Chigaro
02-12-2012, 12:32 AM
Manny Pacquiao: Your New Fight Is a Joke and Boxing Fans Know It
By
Paul Grossinger
(Correspondent) on February 11, 2012
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
You fooled me once, Manny Pacquiao. When you negotiated with Floyd Mayweather last year, talks broke down, and you took a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. I believed your story. I chose to accept the premise that you could not come to a deal with Mayweather, but you did genuinely want to fight the only rival you have left in boxing.
I was wrong. But you won't fool me again. Your whole blow-up with Mayweather last month was fake because if it was real, then you would have come to a deal on a summer fight. What your matchup with Tim Bradley shows is that both you and Mayweather don't want to fight one another. You are both at fault because you both fear that the fight could lead to a defeat and diminish your respective legacies. You are wrong.
A fight with Mayweather—win, lose or draw—would cement your place among the greats of the sport. Boxing's greatest heroes are not its most talented fighters because if that were true than Mike Tyson would be widely viewed as the best boxer of all time. No—boxing's greatest fighters are those who reach stardom through blood, grit, pain and triumph, and then willingly lay it on the line against their true rivals, whether they win or lose.
Look at Muhammad Ali. If you polled boxing fans right now, most would probably name Ali the best boxer of all time. Ali became the best when he stepped up to face world champion Sonny Liston and knocked him out. He became a legend when he laid it all on the line against Joe Frazier in 1971's "Fight of the Century"—and lost. And he became the best ever when he came back three years later, defeated Frazier, and then knocked out George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle."
He didn't become a legend by fighting his way to the top and then knocking out Jimmy Ellis, Jurgen Blin and Bob Foster. That's your problem right now—you made it to the top, you will retire soon and you are wasting your precious time knocking out a bunch of Bob Fosters.
You became boxing's best, and most popular, fighter by courageously stepping up to fight the best and winning your place at the top. Everyone knows your story—you came from nothing and started out fighting as such a small, poor flyweight that you wore heavier gloves and lost a bout with someone named Rustico Torrecampo.
But you came back and kept rising based on talent, sheer grit and determination. Then you put it all on the line against Erik Morales and lost before coming back, even more determined than before, to defeat him four straight times and become boxing's best lightweight fighter. You became famous and earned the love of boxing fans because of your sheer determination to be great and your willingness to fight the best to get there.
But now that you are sitting on top of the mountain, you refuse to take the next step and become a legend. You have fought your Sonny Liston, but you are backing down from your Joe Frazier.
Your fight with Timothy Bradley is a joke. Boxing fans know that. Bradley is a talented, undefeated boxer in his prime. But he is limited because, while fast, he has no power, so he can't knock you out or even rattle your skull a little bit.
Bradley may be 28-0, but he has not knocked an opponent out since 2007, and that opponent was some forgotten challenger named Nasser Athumani. You know this better than anyone—if Bradley can't knock you out then he has to match you speed for speed, which is a fight that you are not going to lose. It's a joke because boxing fans know you are playing it safe when you should be trying to become a legend.
Don't try and fool us again Manny Pacquiao. Go out there on June 9th, and crush Bradley. You are contractually obligated to rough him up and keep your world titles. But once you are done, do everyone a favor and stop playing it safe and beating up on Bob Fosters. Mayweather will always play it safe because that's his nature; he cares more about his undefeated record than anything else. We expect more from you.
Go find your Joe Frazier and become a legend. Perhaps, if you are lucky, the greatest legend of them all.
By
Paul Grossinger
(Correspondent) on February 11, 2012
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
You fooled me once, Manny Pacquiao. When you negotiated with Floyd Mayweather last year, talks broke down, and you took a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. I believed your story. I chose to accept the premise that you could not come to a deal with Mayweather, but you did genuinely want to fight the only rival you have left in boxing.
I was wrong. But you won't fool me again. Your whole blow-up with Mayweather last month was fake because if it was real, then you would have come to a deal on a summer fight. What your matchup with Tim Bradley shows is that both you and Mayweather don't want to fight one another. You are both at fault because you both fear that the fight could lead to a defeat and diminish your respective legacies. You are wrong.
A fight with Mayweather—win, lose or draw—would cement your place among the greats of the sport. Boxing's greatest heroes are not its most talented fighters because if that were true than Mike Tyson would be widely viewed as the best boxer of all time. No—boxing's greatest fighters are those who reach stardom through blood, grit, pain and triumph, and then willingly lay it on the line against their true rivals, whether they win or lose.
Look at Muhammad Ali. If you polled boxing fans right now, most would probably name Ali the best boxer of all time. Ali became the best when he stepped up to face world champion Sonny Liston and knocked him out. He became a legend when he laid it all on the line against Joe Frazier in 1971's "Fight of the Century"—and lost. And he became the best ever when he came back three years later, defeated Frazier, and then knocked out George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle."
He didn't become a legend by fighting his way to the top and then knocking out Jimmy Ellis, Jurgen Blin and Bob Foster. That's your problem right now—you made it to the top, you will retire soon and you are wasting your precious time knocking out a bunch of Bob Fosters.
You became boxing's best, and most popular, fighter by courageously stepping up to fight the best and winning your place at the top. Everyone knows your story—you came from nothing and started out fighting as such a small, poor flyweight that you wore heavier gloves and lost a bout with someone named Rustico Torrecampo.
But you came back and kept rising based on talent, sheer grit and determination. Then you put it all on the line against Erik Morales and lost before coming back, even more determined than before, to defeat him four straight times and become boxing's best lightweight fighter. You became famous and earned the love of boxing fans because of your sheer determination to be great and your willingness to fight the best to get there.
But now that you are sitting on top of the mountain, you refuse to take the next step and become a legend. You have fought your Sonny Liston, but you are backing down from your Joe Frazier.
Your fight with Timothy Bradley is a joke. Boxing fans know that. Bradley is a talented, undefeated boxer in his prime. But he is limited because, while fast, he has no power, so he can't knock you out or even rattle your skull a little bit.
Bradley may be 28-0, but he has not knocked an opponent out since 2007, and that opponent was some forgotten challenger named Nasser Athumani. You know this better than anyone—if Bradley can't knock you out then he has to match you speed for speed, which is a fight that you are not going to lose. It's a joke because boxing fans know you are playing it safe when you should be trying to become a legend.
Don't try and fool us again Manny Pacquiao. Go out there on June 9th, and crush Bradley. You are contractually obligated to rough him up and keep your world titles. But once you are done, do everyone a favor and stop playing it safe and beating up on Bob Fosters. Mayweather will always play it safe because that's his nature; he cares more about his undefeated record than anything else. We expect more from you.
Go find your Joe Frazier and become a legend. Perhaps, if you are lucky, the greatest legend of them all.