Is Pacquiao the man or not?

pac7454By Michael Turturice: Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (55-5-2 with 38KO’s) dominating show over Brandon Rios (31-2-1 with 23KO’s) has shown the sports writers that he is back atop the boxing world. Is this really the case? I see this in a whole different light. Rios is a good solid blood and guts fighter but also tailored made for the speedy Pacquiao.

This fight was just a replay of the Margarito fight. The same straight forward, slow footed style that Pacquiao destroyed before. Now I am confident that this fight was made to build Manny’s confidence since his string of loses and the KO served up by Marquez. At the end of the night it looked to me that the Pacquiao camp was riding high.

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No issues with Canelo’s weight for the Mayweather fight

Canelo Alvarez(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Michael Turturice: On every blog, sport writers website and talk show the only topic this week is WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s (42-0-1 with 30 KO’s) weight for Saturday’s fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hell it was even streamed on an electronic billboard in Times Square. Hear me folks this is just a distraction! Floyd Mayweather Sr. has come out and said this morning that he “knows” Alvarez is still trying to make weight to today’s weight-in at the MGM Grand.

This doesn’t pass the smell test and it is my opinion that “The Money Team” is just stirring the pot. Might even be a sign of concern…

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Can Mayweather vs. Alvarez beat the record 2.4 millions PPV’s?

23(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) By Michael Turturice: In May of 2007, the pay per view record was set at 2.4 million Buys for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Oscar Del La Hoya fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now the question is can this Saturday’s card between Mayweather Jr. and WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada overtake that lofty number?

I watched the 2007 Mayweather-De La Hoya fight and really enjoyed every round. Yes, Mayweather won that fight by a 12 round split decision with his mid-fight adjustments surpassing the solid effect by the Golden Boy De La Hoya. Thinking back on that fight, I can’t remember who else stepped in the ring that night; and this is where I think this upcoming card has a chance.

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Garcia vs. Matthysse battle this Saturday in Las Vegas

matthysse53By Michael Turturice: Now this is a fight we can believe in. Way to go Floyd Mayweather Jr. for lining this up on your under card. In a future blog I will talk about the winner of this fight taking on Money May, but for now let’s focus on what will be a terrific match up.

Let’s start with WBA/WBA light welterweight champion Danny Garcia – 26-0 with 16 KO’s – this is a solid record not only number wise but the names on his resume are not to be over looked. It’s hard to pick apart his fight game.

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Mayweather vs. Canelo – My Take

canelo3267333By Michael Turturice: I have spent some good quality time watching the hype leading up to this fight; I’ve also spent the last dozen years watching Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight. In fact if I hear “HARD WORK AND DEDICATION” come out of Mayweather’s one more time I might just split in two.

I’m not going to say that Money is not at the top of the boxing food chain or that he has spent the last 5 years ducking PAC or that his latest target will be his downfall. But I have noticed a few little things worth writing about.

First Canelo, yes he is big, I mean real big…and strong. But what pops out to me is the way he throws his combinations, sharp, fast and unpredictable moving from up top back to the body with an odd yet poetic flow. His power has been well documented and what I see is that he has a long throw, meaning he fires past is target almost like a wrecking ball. He is not content to just make contact; he wants to punch a hole in you.

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