchanan losing to Roberto Duran; the bout itself being a one sided, and controversial affair, pretty much ending the formers reign in elite sections of the sport, and further cementing the status of the latter as one of the greatest world champions that ever lived. The reason that picture made such a mark on my otherwise dull, redundancy induced day, was the brightness, life, colour, and overall thoughts on the legend that was Roberto Duran. One of those Boxers who get you into the sport, who breath the imagination into the fan, and sometimes sparks that great fire which lead people to further their hobby, interest or love into a productive interest. Mine is writing, the people reading this are also writers/readers, hardcore fans of the sport, and they all have their icons who lead them, bleed them and sometimes mislead them into thinking they were the great men in the world, true champions of an individualistic sport which breeds warriors and heroes, much like how alcohol breeds manic depressants and violent juveniles.
Thinking on the same subject by 1000, the coffees warm, but my head is superbly comparing great fighters from that same era, meticulously I might add, even adding the relevant trunk colours and decor. I have Leonard graciously dancing around Duran in their rematch; I have Ali reenacting the rope-a-dope, side by side with Frazier bulldozing any of his 27 canvas tasting victims. I have many, many personal and defined champions who quite clearly have made their mark on the sport. I am not just talking about the ones your mum and dad have heard of, or maybe were luckily enough to watch. I am also thinking your Miguel Cotto’s, your Ricky Hatton’s and you’re Kosta Tszyu’s, animals in the ring, and flag bearers of their chosen nations in the Boxing heavens. That place is where your legacy lies, where the fan truly remembers the great times which they witnessed, or maybe have just caught up on; all encompassing a parallel of fine artistry between the ropes, and portraying that combatant who is responsible for showcasing our chosen and beloved game/sport/pastime, to the mainstream market, the ones who inject the money and audiences into the volatile, but upon its night, the greatest few hours of sport you can witness on the planet. I am still thinking of those bright and vivid images of the elite fighters, in pops Floyd Mayweather, rolling off punches with his trademark, and unmatchable stance, then a smaller, but a fighter, a little faster on his feet, Manny Pacquiao, steps between the ropes. See, as in the eras quoted above, we had those great, great fights that settled the Number 1 debates. We tend not to get those nights anymore. Any examples? Well, I can mention one that can, and could well be made for 2010.
We know the score. Ones a brash American, probably the finest defence minded tactician since the days of Sugar, but equally devastating when on the attack (after ruthlessly dissecting an opponent over 9 or so rounds), see the Marquez, Hatton fights for references. The other fighter is the modest, fan friendly, and apparently worlds Number Uno, Manny Pacquiao. Both lay claim to the Pound for Pound hotspot, and both have good credentials to back up the right to currently own this mythical title. The blip on Mayweather’s side of the fence is his retirement (s), but I feel his fight with Mosley more than made up for it. Lots of people, mostly Internet black cats, petitioned for months about him fighting a ‘true’ welter, he did. He fought the best, he beat the best, and he actually embarrassed the best. On Manny’s side, he has a lot to back his CV up with. I mean just think of the way he atrociously ruined Hatton and Cotto, and made Clottley look like an amateur for 12 rounds. Unfortunately, as we now know there have been some pre-conceived disagreements and matters which have now halted 2 sets of negotiations. In a nutshell, we had the alleged growth hormone incident, now the split purse issue. I actually believe one fighter is clearly right in this case, and it is in my eyes a non-issue, but to keep in line with ethical, level headed and non-judgmental writing, I shall take the culprit to the grave!
See, I have no ancestral allegiance to either Boxer, but I do have a long standing, and fundamentally concrete love of entertaining boxing. That should be the aim from a fan perspective at all times. I can appreciate a fighter’s stance, you need to win gritty to win sometimes, and if that means extended your fledgling career, your growing career, or just the plain record in question, then it has to be done. Hey, sometimes they stink, but it’s the nature of a well thought out, and cash rich beast which keeps them making money, and basically keeps you entertained and on-side, as we all remember the good nights, don’t we? A lot of people forget about the business aspect when watching, discussing or enjoying the sport, but unfortunately, it is about 50% of why we tune in. Take away the 36 minutes of live action available on a standard 12 rounder, then you are left with the all important press tours, meetings, and the pinnacle of build up in the weigh in. Chuck in the TV specials like 24/7 and commercials, and you have a healthy amount of TV viewing time, a fantastic outreach from the promoter and fighter to the all important PPV paying fan. See, what pee’s me off though, is the followers of the sport are continuously being robbed of good match ups, and its quite frankly getting on my wick. What is equally more baffling is the fact that the same people are coming back paying £25/$40 a piece, time and time again, to watch the likes of Julio Chávez, Junior, currently 40 and 0, but trust me his record is nothing short of appalling for someone who has held a ‘version’ of the a world title. There is a way we can finally achieve our aim of watching excellent, prime boxers, fighting each other, and someone has to make a stand. Pacquiao is the man.
