The talk of the boxing world has still been about Manny Pacquiao’s impressive twelve round battering of brave challenger Antonio Margarito last weekend at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. With the victory Pacquiao netted the WBC junior middleweight championship, his eighth weight class in which has claimed a belt, and left the masses amazed after controlling his much larger foe with his speed, fluidity and deceptive power.
One man who had been eyeing the contest for quite some time while relishing the opportunity to take in the event from ringside was boxing historian Bert Sugar, who makes the rounds on a yearly basis covering the world’s best fighters and biggest events. Asked for his thoughts on his time in Dallas, Sugar concedes that the fight may have been a mismatch but was still very much worth everyone's time.
“It wasn’t a great fight,” Sugar said upon returning home to New York. “It was a great virtuoso performance by Pacquiao. He dominated expect for one punch in the sixth round from Margarito that hurt him. He dominated the fight. He couldn’t hit him and it was a one-sided ass whooping was what it was.”
Pacquiao’s last two contests have taken place at Cowboys Stadium after a string of stirring performances in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he defeated the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto amongst others. After taking in all of the festivities during Pacquiao’s March drubbing of Joshua Clottey as well as the action last weekend, Sugar admits that there is a completely different vibe in the Lone Star State.
“40,000 people make more noise than 23,000 to begin with,” Sugar mused. “And it was an excited and an excitable crowd who applauded and cheered everything that Pacquiao did. And if you had any friends in Manila there was no need to call them because they were all there at the fight.”
The attention has of course turned to Pacquiao’s immediate future in the sport, as it is presumed he will be returning to campaign in the welterweight division after a grueling albeit one-sided battle with Margarito. Asked who he would prefer to Manny face next, Sugar insists he hasn’t fully lost his interest in the potential matchup that has captured the public’s interest for over a year’s time.
“I’d love to see a Manny and Floyd [Mayweather] fight,” Sugar said of the Las Vegas-based superstar. “When it was about to be made twice over it was the most anticipated fight since Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, it just never happened. But I do think it is one of the fights I would like to look forward to. The question now becomes where does he go? What does Pacquiao do? Where is Floyd? These are all questions in the boxing fans eyes. Somehow, someway, somewhere if that fight isn’t made, boxing loses.”
Unfortunately a Pacquiao-Mayweather meeting may never come off as Floyd’s future is extremely uncertain given his current legal woes. I ran a list of other formidable champions and contenders by Sugar and he seems to think the most logical choice is right in front of us.
“I conceivably could see the winner, at a catch weight, of Saturday’s fight between [Paul] Williams and Sergio Martinez being exciting enough for Pacquiao,” Sugar said. “I just don’t think that ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley would raise the interest in the fight crowd. We’re looking for big fights from Pacquiao right now. And you got to have a marquee name and it has to be outside of the framework of just the hardcore boxing fans in order to make it feasible. Pacquiao got fifteen million dollars for the fight Saturday night. Where are they going to find that the next time?”
Again taking place at Atlantic City, the rematch between Williams and Martinez is one of the year’s most intriguing fights, as the two men engaged in a thrilling battle last year that saw the two southpaws trade knockdowns in the first round before attacking each other with great fervor the remaining eleven stanzas. Williams was awarded with a majority decision win but Sugar saw things the other way.
“I had Martinez winning,” Sugar claimed. “I just thought he did more. Paul Williams didn’t fight the fight that everyone hoped he could fight. Maybe he will this time but Paul Williams was hurt several times. He didn’t show the explosiveness, except in the first round and then he got knocked down himself. So if Paul Williams is the Paul Williams we hope he is than he will do better.”
All one has to do is take a glimpse of Martinez for a few seconds inside of the ring to spot the great talent for which he possesses but he raised his stock to a new level with his gutsy victory over former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in April. Elaborating further on Martinez, you can tell just how intrigued Sugar is by his style.
“Martinez is one heck of a fighter,” Sugar continued. “He’s the most unorthodox fighter I have seen since Prince Naseem. And he has power to boot. He took Pavlik apart. Martinez looks like he took a four-way cold tablet and he’s running three more ways to catch up with it. I don’t know where he is in the ring and that’s what makes him exciting, interesting and fun to watch.”
The Williams-Martinez rematch is at a contracted weight of 158 pounds and what was alarming was the fact that the Argentinean stylist came in weighing 176 last month for the 30-day weight check in advance of the fight. Martinez followed that up by tipping the scales at 166 pounds for the seven day weight check which means he will be spending much of this week simply trying to cut pounds instead of focusing on the fight. Sugar knows fully well that weight loss can be a huge issue for a fighter but doesn’t know Martinez well enough to know how much impact it will have on the fight.
