By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao may be starting to show signs of slipping in his last three fights but that’s not affecting his paydays in any way as we see with his bout on Saturday against Juan Manuel Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao will be hauling in a guaranteed $25 million for the Marquez fight, according to Yahoo Sports News.
Month: December 2012
Marquez vs. Pacquiao IV: Just the Facts!!
By Robert Jackson: This edition of ‘just the facts’ will discuss the merits of the fight including conditioning, trainers, skills and the like, so stayed tuned. This writer feels that even though both fighters have said they will knock the other out, both fighters have made a silent agreement with each other over 3 previous fights. This agreement – similar to the agreement that sparring partners have with the fighter they’re sparring with to get ready for a fight, prevents that sparring partner from doing anything more than giving the main event guy rounds and good preparation. In a sense both fighters have a sparring partners mentality at this point in their rivalry. Enough of that let’s get on with the analysis.
Trainers
Freddie Roach is a multi-time trainer of the year and counts among his charges Martirosyan, Kayode and others, but Pacquiao is his top pupil. Roach has taken Pacquiao from a one-handed fighter, to a well rounded fighter.
Long time Marquez trainer Nacho Beristain at this point is just a gameplanner, Marquez knows how to fight, and he knows how to fight Pacquiao. The training will be the same as it always was and the gameplan will probably be the same. Adding some bulk and strength for the 147lb weight class, seems to be the only major change they’ve made.
Advantage Trainers – Even
Andre Ward suffers shoulder injury, fight with Pavlik to be postponed
By Steve Mabbott: WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward injured his right shoulder while working out to get ready for his now cancelled January 26th clash against former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. The good news is that the 28-year-old Ward didn’t suffer any tears of his shoulder and won’t need surgery.
Pacquiao wants Marquez to go toe-to-toe with him on Saturday night
By Brad Cronick: Frustrated with his inability to crack Juan Manuel Marquez’s tough counter punching style, Manny Pacquiao is using a little psychology on Marquez by urging him to stand and trade with him on Saturday night if he wants to prove that deserves to be the better man.
Famous Boxing Rivalries: Exclusive Interview with Iceman John Scully
“He’s a true boxer. People think a boxer has to get on his toes and circle the ring laterally constantly to be called ‘a boxer’, but a boxer should be able to box in a ring the size of a phone booth and still be able to not get hit, and that’s the thing. I think Duran was a master at that.”—Iceman John Scully
Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – With Manny Pacquiao slated to square off against Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time this Saturday night, I had the opportunity to speak with ‘Iceman’ John Scully to get his views on the upcoming match. From there, Scully shared his views on some other famous boxing rivalries throughout history, including Ali-Frazier, Gatti-Ward, Robinson-LaMotta, Holyfield-Bowe, and all of the fights that took place when Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, and Tommy ‘Hitman’ Hearns faced off against each other in the 1980s. This is the second installment of an ongoing series dedicated to the history of the sweet science. Below is a complete transcript of my discussion with Iceman.
John Scully Audio
GEOFFREY CIANI: Iceman, this Saturday night Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez will be fighting for a fourth time, which is unusual in this day and age. In your view, what do you think the keys to victory for each fighter is?
JOHN SCULLY: I mean basically to me I think each guy needs to do, well I mean Marquez certainly just needs to do what he’s been doing the other three times, because I think like even though he hasn’t been getting the decisions, I think he’s a little bit more on track towards a definitive victory than Pacquiao actually is. So I would recommend to him to just sharpen up the best he can, but basically do the same thing. I think if it’s not broke you don’t need to fix it. I think Pacquiao probably needs to throw a few more punches, you know raise up his output, and maybe he’s got to step around. He’s got to get Marquez a little bit more off balance than he was. I think Marquez was allowed to play the matador a little too much the last three times.
CIANI: Now what did you think of their first three encounters, and in particular their last bout that seemed to bring the most controversy of the three they’ve had so far?
SCULLY: I mean I kind of saw what everybody else saw. I mean they were real tough fights, real just hard to score. A lot of those were hard to score, but I mean for the last one, you know I have to admit that I thought Marquez was going to get the decision. I thought before they announced it I figured he had it. And I think not just for them two, it didn’t just mess up them two, but I think that the decision in the last fight, or the performance of both guys in the last fight has done a great deal of damage to a potential Mayweather fight with Pacquiao. I think that people that thought Pacquiao was going to beat Mayweather, I think a lot of those people have changed their minds. And I don’t think any new people that didn’t think Pacquiao was going to win, I don’t think they changed their minds after the last fight. So I think they kind of bit themselves in the butt there because I think they did a lot of damage to the potential of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight with his performance last time.