I trust that Mayweather wants this fight; in fact I know he does. People form their own views on various fighters, Mayweather generally gets a hard time from the armchair representatives. But give the man his due, skill set wise, and in terms of providing great fights, he has. How can the Ricky Hatton, Jose Luis Castillo or Shane Mosley performances create bad feedback for him personally?! He is arguably one of the finest fighters we will have witnessed in a long time, and yes, he does deserve that place in my head, weaving and bobbing, and sometimes self-creating those super-fights we have seen and crave. This is going to hurt, but Manny Pacquiao needs to take the initiative here, accept the 40/60 purse, take the blood tests and then enjoy the absolute summit of a truly special career which see’s him on the edge of retirement, but with a ridiculous option lingering, involving either a re-match with Miguel Cotto or a fight with Antonio Margarito. Good God. Why not fight a rematch with Hatton? Sorry, but Pacquiao won me over with his persona, his awesome appeal as a fighter, and his general grace, taking upon a nations dreams, and ending up on the covers of Time Magazine, and demanding a massive global audience in Asia, US and the EU, much similar to the phenomenon that was, and is still David Beckham. If you carry that flame, and you want to make the fans happy, Filipino or not, then pride needs to take a back seat. As a fan of Ricky Hatton, I can guarantee you, his most marketable and endearing aspect was the fact he did not give a damn, and gave those followers what they wanted and deserved, unfortunately, that was not only his best attribute, but his worst deficiency. Pacquiao has an advantage in that regard, as he bases his fighting ability, on a reasonably good guard and sound defence mechanism. Not to mention a good set of advisers around him. Pacquiao badly wants this fight, and so do we. A Boxer needs to step up to the plate here, and give us our monies worth. Floyd will not budge, that much is academic, so Manny has the option here to still make a hell of a lot of money, gain even more respect from that adoring TV viewer and even the International press, by talking the hit with the purse, and taking those blood tests which should of been taken initially; if you are a clean fighter no?
The reason this fight needs to be made is that it can truly wipe the floor with that mainstream market, capturing the 18-25 demographic which has allegedly been tied into the MMA/UFC market, and can be not so much taken over, but can be capitalized on via a shared market, which has shamelessly and stupidly been ignored of late. The formats on offer from our flexible friends in the martial arts and cage fighting industries are superb, generate a loyal and enthusiastic fan base, and from recent research shows signs of a long term relationship between punter and fighter ensuring the future of their sport, giving it further leeway in that other cross-generated market we discussed; the mainstream. Easy peasy, Lemon squeezy we say. Enter the ego. Unfortunately promoters and fighters, they kinda got their own business going on. Split purses, smearing campaigns, siding with their star attractions, making fights then mean nothing to anyone in the world, bar the fighter in questions legacy/standing in the sport (See Cotto V Foreman) and generally ripping the fan off for their money, but always ensuring they make a healthy profit at all times. Luckily cats like HBO have caught on to such naughtiness, canceling the likes of Klitschko’s fights, against abysmal, non-worthy contenders for three quarters of the Worlds Heavyweight straps. One prime example is Albert Sosnowski, on offer to Vitali for the WBC portion of the pie, but gladly not on any major Western TV network this weekend. Thanks lads, appreciate the blackout, but make sure you pull your weight with regards to the K2/Haye negotiations.
So here we sit, a few months away from a summer of sport which has no real reps from our end, as it stands with Haye and K2, it’s getting boring, and one of them seems to be sacred, or maybe as we discussed, one has that horrible ego syndrome which only screws one side of that HD TV you bought on credit to watch the likes of them in ‘super-fights’. Make the stand for the fan Manny! Your legacy awaits cement, and you can double the amount of respect I and millions of others have for you, in taking the tests and splitting that huge purse, Floyd will have nowhere else to run my friend. Let’s pray it happens, for all of our sakes. If it gets made, I might even promise to fully cancel the World Cup. (That’s Soccer for the Yanks). Kind of a personal sacrifice to thank both fighters for making potentially the biggest fight of all-time. The offers there for 28 days lads…..
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