Charles W. (Atlanta, GA): I saw all the post on your FaceBook page about the fight last Saturday night. Could you give your thoughts on the (Pacquiao/Mosley) itself?
Vivek W. (ESB): I thought it was absolutely the worst thing that could happen to the sport and it showed us everything wrong with the sport as a whole. We spend so much time assigning headlines to the Pacquiao’s and Mayweather’s of the world that the fights fans need to see, (like the Berto/Ortiz’s of the world), remain under the radar when in fact, they need to be on massive display. Somewhere, an HBO exec is laughing in his buns off, because they said from day one that this was a fight they refused to support based on limited value. What we saw was exactly that!
Hindsight is 20/20, and few are as good as I am at getting sucked into the promotional hype, but truthfully, the writing was on the wall the moment this one was signed. When you have a warrior like Mosley who has laid it all on the line time and time again, the last thing you would expect is for him to fight the way he did, but that’s precisely what happened. When you think of the biggest mega fights over the past two years, practically all have failed to live up to the hype with the exception of the Pacquiao/Margarito showdown, and just to think, that fight almost never happened.
When you’re trying to explore new heights, attempting measures like internet PPV options, and basic television promotional segments, you want a product that lives up to the hype, and we got the polar opposite. There’s no way to blame Manny Pacquiao in this one as it takes two to tango, but overall, there’s no denying the fact that the sport lost some of its edge on the night May 7th. How do you promote another fight as “must-see-TV” coming off the heels of an effort this grand that produced such a poor result?
There are many to blame, but I think I’d start personally with Top Rank. I’ve said before and I’ll say again: There is only one remaining fight in the sport for Pacquiao, and that’s Floyd Mayweather. Every ounce of energy and effort should be poured into coming up with a truce to make the steroid testing debate fade away. We know that Pacquiao is a gracious champion and has been well known for his role in being generous to others, but never in a million years do I support that generosity when it goes beyond feeding poor citizens to simply feeding senior citizens in the sport. Oscar, Hatton, Shane, now soon to be Marquez?
There’s no way in the world to support a continuation of such choices that only seem to pad the pockets of aging fighters on their way out of the sport and the promotional parties involved. Not only does this choice of matchmaking hurt the sport, but it also hurts the legacy of a man who has been promoted on a level bigger than the sport. Very bad night for boxing, and anything remotely close to it in the future will certainly be the nail in the coffin! We need to rebound fast and see a better selection of fights made if we care at all to salvage the history associated with the sport we love.
Tim N. (Las Vegas, NV): I’m so tired of people saying that Pacquiao is the “greatest” boxer of all-time. He feast on older and weight drained men and continues to get credit for beating fighters Mayweather already beat. How can you media members call him “the greatest of all time”?
Vivek W. (ESB): For starters, I can’t speak for any of my colleagues in the sport, but I’ve never personally stated that Pacquiao is the “greatest” of all-time. What I will say is that in Pacquiao you have a very complicated scenario, because there are several variables that can’t be ignored or denied. Categorically, you look at what he has done in the sport and there’s no denying the fact that it has never been done (8 world titles/8 weight divisions) and it will arguably never be done again. So looking at the core facts, one would have to assess to some degree that perhaps yes, he can be considered the greatest of all-time.
Where things begin to get sketchy is when you look at how it all was accomplished. I’ve always said and maintain that you can’t be considered the greatest of all-time when you haven’t defeated the greatest of your time. Another key point is that during this rise to greatness, many of his staunch supporters have found a way to give him credit for defeating men who (as you pointed out) were already defeated by a man whom they refused to give credit for defeating first.
When Mayweather faced Mosley, the sentiment was that Mosley was old and washed up. When Mayweather defeated Hatton, the sentiment was that he was a British phenom, but an international bum. Oscar was said to be too old, and Marquez was an overblown lightweight. Fast-forward a few years and over the course of that time the same fight fans who spoke down when Mayweather fought and soundly defeated these men want the world to find greatness in a Pacquiao victory that in some cases not only came much later, but also a few times with catchweights and other elements that weren’t present in the Mayweather affairs.
