“Back so soon,” exclaimed Dave the Barber when he saw me enter his fine barber shop on San Fernando Road:” We were just talking about your favorite fighter. Did Manny Pacquiao have a good year?”
“If you want to talk money; that boy made some serious Benjamin’s this year,” interjected Downtown Ronnie Brown:” Two fights 20 mill each guaranteed, plus percentage of pay per views. He made some serious greens, I’ll tell you. No wonder he was driving around Lala land in his new shotgun grey Ferrari. And I am not even talking about all his new endorsement deals like Hewlett Packard, Nike and my personal favorite, a very cheesy San Manuel Casino commercial. An Indian chief probably gave Manny some green under the table to get that add approved. Manny likes money, green money.”
“Forget about the money,” cried out Dave the Barber: “I am talking about his fights; he dominated Mosley and beat Marquez, although some of you here strongly disagree with judge’s final decision, but somehow I don’t feel satisfied with his fistic conquests. There is something missing.”
“You can’t forget about the money. Money is the root of all evil,” said Al the Barber reflectively:” It seems to me that the more money these boys make the less they are willing to fight. I can still remember Oscar Mayweather fight. They broke all the records, 2.4 million buys. But the fight itself… I’ve seen better sparring sessions. It’s like they made a gentleman’s agreement not to hurt each other. Here comes Manny; 1.3 million buys with Mosley and 1.4 million buys with Marquez and a whole lot of excuses and not a whole lot of fighting.”
“Wow! Hold on just a moment,” roared Ronnie Brown:” You can’t compare Manny‘s fights with sparring sessions. That boy carries the whole country into the ring on his shoulders and leaves his heart in there every time out. He dropped Mosley in the third and then the brother didn’t want to fight any more, not his fault. And with Marquez; it might have been less violent than the first one, but that was still a pretty good scrap if you ask me.”
“Nobody asked you, old fool,” replied Dave the Barber:” But you make a good point; it was less violent. They both promised to fight, but instead we got a very good, highly skilled boxing match. They knew each other well and neither one dared to go all out for the fear of getting knocked out. Now let’s get back to Mosley fight. Let me tell you something, Manny of five years ago would have found a way to knock that old fool cold, but it’s hard to feel the hunger when you wear silk drawers and live in a mansion.”
“I don’t care what you folks say,” cut in Big Steve:” But everything that man touches turns to gold. He came out with a hit single that broke all the charts and look at his political career. They are talking about him running for president soon. And that is because all he wants to do is to help people. Did you hear about him endorsing a produce company just to get fresh produce to his people in Philippines? That’s a modern day Popeye.”
“Funny you should mention Popeye,” cried out Downtown Ronnie Brown:” Because Popeye needs to face his Brutus before it’s too damned late. Picture this in your mind: Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather, a Superbowl of boxing for all the marbles, offence versus defense. Or how would you call it?”
“I don’t care what you call it as long as they sign a contract and we see it,” replied Al the Barber:” That would make for a pretty good year for Manny. But to tell you the truth, I am just a little bit worried that Floyd will stink up the joint and leave fans wishing for more.”
“I’ll take my chances,” shouted Ronnie Brown:” Let’s get it on. Can Popeye finally take down Brutus? What do you think?”
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