By Keith Darren: Last September 17, many boxing fans were so disappointed by how Floyd Mayweather Jr., considered a future hall of famer and contender to Manny Pacquiao’s throne in the pound for pound list, dealt Ortiz his knockout loss by those cheap shots which cause the attendees to boo in unison and express their disappointment over Floyd.

Though legal, still, people don’t think it was right for Floyd to throw those shots when it was clear that WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz wasn’t ready yet for the fight having his both hands down. Floyd’s only defense on the worldwide criticism he received about those cheap shots was the phrase “protect yourself at all times”. Yes, a boxer needs to protect himself at all times but unsportsmanlike behavior has no place in any sport, more so in boxing where people have to hurt each other to gain the upper hand. What happened on that night was a big blow to the already dying sport which unexpectedly came from Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Luckily, Manny Pacquiao will soon be climbing the ring to face Juan Manuel Marquez. Initially, Pac’s purpose in facing Marquez is to finally shut the Mexican’s mouth and stop him from bragging that he won both fights in 2004 and 2008 when it ended in a draw and a split decision in favor of Manny respectively. Now, Pacquiao has the burden of lifting the sport tainted by Floyd which added to its downward slope. The job of putting back boxing to its former status as one of the premier sports lies in the shoulders of the Filipino icon. His fight with JMM must be a very entertaining one and must bring the fans back to the sport driven away by the Floyd-Ortiz fight. Pac again must show the real entertainment never seen in any of Floyd’s fights. Manny Pacquiao must again perform as expected of him by the boxing fans, pure and real entertainment, and not jab and run, jab and run, jab and run all night which some of Floyd’s fans mistakenly call it the “sweet science”.

Boxing fans are so lucky that Manny is scheduled to fight JMM this November because they knew that the sports need Manny to avoid its extinction or natural death. They knew that without Manny, boxing will continue to rot, made worse by Floyd’s unsportsmanlike behavior in the ring in his last fight. Floyd could have help save boxing by his fight against Victor had it been a good one. But unfortunately, knowing Victor is already starting to heat up on the 4th round, Mayweather took those chances when Ortiz wasn’t ready, or else, he might lost his “0” in his L column. And speaking of no loss record, many people are saying this is one thing that hurt boxing. Floyd’s obsession in his perfect record stops him from fighting good fights. Floyd avoided Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, Sergio Martinez, and Pacquiao just because he wants his “0” to remain intact and facing these men will sure put the number “5” in his loss record. These are the fights that people wanted, but unfortunately, not by Floyd.

Still we’re lucky because there is Manny Pacquiao, who will fight anyone put in the ring with him.