lpinoy
09-25-2010, 03:12 AM
C/P
By;Tim Smith
For the last 10 months boxing has been held hostage by a fight that may never happen. Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao is all anybody in boxing has talked about.
Why?
First of all it's a great fight. Secondary to that is boxing fans and those in the industry believe that the sport needs to be on the grand stage to survive. That's not true. Recently whenever boxing has gone front and center of the sports world, it has been a train wreck.
Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield II - the ear biting scandal. Lennox Lewis-Holyfield I - a bad draw and allegations of a corrupt judge.
Those who are still lamenting the demise of Mayweather-Pacquiao or hoping that it will get made someday, should wipe their eyes, put away their tissues, and stop dropping coins into the wishing well. They should sit up, take notice, strap themselves in and get ready for some dynamite matches through the last two months of the year. This is exactly what boxing needs to survive.
Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez were at the Palm in midtown on Thursday to announce their middleweight match at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on HBO on Nov. 20. It is a rematch of a fantastic fight that ended with Williams winning an unsatisfying 12-round majority decision.
"This is the biggest fight there is besides Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao," Williams said. "But those two guys aren't fighting each other. This fight is the next best thing to that fight and we're fighting."
Williams, who is ranked No. 3 or No. 4 on the pound-for-pound best list depending upon whom you trust, knows what he's talking about.
"We're certainly disappointed that the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters (on the pound-for-pound list) didn't fight each other," said Kery Davis, HBO's boxing czar. "But you can make an argument that this is the second biggest fight that can be made in the sport. Not only are these the two best middleweights in the sport, but they're also the two best junior middleweights in the sport."
In the last two months of the year some of the brightest stars in the sport other than Mayweather will be stepping into the ring and some of them will be in meaningful fights. The only clunker among the group is Pacquiao's match against Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium on Nov. 13.
The taint of this fight is that Margarito doesn't deserve this opportunity after trying to enter the ring with loaded gloves against Shane Mosley last year. He blames his former trainer and claims he didn't know anything about it. Nevada and California denied him a license. Texas approved him without even conducting a hearing. The attempted cheating aside, Margarito doesn't deserve the fight on merit. He was demolished by Mosley in that fight, which took place 20 months ago.
By;Tim Smith
For the last 10 months boxing has been held hostage by a fight that may never happen. Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Manny Pacquiao is all anybody in boxing has talked about.
Why?
First of all it's a great fight. Secondary to that is boxing fans and those in the industry believe that the sport needs to be on the grand stage to survive. That's not true. Recently whenever boxing has gone front and center of the sports world, it has been a train wreck.
Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield II - the ear biting scandal. Lennox Lewis-Holyfield I - a bad draw and allegations of a corrupt judge.
Those who are still lamenting the demise of Mayweather-Pacquiao or hoping that it will get made someday, should wipe their eyes, put away their tissues, and stop dropping coins into the wishing well. They should sit up, take notice, strap themselves in and get ready for some dynamite matches through the last two months of the year. This is exactly what boxing needs to survive.
Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez were at the Palm in midtown on Thursday to announce their middleweight match at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on HBO on Nov. 20. It is a rematch of a fantastic fight that ended with Williams winning an unsatisfying 12-round majority decision.
"This is the biggest fight there is besides Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao," Williams said. "But those two guys aren't fighting each other. This fight is the next best thing to that fight and we're fighting."
Williams, who is ranked No. 3 or No. 4 on the pound-for-pound best list depending upon whom you trust, knows what he's talking about.
"We're certainly disappointed that the No. 1 and No. 2 fighters (on the pound-for-pound list) didn't fight each other," said Kery Davis, HBO's boxing czar. "But you can make an argument that this is the second biggest fight that can be made in the sport. Not only are these the two best middleweights in the sport, but they're also the two best junior middleweights in the sport."
In the last two months of the year some of the brightest stars in the sport other than Mayweather will be stepping into the ring and some of them will be in meaningful fights. The only clunker among the group is Pacquiao's match against Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium on Nov. 13.
The taint of this fight is that Margarito doesn't deserve this opportunity after trying to enter the ring with loaded gloves against Shane Mosley last year. He blames his former trainer and claims he didn't know anything about it. Nevada and California denied him a license. Texas approved him without even conducting a hearing. The attempted cheating aside, Margarito doesn't deserve the fight on merit. He was demolished by Mosley in that fight, which took place 20 months ago.