Pinoy Fight Scribe

I haven’t done a bullets post in a while, so here goes:

– I haven’t written anything about the Nonito Donaire win against Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. yet, so let me squeeze that in here. I know that it’s a little late to be blogging about it, but better late than never. Besides, I’m always late at everything else, so what the heck.

Anyway, with the win, Donaire won the vacant WBO super-bantamweight title, making him a four-division world champion. It was Donaire’s first fight at 122 pounds, and he fought a legitimate contender in Vasquez, who is a former world champion and who has been campaigning at super bantamweight, I reckon, since he started his career.

Donaire has, by my estimation, been able to retain his speed at this weight. Throughout the fight, he moved well and he wasn’t sluggish; he showed excellent hand and foot speed. I still can’t say, though, if he was able to successfully bring his power up to this weight class even though he scored a knockdown because that’s just what it was precisely—a knockdown. Until I see a stoppage win by Donaire at this weight—a one-punch knockout or a TKO—I’ll reserve my judgment on the matter. Besides, in my opinion, the fact that he wasn’t able knock Vasquez out and still win convincingly actually bodes well for Donaire at this weight because he showed that he can be a slick boxer and win on points if he needs to. You can’t just rely on a knockout to win fights, and Donaire is a talented enough boxer who can also win using his ring smarts. The win just drives home the point that Donaire is one of the best boxers fighting right now, regardless of weight.

With that said, let me say that I didn’t like the fact that Donaire was getting outjabbed by Vasquez in some moments of the fight as well as the fact that he could have broken down the Puerto Rican boxer by going to the body early but didn’t. Also, Donaire didn’t use his jab enough. I think Donaire’s trainer, Robert Garcia, who bagged the Ring Magazine’s trainer of the year award last year, could have made some adjustments and asked his ward in between rounds to go to Vasquez’s body, jab more, and try to parry the Puerto Rican’s jab. A win is a win, though, and I can’t wait for Donaire’s next fight. I just hope that it’s not against Jorge Arce because as much as I admire Arce’s toughness and fighting spirit, I think Donaire’s speed will just be too much for the gritty Mexican. We’ll see.

(P.S. At the end of the Donaire-Vasquez fight, I had Donaire ahead, 117–110 on my unofficial scorecards. When I score a fight, I try to be as objective as possible even if one of the fighters is Filipino. So it wasn’t surprising when I found out that my scorecards mirrored the results of two of the official judges, Rafael Ramos and Levi Martinez, who also scored it 117–110 for Donaire. However, I don’t understand how the third judge, Ruben Garcia, scored it 115–112 in favor of Vasquez. Perhaps he was watching a different fight?)

– Twenty-one-year-old Filipino boxer Johnriel Casimero won the interim IBF light-flyweight crown after stopping forty-year-old Argentinian veteran Luis Alberto Zarate in the latter’s hometown of Mar Del Plata, Argentina. It got ugly quick, however, when a melee broke out inside the ring. Disgruntled fans threw plastic chairs and other debris into the ring. Some fans even climbed into the ring and started beating up the Filipino contingent. Casimero and his group were lucky to leave the arena alive. I wasn’t able to watch the fight, but a report says that the referee lost control of the fight, which was “marred by low blows, head-grabbing, kicking and biting.”

I watched a video of the riot, and my initial reaction was of anger. Those Argentinian fans watching the fight were sore losers. If it was the referee who screwed up the fight, then why go after Casimero and his handlers? Your fighter loses, and you beat up the opponent and his companions? What the fuck is that?

I guess this is also a wake-up call for all the Filipino boxing handlers and promoters out there, who should make the necessary precautions to ensure that their fighters and their entourage will be safe when fighting in an opponent’s hometown. At the most, a boxer should only get hit by his opponent’s fists, not the fans’. Or by chairs flying overhead.

– I’m back writing for InterAKTV after a two-month hiatus. In my column, I wrote that Timothy Bradley wouldn’t pose much of a threat for Manny Pacquiao. (It’s official, Pacquiao is going to fight Bradley in June 9.) I stand by what I wrote because it’s just common sense, really: Bradley doesn’t punch that hard, and Pacquiao has a pretty good chin. If you cannot make Pacquiao respect your power, what’s gonna stop him from coming in and raining down blows on you until you scream “uncle” or until you get pounded the fuck out or until your cornerman throws in the towel, whichever comes first?

