How Quickly We Forget

11/22/201411/22/2014 Niko Tricarico

Memories can produce untrustworthy flashes of the past and the memories of sports fans often exist as disjointed strands of pain and joy forcing us to remember and forget merely out of service to our own emotions. Unlike other sports, boxing does not rely upon the same meticulous examination of statistics. It’s not a numbers games the same that way baseball, basketball and football are.

What happens inside the ring is more anecdotal, a bloody story retold over and over again until the memory becomes a fragmented version of its original narrative.

Since and including his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao has knocked exactly one of his opponents out cold. Each and every other win, save for his clash with Miguel Cotto in 2009, has gone the distance. His beat-down of Antonio Margarito, his one-sided battering of Joshua Clottey, and his fights with Mosley, Rios and Bradley all went 12 rounds.

Has Manny Pacquiao really lost his power and killer instinct?

11/21/201411/21/2014 Kevin Johnston

A trendy topic of conversation in boxing circles lately is whether Manny Pacquiao has retained his power as he has aged and ascended in weight. Some also wonder if his out-of-the-ring commitments to politics, music and basketball have re-shifted his priorities and zapped some of his natural boxing killer instinct. Let’s take a look at the compelling evidence from both sides of the argument in order to get to the heart of the matter before I share my personal opinion.

One glaring fact that stands out is that Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO) has not scored a knockout win since his TKO victory over Miguel Cotto back in November 2009. That’s an eight-fight, five-year span in which nearly all his fights went the full twelve rounds, the lone exception of course being his December 2012 knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao vs. Algieri: The Macau Massacre 2?

11/21/2014 Chris Carlson

The place is Macau. A PPV perceived mismatch eerily similar to Manny’s last trip in China. Will Pacquiao pick up where he left off last November when he white-washed face-first mauler Brandon Rios? Or will the upstart Chris Algieri do the unthinkable halfway across the globe?

Bob Arum continues his eastern experiment establishing the sport we love to hate in the Communist Republic of China. Top Rank’s fearless leader is banking on the billion plus eyeballs he can attract to the tube and a live streaming PPV. Zou Shiming and Manny Pacquaio lead the charge of taken China by storm. The process has provided opportunities on the PPV undercard and more importantly given unheralded fighters an outlet to showcase their talents on HBO 2. All from the Venetian hotel and casino site-fee that fattens Bob’s bottom line.

Reasons Why Algieri Will Lose and One Why He Won’t

11/20/201411/19/2014 Paul Strauss

The big day is quickly approaching. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and Chris “The Real Rocky” Algieri collide this Saturday (here) in Macau, China at the Venetian Casino. The undefeated Algieri is expected to suffer his first defeat. Betting odds makers have made him a big underdog. Why?

Well, there are lots of reasons when added together sum up the better fighter. First of all, Manny has accomplished things that no other fighter ever has. He’s won more titles in more weight classes than any other fighter in history. In doing that, he has been in the “big show” many times. The pressure associated with it has already been experienced over and over, so it is no longer a distraction.

Chris “Real Rocky” Algieri – a Legitimate Challenge for a Superstar of Pacquiao’s Caliber or Marketable Cannon Fodder

11/19/201411/18/2014 Ivan Ivanov

Christopher Algieri is one big light welterweight – at 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) he as tall as Mike Tyson and GGG and has a longer reach (72 in or 183 cm) than both. He will move up in weight to fight Manny Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight title this Saturday. Pacman is 5′ 6½″ (169 cm) and his reach is 67 in (170 cm), so the size advantage is obvious.

The congressman needs no introduction while Algieri came out of the blue for most fans. “Real Rocky” came to attention by outpointing “The Siberian Rocky” Ruslan Provodnikov by a controversial SD after Algieri was floored twice in the 1st round. This is the only big name in his record and based on his performance in that bout, Chris is in over his head with Pacman.

Algieri Might Be the Most Interesting Man in Sports

11/14/201411/13/2014 Paul Strauss

The world has already learned a lot about Chris Algieri, 20-0-0 (8KO), and it wants more. It has listened to him, observed him, sometimes chuckling at what is heard or seen. But, the truth of the matter is Algieri is unlike any other prizefighter practicing his wares, now or in the past. The sporting world might have a real gem in this young man from New York.

Usually the athletes who get the headlines and magazine covers are the men and women with extraordinary physical attributes. They stand out because of their uncommon prowess. They can knock the ball out of the park, or a man to the canvas.

Pacquiao: After Algieri fight, we can talk about Mayweather

11/02/2014 Rob Smith

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) doesn’t want to talk about a potential mega-fight against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr right now, because he doesn’t want to give the impression that he’s name dropping in order to increase pay-per-view sales for his fight this month against Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Some boxing fans believe that the only reason why Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum have been talking about Mayweather in the run up to the Algieri fight is because the interest in the fight has been less than huge. The fight might ultimately bring in respectable PPV results, but few hardcore boxing fans are excited about it.

Algieri plans on dominating Pacquiao

11/01/201411/01/2014 Rob Smith

Challenger Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) plans on making sure that he doesn’t wind up on the receiving end up a controversial decision next month in his fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Algieri wants to make sure he wins every round by being proactive in the fight, and no reactive by responding to what Pacquiao does. Algieri obviously knows how hard it is for fighters to win decisions against Pacquiao, and he got to know that he’s going to be up against it by fighting Pacquiao in Macau in front of his fans.