Manny “Pac Man”
Pacquiao represent
what is good in
boxing today. Not
only for his skills
in the ring, but for
the way he comports
himself outside.
After a fight, he
always praises his
opponent in the
manner of old school
fighters. "Dissing"
was not a word back
in the day and it's
not one Manny uses
today
Moreover, Pacquiao
skills have
increased
considerably under
the tutelage of
Freddie Roach and he
is fast closing the
gap on Pretty Boy
Floyd as being the
best Pound for Pound
fighter out there.
As well, he may well
be the most
devastating puncher
in boxing today. He
has polished his jab
and now includes in
his impressive
arsenal a sharp and
crisp right hook to
go with his
sledgehammer left.
He has incredible speed, endurance,
power, solid chin......the whole
package....and he enjoys doing what
he does...........he is having fun
and it is contagious.. A Manny
Pacquiao, who is Mr. Excitement,
comes along only once in a great
while. Enjoy him while he is here,
for he is what is good about boxing
today. He makes work on Friday go by
faster knowing you will see him
fight on Saturday.
But not everything is rosy. Floyd
Mayweather Jr is truly a great
fighter, perhaps the very best. But
he needs to improve his comportment.
He needs to mature so fans can
embrace him as they did with Sugar
Shane Mosley who does not engage in
weeping after a fight, nor does he
insult our collective intelligence
by promising an early retirement.
There are too many mega purses out
there for him and he knows it better
than anyone else. His problem seems
to be one of attitude and
out-of-ring demeanor. What he need
is a good Public Relations
spokesperson. God knows he has few,
if any, problems in the ring. Sure,
if he retired now, he would end up
being a slam dunk in the
International Boxing Hall of
Fame....but his legacy as a
premature retiree would haunt him
forever. His legacy needs more
cement and he knows it.
One good sign is that Pretty
Boy” will return to his
hometown of Grand Rapids,
Michigan on November 22 to
host his fifth annual
Thanksgiving Feast giveaway.
Mayweather, who supports the
giveaway through his own
contributions, will arrive
at the Madison Family Market
in his childhood southside
neighborhood and hand out
500 turkeys with all of the
trimmings—including
potatoes, vegetables,
stuffing, cranberry sauce
and pies—to hundreds of
selected families. That's a
damm good start. Let's hope
it continues because Floyd
is too great a fighter to
engage in foolishness that
can only tarnish rather than
enhance his persona. Like a
football player who hands
the football to the referee
after scoring a touchdown
rather than doing a
celebratory somersault,
Floyd needs to realize that
investing in a little
humility might have a
disproportionately positive
payback.
Which
brings us to the downright ugly. WBO
belt holder Brooklyn Shannon Briggs,
sat ringside as IBF champ Wladimir
Klitchko iced Calvin Brock on
November 11, 2006 at Madison Square
Garden. This is what he had to say
about Brock's effort:
"I told everyone that Brock-oli was
green as grass," Briggs said. "He
looked like a rank amateur. The guy
was a total flop on the US Olympic
team and he was a total flop in the
Garden. Is he animal, vegetable or
mineral? After this showing, I think
he can be stored in the vegetable
section with the rest of the Brock-oli.
I knew he was a pretender contender
from Jump Street. That was an
embarrassment to our whole country.
You can stick a fork in Brock. Hush,
hush, Sweet Charlotte and like that.
No heavyweight from Brooklyn would
perform like that in the Garden,
that is for
sure...........................go
with the best and forget the
rest.........I am the real world
heavyweight champ,. Not Klitchko,
not the robotic Valuev and not Oleg
Maskaev. I am the whole enchilada.
These other guys are, well to use a
Brooklyn expression, they are
chopped liver."
Briggs' "classy" manager
Scott Hirsch had these
"kind" words for the loser:
"Brock showed he will never
be a world champ," Hirsch
said. "He folded up like a
cheap umbrella in heavy
rain. So let's compare and
contrast that with the
dramatic, resounding victory
Shannon had against
Liakhovich. You can say
Brooklyn Briggs snatched
victory from, the jaws of
defeat but he did it with a
Hollywood ending. Brock and
Klitchko was dull from start
to finish. I have no doubt
that Shannon would crush
Wladimir. I also have no
doubt that Shannon is the
real heavyweight champ."
Indeed!
I am pretty used to fighters
criticizing potential
opponents after a win, but
this is one of the first
times I have heard one go
after a loser. What possibly
can be accomplished by
pouring salt into the wounds
of a fighter who has just
been knocked out? Briggs
mentions his Brooklyn
heritage. Swell, but my
knowledge of Brooklyn tells
me he has been away from the
home boys too long and has
lost touch.
Now
hopefully Briggs, who is nobody's
fool, really didn't mean this and it
was all part of promoting a big
fight and a bigger purse....as that
seems to be the modus operandi these
days, but why is it that the Eastern
European fighters don't engage in
this hyperbole. They also stand to
gain from a mega promotion. Just
what is it that keeps them from
insulting our intelligence by
announcing early retirements from
the ring or weeping for no apparent
reason?
What is it that allows an Oleg
Maskaev from coming across as a
decent and humble person happy to be
living on Staten Island with his
family, while Hasim Rahman has a
special and highly repulsive
cheerleader accompany him into the
ring? Why does Wladimir Klitchko
never show disrespect to an opponent
he has just dispatched. And why has
the Giant, Valuev, begun to come
across an intelligent and sensitive
type? Heck, these fighters don't
have any PR spokespersons so it must
be something else. Maybe, just
maybe, these guys are trained to do
their talking in the ring. Whatever
it is, it has caused crowds in
Madison Square Garden and other
arenas to embrace them.