In a previous post, I wrote,

For me this is a very intriguing fight if they can make it happen. Why? Personally, I’d like to find out whether Pacquiao struggled against Marquez in their last fight specifically because of Marquez’s style or because Pacquiao is, indeed, slowing down. The undefeated Bradley is not a counterpuncher, and although he is a pretty good boxer, he is not particularly defensive minded.  His style is tailor-made for Pacquiao, and I’d like to see if Manny can breeze through the guy. If Pacquiao should struggle against Bradley, then perhaps it’s really time for the Pacman to hang up his gloves.

Pacquiao is coming off a close win against Juan Manuel Marquez, a fight that could have gone either way, a fight that boxing pundits thought should have been awarded to Marquez. Pacquiao’s performance against Marquez has been criticized, and the Pacman is itching to bounce back and score an impressive win. It should be mentioned here that since Pacquiao won his first world title as a flyweight by beating Chatchai Sasakul in Thailand fourteen years ago, he has knocked out every single opponent he faced when he either lost or scored a draw in his previous bout: Pacquiao knocked out Reynante Jamili in two rounds after losing to Medgoen Singsurat, Pacquiao stopped Jorge Eliecer Julio in round two after he settled for a draw against the late Agapito Sanchez, Pacquiao scored a fourth-round knockout against Fahsan 3K Battery after he drew with Marquez in their first fight, and Pacquiao annihilated the tough Hector Velasquez within six rounds after he lost his first fight against Erik Morales. Technically, Pacquiao didn’t lose his third fight with Marquez, but he will want to bounce back with an emphatic performance.

Be afraid for Tim Bradley. Be very, very afraid.

February 13th, 2012
Categories: Boxing Dispatches . Author: Mark Lorenzana . Comments: Comments Off

Nope, a Miguel Cotto fight for Manny Pacquiao won’t happen after all, what with the recent announcement that Cotto will be defending his WBA light middleweight title against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5.

It seems that the weight played a huge factor in Cotto’s decision to choose Mayweather. Pacquiao had demanded that the fight be made at 145, which, I have to say, is unfair for the Puerto Rican champion because Cotto has been campaigning at 154 pounds for his past three fights already. Asking the guy to dehydrate himself and go down to 145 just seems a bit unjust, especially since everyone knows that this would hugely favor Pacquiao, who has the advantage in speed, quickness, and power anyway.

Naturally, this prompted Cotto to wonder if Pacquiao was afraid of him. “I will not fight below 150 pounds. Mayweather Jr. said he has no problem going up to 154 to fight me. Pacquiao is the one who objected and wants me to once again come down to a weight between 145 and 147 pounds. If Pacquiao had no trouble going up to 150 to fight Margarito, why is there a set requirement for me to go down again? Does he fear me? If Pacquiao wants to fight me again, it must be above 150 pounds. I will not continue to sacrifice my body to lose weight,” Cotto told Boxing Scene.

I don’t agree that Pacquiao is afraid of Cotto, however. I remember, though, that Pacquiao once said that he wouldn’t fight above 150 anymore. If my memory serves me right, I’m pretty sure he said this after his fight with Margarito, a fight Pacquiao won, but a fight where he felt the power of a naturally bigger guy. Essentially, Pacquiao was asking for a fight at a catchweight because he wanted to take every advantage he can get (take into consideration that Pacquiao knows he is the draw, anyway, so perhaps Pacquiao thought it was fair to make such a demand). I guess it was “take it or leave it” for Cotto, and because he found an opponent who was willing to fight him fair and square at  154 pounds, a guy who could also draw in the crowds and pull in money like Pacquiao, naturally, Cotto left the bargaining table.

So I guess the most logical fight for Pacquiao at this stage is against Timothy Bradley, a fight that would probably take place in early June. This is because Lamont Peterson and Juan Manuel Marquez, two fighters who were in the running as possible opponents for Pacquiao, will most probably end up  fighting each other in July, with both boxers fighting tune-ups in March on the same card.

Of course, we can all complain that Pacquiao and Mayweather should be fighting each other and so on and so forth and all that shit, but frankly, I’m way past all that fucking crap. Boxing fans are ready to move on, and although the Cotto-Mayweather and Pacquiao-Bradley fights don’t necessarily tickle my fancy, they are a couple of decent-enough fights that I’d watch, albeit grudgingly.