“Oh I think it’s a problem,” the always blunt Sugar said. “The question now becomes can he handle the problem? Some fighters are drained by making weight. I don’t know enough about Martinez and his problems of late to know if it is a problem.”
At this time last year Williams seemed to be the center of much more discussion and his 2010 calendar year has been disappointing thus far, with only an odd technical decision over Kermit Cintron this past May to his credit. Now 29 years old, Sugar feels that this is an essential fight for Williams if he is to ever live up to the hype that first surrounded him years ago.
“This is a fight that Paul Williams has to make. This is his crossroads fight. He’s the bigger name, at least in America. There have been great hopes held for him and if he can’t come away from this fight with a win then a lot of those hopes are going to go away. Williams has more to lose than Martinez in this fight. There’s going to be a point where the potential becomes past potential and he never really became that great fighter that many thought he was going to be. I think Saturday night is that chance for him.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
Comments
Pacquiao vs Williams????
Wow, if Pacquiao vs Margarito was called "david vs Goliath", what would they call this one. David vs KingKong?
This will no longer be called a mismatch, it should be called a STUPID MATCH. Why? Why is not the real question. Paul Williams stands 6' 1" and wanted to fight a 5' 6 1/2" boxer. Its very obvious that Paul Williams is only looking for a multi-million pay-off instead of glory. He said he can beat Pacquiao. Of course, he should or he will be the biggest dissapointment in boxing history if he got beaten by a boxer of 5' 6 1/2 " statute. If he really think he is that good, why dont he gain some weight and fight someone 7 inches taller than him and I will buy the PPV just to see and he can really bang it with bigger guys rather than smaller guys. He is a fu***ing JOKE.
And if some miraculous way, Manny still wins against Paul, who's next? Haye, Wladimir or Vitali?
Pacquiao Martines would be a great fight;
1. Jr Middleweight @154 lbs at fighttime
2. Middleweight @ 160 @ fighttime
Pacquiao can still come at 149-150 and fight for another title without any catch weight. That would make more sense but the money-hungry Paul.
good point...=)
Another thing i had noticed about Paul Williams, every single fight he ever had was done with all advantage to his favor as no one actually was any taller than 5' 11". He should Paul "advantage" Willaims. Talking of someone who just want to fight for money without any risk to take.
Of all the queer birds I ever did see, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the queerest by far to me. He does alot of posturing and pretending and comes fight time he goes into hiding.
i post while i'm in the library or Starbucks or even at McDonald's.
sometimes in hotels or airports
I guess you'll send James Bond to investigate all the patrons in these establishments?
ano ka, TANGA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ilocano ka nga kaya ka TANGA
i post while i'm in the library or Starbucks or even at McDonald's.
sometimes in hotels or airports
I guess you'll send James Bond to investigate all the patrons in these establishments?
ano ka, TANGA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ilocano ka nga kaya ka TANGA
you are stupid and moron..tell that " ilocano is tanga" in my face and i will break your face. tell me where are you located and i will find you.. i'm in the bay area.. gago ka.
Galit ka pala sa mga ILOCANO ha???
...Gusto mo away na basagan ng mukha?????
...Dito ko ngayon sa MALL of ASIA at mayang 11pm nasa GREENBELT na ako. ano kita tayo at BASAGAN ng MUKHA?????
Sorry brad kung nasulutan ka ng mas madiskarteng ilocano. Di naman kasalanan ng ilocano na mas gwapo at magaling sya sayo kaya wag ka na magalit.
Wag mo ng kanisan mga hindi mo kayang palagan kapag kaharap mo at sa likod ng computer ka nagtatago para magmura.
Magpakalalake ka bro... yun eh kung di ka binabae at baka dun nanggagaling galit mo at di ka napagbigyan ng ilocano hahaha
Floid Maynever is a yellow ch!mp
FLOYD IS STILL TREMBLING OF WHAT HE SAW TO MARGARITO IT WILL HAPPEN TO HIM IF HE WILL FIGHT MANNY PACQUIAO, FLOYD IS STILL HIDING IN THE FOXHOLE, NOW HE JUST BEAT THOSE LOWLY GUYS OUT THERE THE LATEST ONE IS THE SECURITY GUARD.
Pacquiao vs P. Williams? This is going to be the biggest freakshow boxing ever had.
Martinez vs Williams, the result will be the same like the last time. Martinez had the tendency to slow down in the second half of the fight and this time around his at disadvantage. Not only does he have to give up 2 lbs under the middleweight limit but he will also be weight drain. It was a smart move by Team Williams. I won't be surprise if Martinez get KO. I think this will go the distance like the last time in Williams' favor.
