Why isn’t Pacquiao bashed like Floyd?

pac7777By Paul Ward: In a sport like boxing personality can make or break a boxer’s career. Manny Pacquiao has had a phenomenal career, win or lose there’s no denying it, but why does he get much more credit than Floyd Mayweather?

Many boxing fans who like Pacman usually hate Floyd Mayweather and vice versa. I myself am a fan of both, but when looking at the stats of both boxers one can easily see who should rightfully be on top. Let’s take a look at both careers and compare some of their most recent bouts.

The Pacman was knocked out in devastating fashion in the 6th round of his last fight against a fighter (Juan Manuel Marquez) that Floyd annihilated 3 years prior. Many Pacman fans like to bring up the fact that Floyd had to pay for coming in overweight for that fight, but let’s be realistic, 2 lbs overweight is not a whole lot.

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Why is Floyd always bashed?

floyd#232By Paul Ward: It is tough to comprehend how someone as accomplished as Floyd Mayweather Jr. is continually bashed by boxing fans and some critics. Mayweather is not only boxing’s highest paid athlete but he is the highest paid athlete period. A person does not just wake up one day and get offered $250 million dollars for 30 months of work for no good reason.

Is this negativity towards Mayweather’s undeniably spectacular career out of jealousy or naivety? Most people say things along the line of “Mayweather picks and chooses bums” or “he only fights who he knows he can beat,” in my book that’s called intelligence, but does he really only fight bums? For the sake of space, let’s leave out the details of Mayweather’s extensive history of ruining fighter’s careers and let’s focus on his most recent bouts.

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The Next Generation of Boxing: Broner, Wilder, Ward

broner9882By Paul Ward: As boxers like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, and the Klitschkos wrap up their careers in the next coming years, who will take their place? Every generation has its “Greatest of All Time” regardless if fans agree or not.

The last decade or so has seen a wonderful variety of fighters, from Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the Klitschkos and the likes of Arturo Gatti; all boxers who have helped set the stage for a new generation. There are too many boxers to be named, but these are among the greats that come to mind.

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Why Is There So Much Talk of Pacquiao Retiring?

pac92by Paul Ward: Since his loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, the talk of Manny Pacquiao retiring from boxing has run rampant. But should a truly elite 34 year old boxer who happens to have more skill than most fighters in his weight division really call it quits? Throughout the career of many fighters there comes a time when a loss is inevitable, but it’s how the fighter rebounds from the loss that truly defines a fighter.

Agreeably, Manny’s knockout by Marquez was definitely shocking. As Manny laid unconscious and face down on the canvas for that tense minute, the sight was heartbreaking. In the end, he didn’t even suffer a concussion, and within two minutes of the knockdown he was sitting up and smiling. Although it was a vicious knockdown that stunned boxing fans, it was hardly a career ending moment.

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Trout Pulls Off the upset against Cotto

Image: Trout Pulls Off the upset against CottoBy Paul Ward: That’s as good as it gets folks. This time yesterday all of the Miguel Cotto fans who didn’t know who WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout was, were proclaiming Cotto would win easily. I argued that Cotto was in for the fight of his life; just because the boxing world didn’t know who Trout was, didn’t mean he was going to lose.

Trout is fast, has a great chin, and knows how to box. After destroying Delvin Rodriguez, Cotto can now be added to Trouts list of defeats. Trout was largely disregarded as a nobody, but as Cotto fans saw tonight, he is a force to be reckoned with. Cotto along with his fans didn’t give Trout a fair chance because they didn’t do their homework, and sadly Cotto paid the price.

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How about Broner vs. Guerrero?

Image: How about Broner vs. Guerrero?By Paul Ward: The talk about Robert Guerrero versus Floyd Mayweather or Adrien Broner versus Mayweather is intriguing; but what about Broner versus Guerrero? Both Guerrero and Broner are good fighters but neither should be taken seriously as an opponent for Mayweather or Pacquiao at this point.

Both fighters could easily make weight and they seem to be all the hype right now, aside from the usual fighters, Mayweather, Pacquiao, Marquez, Alvarez, etc.  This fight could potentially place the winner in prime position for a true Mayweather or Pacquiao mega fight. The action would be a spectacular sight, and here is why…

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Berto vs. Guerrero: Disappointing officiating

Image: Berto vs. Guerrero: Disappointing officiatingIn watching Andre Berto versus Robert Guerrero last Saturday night it becomes ever more apparent that boxing referees are increasingly making bad calls, just as the judges have in recent years. How can boxing continue as a fair sport if we cannot get referees and judges to do their job properly?

In watching this fight, the first and most obvious bad call was with the first knockdown. Did anyone else notice Guerrero holding Berto behind the head for three consecutive punches before knocking him down? Should that have even been counted as a knockdown? The second knockdown was similar, but not as blatant. Let us just suppose that those two knockdowns were not achieved by fouls and move on to the rest of the fight…

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