Ah, to be a passionate devotee of a niche sport whose two biggest attractions possess egos as huge as the fat paychecks that they command.

Ain’t it fun to be a boxing fan?

February 3rd, 2012
Categories: Boxing Dispatches . Author: Mark Lorenzana . Comments: Comments Off

It appears that there isn’t going to be a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. any time soon, and I already ranted about it in my previous post, so perhaps it’s high time that we all moved on. Frankly, the guys behind this shit are done screwing me, and I won’t even bother with any so-called report about a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight unless I already see those two guys inside a boxing ring together trying to bash each other’s heads in.

That said, it seems that the most likely opponent for Pacquiao is Miguel Cotto. If that’s the case, then I don’t think I’ll be shelling out any of my hard-earned money just so I could watch the fight live. I’d rather watch the free replay on network TV. Maybe.

So why don’t I think this fight is worth watching? In a previous post, I already said my piece, that there won’t be a big clamor for that fight. But let me add a few more reasons.

First, the first fight wasn’t even close—Pacquiao thoroughly destroyed Cotto. So why the need for a rematch? This is not a knock on Cotto’s skills—Miguel is a very, very good boxer—but Pacquiao is just a stylistic nightmare for the Puerto Rican. Cotto cannot handle Pacquiao’s speed, and I  see another stoppage win for Pacquiao.

Second, Pacquiao already said that he won’t fight Cotto above 147 pounds. Problem is, Cotto is already campaigning at 154, and he would need to drain himself just to go down to 147. Cotto is already at a disadvantage speed-wise, and he will be fighting Pacquiao after dehydrating himself to make weight. It’s possible that the weight cut might drastically affect Cotto’s strength and stamina come fight night. If the first fight was one-sided in favor of Pacquiao, the rematch would be a massacre—Cotto is going to get the worst ass-whooping of his life. Let’s call a spade a spade: Pacquiao won’t fight Cotto at his natural weight; Manny wants  a dehydrated Cotto so it would be easier pickings for him. Is that a fight true boxing fans want to see?

Third, I don’t want to say this, but I think Pacquiao picked Cotto instead of Juan Manuel Marquez—a fighter he has some unfinished business with—because Manny is afraid of  the Mexican. Let’s all be honest here: Pacquiao has had difficulty with Marquez for three fights now, and I don’t think he wants to be anywhere near Marquez.

The point is, the Cotto rematch doesn’t do anything to improve Pacquiao’s legacy. If anything, it takes something away from it. In a perfect world, Pacquiao would be itching to get back at Marquez and settle the score once and for all, to knock Marquez out and erase all doubts, and not go after a fighter he beat convincingly the first time and whom he knows he will destroy again the second time.

Miguel Cotto will face Manny Pacquiao, a fighter who beat him to a pulp in their first fight. Cotto will step up to the plate against Pacquiao again even though he knows there’s a big possibility that he’d get beaten up again. We don’t know if Cotto will do it just for the money or if he really thinks he has a chance of beating Pacquiao, but that’s really irrelevant. What’s important is this: Cotto still has the cojones to do it.

Here’s the sad thing: with this recent development, it seems that we can no longer put the words “Manny Pacquiao” and “cojones” together in the same sentence especially if the words “Juan Manuel Marquez” are already attached to that sentence. It seems to me that Pacquiao tends to lose his cojones when it’s Marquez that he’s fighting.

It’s short of calling Manny Pacquiao a coward, but what can I say?

It’s calling a spade a spade.

January 22nd, 2012
Categories: Boxing Dispatches . Author: Mark Lorenzana . Comments: Comments Off

I think the more accurate question is this: with all the shit that has been going on, who the hell should fucking care anymore?

For the longest time, boxing fans have all been clamoring for a fight between these two guys, and for the longest time, we all had to content ourselves with conflicting reports. One day a story says a deal is close to being reached, the next day another story says initial talks have bogged down.

There was a time when Pacquiao nuthuggers were blasting Mayweather for allegedly ducking Pacquiao. Then when Mayweather demanded for an Olympic-style drug test and Pacquiao wouldn’t budge, it was the Mayweather fans’ turn to accuse Pacquiao of not wanting the fight. When Pacquiao finally relented to the stupid drug test, Mayweather didn’t want the fight anymore.

Tired yet? Oh, but all that bullshit gets worse.

