By Roberto Elmore: The stage is being set. The fans are lobbying which fighter is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Journalist hands have been plenty busy for the past 4 months tracking every move made by Mayweather and Pacquiao. Bloggers have been calling Mayweather a coward and saying he’s using the drug test as a means to avoid the fight while Pacman has come under fire for fighting fighters who best suit his style and avoiding slick black fighters. Whatever the case may be, thanks to Benard Hopkins, a log called race has now been thrown on the fire. This is Holmes and Cooney all over again.
For those who don’t know in 1982, Cooney and Holmes squared off in an epic battle at Ceasers Palace for the WBC title. Holmes was three years into reign has heavyweight champion and was feeling neglected and not appreciated by the public. He was a blue collar worker with great fighting skills and had a mission to prove this to the whole world. Then you have this brash young fighter in Gerry Cooney who was working his way through the ranks and was determined to prove as well that his skill and not skin color, was the reason he got a shot at Holmes ( Reference used: Legendary Nights). But somewhere in the mist, the talk of the skill level of both fighters, went out the window and race came through the front door. The two camps played it for what it was worth.
Mike Jones and Dennis Rappaport, Gerry’s promoters, and Don King, Holmes promoter, exchanged barbs for days. It got so bad that threats were made to both fighters. And on fight night snipers were surrounded the pre-fabricated parking lot to ensure the safety of the two fighters. Even Jesse Jackson was brought in to calm things down. The media gave more attention to Gerry Cooney like never before and was being held up as the Great White Hope. To add more flames to the fire, on fight night Holmes was introduced first, even though he was champion. Cooney had never been in a long greuling fight. His longest fight before Holmes was against a guy named Eddie Lopez (Reference used: Google; Gerry Cooney’s boxrec). He admited when the fight got into the later rounds his mind went into shock because he had been used to putting fighters away early. As for Holmes, he was season, skilled determined, and nothing was going to stand in his way that night. The end result was a 13 round TKO thus silencing critics along the way.
Which brings me here. You have Manny Pacquiao from the Phillippines, who has suddenly taken the boxing world by storm and is racking his more noteriety along the way. He is a very humble man, newly elected Congressman, appearing on American T.V shows such as 60 minutes and Jimmy Kimmel; a very likeable type of guy; everything one could ask for in a fighter depending on the person. Manny’s break through came against Oscar De La Hoya after making the Golden Boy quit in their fight. That was followed up by wins over Clottey, Cotto, and Margarito winning the BWAA award 3 times, fighter of the year in 06, 08, and 09, and an eight time world champ. To some, a perfect gentlemen and role model.
Then you have Floyd Mayweather from Grand Rapids, Michigan; runs his mouth about his opponents, flashy with his money and very outspoken. To some, not a role model or gentlemen. He at one time was the pound for pound champ. He too has Oscar De la Hoya to thank for his breakthrough; that was followed up with victories over Hatton, Marquez, and Mosley, 5 time world champ,1998 and 2007 International Boxing Award (Muhammad Ali Boxing Award) Fighter of the Year, 2010 Forbes Magazine, Ranked “Number 2” Richest and Powerful athlete in the world.
Which brings me here. How will the situation play out? Nobody has heard a peep from Mayweather concerning the fight while Top Rank says its their number one priority. Both fighters will make plethora of money and clean up on pay per view. Will Mayweather’s defensive skills, ability to make adjustments, counter punching ability, excellent use of his footwork come into play or will Manny’s ability to throw punches from odd angles, in and out approach, lightning quick hands, aggressiveness, able to put away rounds early, come into play? Will the media and bloggers continue to bash both fighters records? Absolutely. Will the people continue to take sides? You can count on it. In my opinion, this fight should be based squarely of skills and not race. But you can rest assure, the color of these fighters skin will play a huge part. The race is on.
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