By Ken Woods: Many fans and analysts like to go through the annals of boxing history and compare those of yesteryear with those of current times and determine who is better. This is pointless.
One cannot accurately compare fighters from different eras. Many things have changed in the sport since its inception, and things will continue to change. The debate about all-time greats is one that lacks substance.
by Miguel Alejandro Lopez: Weeks after his decisive win over Manny Pacquiao, Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez reiterated his firm stance that he will never fight his Filipino rival ever again — no matter how much money is offered or regardless of what any promoter would say. With that solid statement, Team Pacquiao decided to move on from the Marquez saga as well.
However in a recent interview with LA Times Report, Marquez contradicted his previous position on the issue, and actually said he is now willing to fight Pacquiao again for a fifth time. The only condition is that the fight should take place in his native country of Mexico.
There is a very compelling reason why Marquez suddenly softened up on his stance on not fighting Pacquiao ever again. He realized (possibly too late) that in an effort to bargain for more purse money in the fifth Pacman fight, he lost all of his bargaining power because Pacquiao decided not to chase him.
By Miguel Alejandro Lopez: Floyd Mayweather is the pay-per-view king of boxing. Recently he signed up a deal with Showtime to fight six more times for a period of 30 months. Each fight is expected to stack each other in terms of revenue, causing a snowballing of income for the undefeated Mayweather. It seems as though the great Floyd Mayweather (who has won five titles in different weight classes) has no rival out there when it comes to cashing out the big bucks.
Not quite.
The recently fallen hero, Manny Pacquiao (who has won 11 titles in 8 divisions), is currently spending a long layoff from boxing after being embarrassed by a 40 year old muscular, athletic, powerful welterweight puncher from Mexico (who has a walking body weight of a lightweight). Anyway, even though Pacquiao is nowhere to be found in the boxing scene during the past six months, his name still apparently draws a lot of boxing fans to the sport.
By 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.
By Miguel Alejandro Lopez: Top Rank officially announced the return date for boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao. The 8 division titlist will fight on November 24, 2013 (November 23 in the U.S) against puncher slugger Brandon Rios in Macau, China.
Many people expect that Pacquiao will have the upper hand in this fight, but the truth is that in many respects, he is the true underdog.
First, “Bam Bam” Rios is a younger fighter who has not taken as much punishment than Pacquiao in his career. He has less than 40 fights at this point, compared to Pacquiao who has more than 60. In short, the Pacman has a lot of mileage on him than his younger opponent.
By Miguel Alejandro Lopez: Manny Pacquiao, the recently overthrown pound for pound king, has repeatedly indicated that he wanted to fight at the Venetian Hotel in Macau, or any other venue in Singapore for his comeback. The reason behind the decision is the taxes – Pacquiao wanted to steer clear of the taxes that the US government deducts from foreign fighters.
While fighting in Macau seems like a convenient option, it is not a very good decision when it comes to cementing a legacy and proving something in the sport. First, Macau has proven to be a good haven for boxing gambling, but it has never been established as good for pay-per-view sales.
By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao is continuing with his belief that he can will himself back to the form of his youth when he faces Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8th for the fourth time in their careers. Pacquiao has started to show signs of slowing down and deteriorating in his last three fights, and he wants to try and prove that he’s the same fighter he once was.
Pacquiao said to Yahoo Sports News “I need to be more aggressive. That’s what I’m focusing on now, more motivation and more aggressiveness. That’s the most important thing I had before, when I was 25 or 26 years old…I’m trying to get that back now.”
By Dan Ambrose: Former WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) is one of the possibilities for Manny Pacquiao’s next fight on November 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cotto, 31, probably isn’t a strong possibility for Pacquiao because he’ll want Manny to fight him at a catchweight of 150 pounds rather than coming down to 147 and ending up too weight drained and weak to fight effectively.