TIME magazine story on Pacquiao misses the mark

November 10, 3:18 PMSF Boxing ExaminerColin Seymour

Previous Next

44 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the SF Boxing Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

TIME magazine story on Manny Pacquiao graced the cover of its Asian issue and ran inside in the USA.
TIME MAGAZINE

TIME magazine’s lengthy feature on Manny Pacquiao in this week’s issue begins by describing how Manny throws a baseball with “a balletic grace at odds with the savage power that the best pound-for-pound professional boxer on earth exhibits in the ring.”

That angle throws like a girl.

Balletic grace at odds with boxing prowess? That revelation of boxing ignorance portends several others in this article at odds with TIME’s lofty standing in the journalism pantheon. The story defines how crumbly that pantheon has rapidly become a lot better than it defines Pacquiao.

# At stake Saturday for Pacquiao, the TIME story says by way of illustrating how many weight divisions Manny has bridged, is “a seventh title, the welterweight, which has a maximum limit of 147 lb. (67 kg).”

Well, it’s not really THE welterweight, and they’re fighting at a catch weight of 145.

# Two unfortunately placed commas make it appear Rolando Navarette and Pacquiao have been the only two prominent Filipinos fighters, as well as two prominent sons of General Santos City.

Haven’t they ever heard of Gabriel “Flash” Elorde? Don’t bet on it.

# The one chance of explaining Pacquiao’s boxing style, which the story never addresses, comes .  . . and goes . . . via omission of Pacquiao’s breakthrough 2003 upset of Marco Antonio Barrera. Instead we get this: In June 2001, Pacquiao stepped in as a last-minute replacement at a fight in Las Vegas to win the IBF super-bantamweight title.

That’s when he beat Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. It appears the Ledwaba fight is in the story instead of the Barrera fight because it immediately preceded Pacquiao’s hook-up with trainer Freddie Roach.

Editors notice these things when there are enough of them, which there no longer are. I’m among the displaced editors, so I know whereof I speak here. And by the way, I also was unhappy with Sports Illustrated’s take on Pacquiao’s upset of Oscar De La Hoya last December.

I can’t speak for the political content of this week’s piece, as I know more about boxing than I do about Philippines politics. But if this is TIME’s definitive story on Pacquiao, politics emphasis and all, then why doesn’t the boxing part impart any of the following (from my Pacquiao Primer)?

# Manny Pacquiao is widely acknowledged to be the best Asian boxer ever and the most revered living person in the Philippines, population 90 million. Millions of Filipino-Americans also worship him. So, too, do many Mexican fans, who are claiming Manny as one of their own because of his determined, courageous style and the plaintive qualities citizens of the two nations share.

# Pacquiao is an impossibly quick left-hander who forces non-stop action and lands power punches with the quickest release in the sport. He is resourceful and versatile. He takes a solid punch and is never deterred.

# Pacquiao has been increasingly impressive with each weight gain, in marked contrast to boxing’s conventional wisdom.

# In his signature fight, against the imperious Mexican featherweight legend Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003, Pacquiao was barely billed in what was seen as filler on Barrera’s schedule. As Pacquiao, moving up in weight class from super-bantamweight, quickly proved he was too fast for Barrera to handle, it first seemed Barrera might be hard-pressed to win a decision, but by mid-fight the little underdog was humiliating Barrera and it became thinkable he might stop him. Which he did, in the 11th round.

# Pacquiao has been a superstar since then, winning most of his dramatic brawls with the likes of Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Jorge Solis and Oscar Larios, and winning Mexican fans in the process. Some even try to assess Manny’s place in the pantheon of the Mexican fighters he resembles, such as southpaw featherweight Vicente Saldivar and bantamweights Carlos Zarate and Ruben Olivares.

These are not issues TIME would have overlooked as recently as five years ago. And, let me tell you, TIME is still the best. For me the Pacquiao story is a depressing barometer of the decline of my profession. Editing just isn’t cost-effective anymore.