Paul Williams can't sell. He just need LOW RISK HIGH REWARD just like much everything else in his resume.Smaller opponent with zero or slim just of winning.His just an overhyped fighter.He just need the pacman's #1 P4P status (like stepping stone) and then used it to cherrypick future opponent and hold it as much as he can at the same time make as much money as he can. He is using the Myweather style w/c is not only bad for business but bad for boxing as a whole. This fight will never happen because Arum and Al Haymon hate each other. Arum will never give the biggest payday to any opponent that has Al Haymon attach to it.That's why the fight with Berto will never happen too. He was never even mention in Arum's recent talk about pacquiao's future opponent.
Let Pacquiao go back to welterweight and let those who want to fight, fight him in that weight. Pacquiao has nothing more to prove.
Correct. Even Arum said no more bigger guys. Margarito was tough admittedly even by Pac. He should fight one more time and it should be Mayweather. If Fraud continues to run, then Berto, Alexander, or Bradley as a farewell fight to get the "he hasn't fought a black slick fighter" critics to shut up.
Pacquiao vs. Williams or Pacquiao vs. Martinez is nothing but crazy propositions from a crazy "boxing historian".
Manny Pacquiao has nothing more to prove. He is the Man! The Greatest of All Time! Greater than any boxer that ever lived.
Paul Williams should fight those that are in the upper weight division. He should be ashamed of even dreaming of fighting a very small Pacquiao. Let those young and undefeated fighters at welterweight fight him.
Mayweather Jr. is now wallowing in the quagmire of filth that he himself created. Let him drown! The Great Manny Pacquiao does not need him. Pacman is The Man! The likes of Pacquiao comes only once in a thousand years! The Greatest of All Time!
MANNY PACMAN IS CONSIDERED A GOD IN HIS COUNTRY , ALL FILIPINOS BOW DOWN TO HIM WHEN HE ARRIVES . HE RULES OEVR ALL FILIPINOS !!!
MANNY IS THE ONLY WORLDCLASS FILIPINO IN HISTORY
MANNY IS WORSHIPPED ENDLESSLY IN HSI COUNTRY
HIS BROTHER BOBBY IS LIKE A PRINCE , HIS FAMILY OWNS THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE!!1
MANNY PACMAN IS CONSIDERED A GOD IN HIS COUNTRY , ALL FILIPINOS BOW DOWN TO HIM WHEN HE ARRIVES . HE RULES OEVR ALL FILIPINOS !!!
MANNY IS THE ONLY WORLDCLASS FILIPINO IN HISTORY
MANNY IS WORSHIPPED ENDLESSLY IN HSI COUNTRY
HIS BROTHER BOBBY IS LIKE A PRINCE , HIS FAMILY OWNS THE COUNTRY AND THE PEOPLE!!1
Paul Williams against Manny Pacquiao will never happen. Paul should fight Ivan Calderon. Since he want a smaller fighter, Ivan is the logical choice. His other choice should add more weights and fight in the higher divisions. At 6'2" , he should be fighting at the heavyweight division. In other words, fight your own size. Idiot.
We want to see the laurente vs holloway fight period...15 seconds of video is not enough. why all pacman pacquiao etc.. its all for nothing this time. its getting over stretch. history will be good to pacquiao. does laurente need to pay something ? if i am laurente, i will tell the world that his boss pacman did not do anything good for him same with top rank. where can you find an article giving him two paragraphs especially P.I. ones.
youre an idiot man.. this laurente was told to just stand in there. and what did he do? he twarted TPs big plans for hollow we.
dennis guillermo could not contain his excitment as his partner unzipped his pants to reveal hsi giant elongated tool....
dennis guillermo approached slowly andupon reaching his boyfrineds tool he slowly....slowly swallowed it whole .....the sheer joy dennis felt was welcoming to his boyfriend
dennis guillermo started to go up and down using all of his skill and years of experience....
dennis soon was able to cause and eruption , the lava spalteering on his cheecks and lipstick covered mouth
with such glee dennis swallowed every drop of lava to teh delight of his lover ....
soon dennis parted his legs showing his hairy cave .... his lover with excitement entered his cave like a boy enetring a candy store...............
dennsi guillermo moaned and groaned to no end............................
to be continued....
I still dont understand why Mayweather refuses to fight Pacquiao?? Beyond logic indeed.
common sense logic tells us that Mayweather is afraid of Pacquiao. He wants to preserve his image as a pretty boy, if he thinks he is "pretty boy". To be honest with you Mr. Jacques, I would not be surprised that Mayweather would prefer to go to jail rather than fight Pacquiao. Right now he is provoking anybody, like that security guard, so that someone will go to court against him.
bring it on! let manny pacquiao fight the winnier of martinez-williams II... that's for his 9th title....
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