Canelo Alvarez now interested in Austin Trout for May 4th, if Mayweather bout can’t be made
By Rob Smith: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is now reportedly interested in facing WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout on May 4th, if a bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. can’t get made. The Mayweather fight is the one that Canelo really wants most of all, and he said to the record.com.mx that his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are attempting to put the Mayweather fight together for him. But if all else fails, Canelo said he’d be looking towards a fight with Trout.
Canelo said to the record.com.mx “Trout is a great fighter, and unbeaten and he beat Cotto, he’s left handed and very strong. He’s a complicated fighter and he would be fine for next May.”
Trout has been taking heavy criticism from boxing fans because his promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy said that Alvarez could still end fighting Miguel Cotto next in May despite the fact that Cotto was beaten soundly last Saturday night by Trout.
If Trout Is Out, Who’s In?
By Eric Roman Sr. – A lot of talk has been made about the possible showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto, even though the wily veteran lost a unanimous decision to Austin Trout this past weekend. As we all know, Cotto has had an incredible career, a sure fire Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest Puerto Rican fighters of all time, but at this point, much like “Sugar” Shane Mosely back in May, do we really need to see an all time great get battered by this young ferocious lion? Before the Trout fight, I was all for it, I thought it was a no-brainer. Two similar styles, both being boxer-punchers, the “old” versus the “new”, Puerto Rico vs. Mexico, can it get any better? Well, the problem with all that is the fact that Austin Trout made it all go away. He showed us that Miguel Cotto may be a little more past his prime then we thought, let’s face it, he left it all in the ring against Floyd Mayweather back in May, and those type of fights, along with both Margarito brawls, the Pacquiao bout, and a number of others when he was at 140lbs. have taken a lot out of him.
Enter Austin “No Doubt” Trout, a young, undefeated title holder, who has an excellent amateur pedigree, who just beat the aforementioned Puerto Rican Star, has been calling out Saul Alvarez since “The Classy” Jimmy Lennon Jr. spoke the following words into the microphone on Saturday night; And Still! Why wouldn’t this fight be made?
Hunter: Cotto looked over-trained for Trout fight
By Bill Phanco: Trainer of Andre Ward, Virgil Hunter, gave his own assessment for why former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KO’s) lost to WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) last Saturday night in New York, saying that he felt that Cotto looked over-trained for the fight. Cotto lost the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by wide scores from the three judges. They had the fight 119-109, 117-111 and 117-111. You can quibble about the scoring of the fight, but you can’t about the results. Cotto lost and he should have lost.
A Measured Storm: Fury vs. Johnson
By Phenyo Molefe: Given Tyson Fury’s previous bouts, recent outbursts and the clear articulation of his goals; one would not be at fault to believe that we were about to witness Tyson unleash punishment on an ‘ill-prepared’ but proven Kevin Johnson. Tyson had to make a statement.
In the opening round, Fury jumped on Johnson with some jabs to the body not giving him sufficient time to find his footing. It looked like we were about to see a new and revised Fury as he presented movement and a variation of punches from all angles. He moved with improved fluidity, comfortably establishing his range and following through with some meaningful combinations.
The second round, begun with the near feverish pace with which Fury had ended the last round. Fuming with a blizzard, setting the jab on a stinger as he pelted Johnson’s body with little restraint. Johnson did have a little success when he pinned Tyson in the corner for a moment or two; however Fury replied with a pivot setting pressure back on Johnson with some telling hooks. He was definitely boxing well and grew in confidence, taking firm control of the bout.
Roach: We [Pacquiao] still want Mayweather
By Rob Smith: Trainer Freddie Roach is still hoping that 35-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. will perk up and show some interest in facing 34-year-old Manny Pacquiao before it’s too late. It’s not looking good, however. Pacquiao just lost his last fight to Tim Bradley, and he could lose this one on Saturday against Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas, Nevada. That’s not to say that a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight couldn’t still get made and end up as successful one, but it won’t get the attention that it would if they made the fight with both guys still winning more or less.