Just recently, after Pacquiao struggled against Juan Manuel Marquez in their third bout, Mayweather began making noises again about wanting to fight Pacquiao. People reckoned that perhaps Mayweather saw something in the third Pacquiao-Marquez fight, a chink in the Filipino boxer’s armor that Mayweather thought he could exploit. People were actually feeling genuinely excited and hopeful that a deal would finally be reached. But—you guessed it—no talks happened, no deal was signed, nothing.

Nor would a deal happen even when Pacquiao hinted that he was amenable to getting a smaller piece of the pie just so the fight could push through.

So is anyone really surprised that even though Floyd Mayweather’s jail term has been pushed back to June just so he could fight on May 5, the fight still isn’t happening?

We actually have a rare instance here: both fighters are finally willing to fight each other. Problem is, it seems as though it’s Top Rank’s Bob Arum who doesn’t want the fight to push through. A bigger venue should be built, says Arum. Pacquiao suffered a cut in his last fight against Marquez, and said cut won’t be fully healed on May 5, adds the Top Rank head honcho.

What the fuck? Bullshit.

A fight of this magnitude doesn’t need a bigger venue. Las Vegas has lots of decent-sized ballrooms available, and even if you jack up the price of tickets, you would still get a full house. And with the closed-circuit revenue and PPV buys thrown in, everyone involved will, undoubtedly, be very, very happy money-wise. This is Pacquiao and Mayweather after all, guys who could each pull in significant ticket sales and PPV buys even if they weren’t fighting each other.

But for some strange, mind-boggling, and frustrating reason that he alone knows, Arum wants the fight to be pushed to June, but that won’t be possible because, obviously, Mayweather’s ass is going to be behind bars by that time. (Also, for some strange, mind-boggling, and frustrating reason, Arum has been shoving Miguel Cotto, Tim Bradley, and Lamont Peterson down our throats as possible opponents for Pacquiao.)

There were times when it was Mayweather who should be rightfully blamed; other times, it was Pacquiao who was at fault. After all, both those guys are boxing superstars and they both have huge egos. Now? Blame it all on Arum.

You’d think a sage promoter like Arum would be happy that the two best cash cows in the business are both willing to trade leather once and for all. You’d think Arum would be happy that a fight of this magnitude will  finally be made. You’d think Arum would be happy to make a shitload of money off this fight and that he should get off his lazy eighty-year-old ass and seize the opportunity and start negotiating with the Mayweather people right away.

Right?

Wrong.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who has been feuding with Arum for the longest time, had a mouthful to say: “I think all the media members and fight fans, and so on, have started to get it—because some people still aren’t getting it—that Bob Arum doesn’t want that fight,” Schaefer said. “I don’t know how much more proof people need, or if they’re just drinking Top Rank’s Kool-Aid, or what it is, but it’s apparent to just about anyone by now, hopefully. Those that don’t get it yet, I think you have to wonder.”

But as always in this never-ending saga of tragic proportions, there is a glimmer of hope. According to a recent report from Ronnie Nathanielsz of the Manila Standard, Arum has shown willingness to make the fight and will try to get Las Vegas judge Melissa Saragosa to push Mayweather’s sentence further back so that the fight can be made either late May or early June.

Arum indicated he was ready to go before judge Melissa Saragosa and request that she push back the incarceration date so the fight, which the world wants to see, can take place.

The belief is that the judge, who postponed Mayweather’s incarceration from Jan. 6 to June 1 to allow him to keep his contractual obligations for a May 5 fight, is likely to grant the request.

With that piece of information, it seems that there is indeed some hope yet for the fight to push through. But after all the pile of shit we’ve been fed all this time, it’s best that us boxing fans take all this with heaping tablespoons of salt.

It sucks that instead of being able to enjoy the biggest fight that could be made in boxing right now, fans of the sweet science have to make do with a load of shit and a lot of salt.

Fuck that. We all deserve much, much better.

January 19th, 2012
Categories: Boxing Dispatches . Author: Mark Lorenzana . Comments: Comments Off

Definitely not Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is set to start serving his ninety-day prison sentence. (An aside: Three months? What the fuck? Seriously, that’s the most you get for beating up your wife, threatening your kids, and poking a gun at other people? No, really, that’s it? In that case, hooray for the US justice system, which reminds me—in this case, particularly—of referee Joe Cortez: he’s fair but he’s firm! [or was it unfair and infirm?])