When you consider that, basically, Pacquiao’s greatest fans have also been his biggest critics, as they have indirectly devalued his incredible efforts in an attempt to defame a potential opponent. In this attempt to demean Mayewather by calling him a “ducker” and a “fighter with no heart”, few have stopped to ask themselves “if Mayweather goes on to defeat Pacquiao and he was considered all of these things, what would that ultimately tell us about Pacquiao”? Would it articulate that Pacquiao was never quite as good as we now suggest?
So, all these things have to be factored in while we consider greatness. As it now stands, at least according to fan logic, one man is on the cusp of greatness, but a scary potential opponent could in fact be good enough to defeat him. See how thin this line can be? At the end of the day, based on accolades, Pacquiao can be mentioned as the greatest of all time; but in the final analysis, neither of these men can truly claim this mantle because theirs someone in their own era whom they haven’t proven better than where it counts. Not in the court of public opinion…..not in the court of law…..I’m talking orthodox versus southpaw!
George W. (San Diego, CA): If Shane Mosley decides to stick around, how do you think he would fare against a young contender like Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez?
Vivek W. (ESB): It’s not my position to say a fighter has the right to continue feeding his family or abandon the best method he’s always used to do so, but what I will say is that if I were his manager, I’d tell Mosley to let it go. I think his past three fights have demonstrated why he should walk away, and if he can’t find truth in that statement, there’s an even bigger problem for him to assess. Relative to a potential showdown with Alvarez, I think this would be an absolute joke, and would end in a fall from grace which would be even more catastrophic than that of the once great Roy Jones jr.
Considering the strong history of Mosley and the relative newness of Alvarez, it’s almost shocking to even think, but the reality here is that I’d pick Alvarez to completely dismantle Shane Mosley over the course of 12 rounds, and perhaps even stop him late. Alvarez can take a punch and give a ton more. Mosley’s recent performance taught us that he no longer has his legs under him or the ability to pull the trigger, and any argument made on his behalf would be a flat out lie. I love Shane as an ambassador of the sport, admired his talents strongly, and wish him nothing but the best. That being said, the only advice I have for him would be to put on his promoters cap and save that stamina for the stallion beside him, the lovely Bella. That’s what I’d do!
Alen G. (Cincinnatti, OH): I’m a huge fan of Kelly Pavlik and wanted to get your thoughts on his return to the ring, as well as how far you think he will go from here?
Vivek W. (ESB): I must admit, I wasn’t a huge fan of Pavlik’s in the past, from a skills standpoint, but I was very happy to see him back on the scene. After all he’s been through, it was great to see him back in the sanctuary of his true devotion. Getting beyond the novelty of his return, when you look at his future in the sport, it will all come down primarily to two things: His ability to stay focused, and his ability to be honest with himself and realize that the only way to get to that “next level” he wishes to be part of is probably by making what would be a very unpopular decision.
That unpopular decision would entail releasing his current trainer and finding one who can add a little more fire in his belly, mixed with some better defensive fundamentals. I think he still gets hit entirely too much has very few answers for someone who brings a ton of heart and a set of skills that best his own. This was the same thing that led me to predict the aging veteran Bernard Hopkins to shock him, and here we are years later and he faces the very same challenges as a result of limited progress.
I have no gripe with Jack Loew, but truthfully, he’s got to go! There’s been no evolution in Pavlik, and the only thing that seems to be going anywhere is precious time, as clearly, youth is never patient enough to stick around for ever. I hope he gives this some consideration at some point. Failure to execute this move will give him the same thing it did when it all began to fall apart. Sad but true.
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, 954-292-7346, Youtube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEKWALLACE747), Skype (VITO-BOXING), and Facebook).