The biggest surprise with the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather drug testing argument is that I actually at one time hoped this fight would come off without a hitch. I guess that plays into my desire to have a big fight happen for once with none of the nonsense and posturing that usually goes into this sport. But that’s unrealistic.
Floyd Mayweather
Do the right thing: Pacquiao-Mayweather a needed spike for fight game
With boxing, as the Rolling Stones said, you can’t always get what you want. In fact, you virtually never get what you want.
But just this once, as a fight that every boxing fan desires actually may become reality, you might just find you get what you need.
Pac-ing heat: Mercurial gladiator stakes his claim to all-time greatness
The highly anticipated war between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto went down on Saturday night pretty much as I expected, but it doesn’t mean that Pacquiao’s victory was any less striking or significant.
Can’t hardly weight: Heavy questions face Floyd despite big victory
It turns out I was right about Floyd Mayweather winning his match against Juan Manuel Marquez by decision, and also that Marquez’s history of being a slow starter would hurt him, as Floyd downed him in the second round and dominated the early portion of the fight. But what I wasn’t right about is that Marquez would make an impact in the middle rounds, as he was pretty much completely shut out.
I knew Floyd was bigger than Marquez, but I didn’t expect him to show up two pounds heavier than the catch weight at the weigh-in, a significant amount. He had to pay per pound to allow the fight to go off. And though Floyd doesn’t fight like a big man, using his fluidity and quickness to his benefit, he obviously used his size advantage.
Mayweather lost a deal of respect by being either unable or unwilling to make weight, essentially making this a fight between a good big man and a good small man. The good small man never wins that fight. This isn’t the Tour De France.
Official SportsAngle prediction: Mayweather scores the decision
I’ll make this brief since I don’t think I could tell you any more than the brilliant 24/7 series has on HBO: Juan Manuel Marquez will not defeat Floyd Mayweather this Saturday night.
But he’ll give Floyd a tough time.
Words to live by: Why we love Pretty Boy Floyd
We’ve been strong advocates of Floyd Mayweather here for quite some time – we went to his demolition of DeMarcus Corley way back in 2004 – which isn’t really in our nature. We like fighters like Gatti, guys who are more substance than style.
But Pretty Boy Floyd has both. The man is a tremendous boxer who pays incredible attention to his craft. And you know what? Boxing needs, craves even, his attitude, his willingness to stir things up. As the sport is lapped by Ultimate Fighting and its ilk, Mayweather’s ability to make people tune in to either root for him or root for him to get his head knocked off is invaluable.
Floyd follows the money. And taking a year off was a smart marketing move. During that year,
24/7 premieres Saturday at 10:15 p.m. ET
he had several memorable feuds – of sorts – with WWE wrestler The Big Show, keeping him in the mainstream and the public eye. After a disappointing summer for boxing on many levels, featuring few memorable fights and several notable deaths, people are more than ready for Mayweather’s return, regardless of the fact that he’s facing Juan Manuel Marquez, a very talented fighter who people know virtually nothing about.
As usual, Mayweather has taken up the promotion of the fight himself. HBO’s fantastic 24/7
series – which Floyd actually claims he invented somehow, though I think the word he’s looking for is pioneered – is set to premiere on Saturday, and the preview HBO showed during Boxing After Dark this week featured Floyd at his finest (and funniest):
I personally don’t think fighters say anything [about their opponents] because if they lose, people won’t be so harsh on them.
Me? I’m like, ‘F*ck it.’ It is what it is. You coming to get me, come and get me. It ain’t gonna be easy, baby, but you know it. It ain’t gonna be easy.
You have to admire his confidence, even if you bristle at his cockiness. The thing is, until someone actually beats Mayweather – and make no mistake, attempting to hit him is like trying to catch a firefly in your hand – he has carte blanche to say whatever he wants, and even his detractors have to admit that he’s backed it up every single time.
Mayweather destroyed Hatton and clearly outclassed the great De La Hoya. I don’t think Marquez has what it takes to beat him, and it’s a good thing. Boxing desperately needs Pretty Boy Floyd to have something to talk about.
Live fast, die young: A champion falls
I always just sort of had this feeling that Arturo Gatti would die young, but it doesn’t make it any less stunning when it actually happens.
Hearing about his death on Saturday was one of those times where you simply don’t know what to do next. He’s been my favorite fighter since high school, when about 15 years ago, I saw him beat Tracy Harris Patterson for his first title.
Gatti was never the most talented boxer, not the most successful. But he was by far the most entertaining. Even after he got with trainer Buddy McGirt and stepped up his fundamentals, Gatti’s defense always took a back seat to his offense; he’d take three punches to connect with one. But his determination and threshhold for pain made his fights must-see wars, so much so that I went to three of his fights in Atlantic City, including the final two of his near-legendary wars with Micky Ward.
It’s no wonder people loved him. Gatti was the everyman, with the name and look of a young mafia don, the swagger of a bullfighter and the courage of a firefighter. He was known just as much for his propensity to party as his prowess in the ring. Gatti liked fast cars, fast women, fast punches and fast times. He’d go out to party still bleeding after one of his epic ring wars.
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