Speaking of Floyd, a security guard at the day job, who’s a certified Floyd nuthugger,  recently shared a theory (his own crazy theory) with me—that Mayweather decided to get himself locked up in jail on purpose so he could train for the fight against Manny Pacquiao in the privacy of prison. No distractions and no bullshit: just the quiet solitude of a prison cell where he could jog in place, shadowbox, and do sit-ups, push-ups, and burpees to his heart’s content. Sparring mates? Floyd could take his pick from a wide array of prison toughies. He could even choose where he wants to do his “sparring”—he could start a brawl in the cafeteria, in the exercise yard, or even in the communal bathroom. What’s scary is that our security guard actually believes in his own crazy shit. I’m tempted to ask the poor guy what he’s been smoking, but nah. Go figure.

Seriously, though, who’s the next possible opponent for Pacquiao now that Floyd is out of the picture for the time being? InterAKTV reports that Team Pacquiao is currently looking at four possible names: Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Timothy Bradley, and Lamont Peterson.

Here’s my take on those guys:

Juan Manuel Marquez. For me, a fourth fight against Marquez makes the most sense right now for Pacquiao. Other people may disagree and say that a fourth fight would again yield inconclusive results, but that’s missing the point. The point is, all three fights have been great to watch, all three fights have been close, and all three fights just showed how evenly matched the two boxers really are, so why not make a fourth fight? You don’t make a fourth fight because results of the first three were “inconclusive”? That’s just stupid. Marquez, after giving Pacquiao twelve rounds of hell in their last fight, will obviously demand for a bigger purse; and because he felt he didn’t get a fair shake from the judges in Las Vegas, the reigning WBO lightweight champion will demand that the fight be made somewhere else. Fair enough.

Memo to Bob Arum: give Marquez at least ten million, book Cowboys Stadium in Texas, and make the fight happen, preferably on Cinco de Mayo. Let’s see if you can really put your money where your mouth is.

Memo to Pacquiao: take the fight, focus and train 100 percent, and listen to your trainer and follow the game plan. Let’s see if you win the fight convincingly this time.

Miguel Cotto. Cotto, the WBO light middleweight champion, looks very, very comfortable at 154 pounds. After his loss to Pacquiao, the Puerto Rican moved up seven pounds north and immediately picked up the WBO light middleweight belt via a TKO win against stablemate Yuri Foreman. Cotto then won by stoppage against aging, mercurial brawler Ricardo Mayorga in a stay-busy fight and, just recently, avenged a TKO loss he suffered against Antonio Margarito in 2008 by returning the favor in their rematch—Cotto boxed superbly and the fight was stopped in the tenth round after Margarito was unable to continue due to swelling around his right eye.

I think the biggest obstacle here is the weight. Pacquiao is a very small welterweight (he can still comfortably fight at 140 if he wanted to) who makes up for his size disadvantage by using his speed and quickness. If Pacquiao goes up to 154, he’ll be too sluggish, thus negating his speed advantage; Cotto, on the other hand, would be greatly disadvantaged if he tries to dehydrate himself and go down to Pacquiao’s weight. And besides, the first fight was not a close one, so I don’t think there’s a huge clamor for a rematch. It’s safe to say that not a lot of people will be disappointed if this fight does not push through.

Timothy Bradley. For me this is a very intriguing fight if they can make it happen. Why? Personally, I’d like to find out whether Pacquiao struggled against Marquez in their last fight specifically because of Marquez’s style or because Pacquiao is, indeed, slowing down. The undefeated Bradley is not a counterpuncher, and although he is a pretty good boxer, he is not particularly defensive minded.  His style is tailor-made for Pacquiao, and I’d like to see if Manny can breeze through the guy. If Pacquiao should struggle against Bradley, then perhaps it’s really time for the Pacman to hang up his gloves.

Lamont Peterson. I like Lamont Peterson because he beat Amir “Loudmouth” Khan, one of my least-favorite boxers. I just don’t know if Peterson is the best opponent for Pacquiao right now, money-wise.

But then again, the best opponent for Pacquiao money-wise  is going to the slammer for a three-month stint.

So yeah, perhaps any of the four will do.

Oh well, beggars (or boxing fans or Pacquiao nuthuggers) cannot be choosers.

January 5th, 2012
Categories: Boxing Dispatches . Author: Mark Lorenzana . Comments: Comments Off