"The greatest boxer of all time Manny "The Pacman" Pacquiao.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Juan Manuel Marquez

The following are the log of events prior to Mayweather vs. Marquez fight this coming September 19. It is updated regularly and the source of online viewing of the fight will be provided later whenever it is available during the fight. So for the meantime, you can read the following events and happenings during the training and preparation of the match.

09.18.09. Mayweather misses the weight limit having 146 pounds which is 2 pounds heavier than the agreed weight limit of 144 lbs. On the other hand, Marquez only weighs 142 lbs. I think they will financially penalized Mayweather because of this (and no DQ

). How will Marquez will handle this heavy opponent, that’s the question now by different boxing spectators, fans and analysts.

09.18.09. HBO webcast the official weigh-in of the fight. You can watch it right now if you want HERE.

09.15.09. The fight will be aired on ABS-CBN in the Philippines, one hour after the fight at Sept. 20 10AM PHT (Sept. 19, 10PM ET). Actually they are promoting the said fight several weeks already.

09.10.09. Mayweather on the last phase of his training on the other hand Marquez revealed his “secret” on HBO 24/7 regarding his “vitamin” after the training.

09.05.09. Undercard of the event are: Chris John vs. Rocky Juarez, Michael Katsidis vs. Vicente Escobedo and the Zab Judah (which was previously reported to back out but decided later to continue to fight) vs. Antonio Diaz. This is based on HBO Boxing news.

08.29.09. The HBO 24/7 Mayweather vs. Marquez starts airing today and the signal to countdown before the fight.

08.20.09. Officials for the fight were named. Veteran referee Tony Weeks will be the third man in charge of the match. Burt Clements (Nevada), Dave Moretti (Nevada) and William Lerch (Illinois) will be the judges of the 12-round welterweight bout.

08.11.09. Media is asking if what will be of Mayweather after the fight? Will he fight with Ricky Hatton once more? Hatton seems to show interest on fighting Mayweather once more.

08.05.09. Mayweather released a messsage on his twitter account at: http://twitter.com/MAYWEATHERMANIA/ to make some noise on his upcoming fight using the latest social media network. His twit stated:

Marquez says hes goin after my ribs but theres no weakness in MONEY MAY. Only ribs he’ll b diggin n2 will b at Outback after I take him down

07.29.09. Update: The fight was moved to September 19, 2009 at 9PM ET / 6PM PT at MGM Grand Arena, read the details here: Mayweather vs Marquez. On the other hand, HBO will be airing the 24/7 HBO Special of the Mayweather vs. Marquez on July 29 while undercard matches will be listed here later.

Monday, September 7, 2009

PACQUIAO VS. COTTO: QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED

Despite championships, adulation and all the spoils of success, questions still surround both Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto at this juncture in their careers. But in their much-anticipated fight this November, the answers will come quickly when the punches start to fly.

July 23, 2009 - by Dave Larzelere

This week's official announcement of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto fight scheduled for November 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas brings with it a wave of excitement for fight fans. The diminutive Pacquiao, boxing's acknowledged pound-for-pound king, will move north in weight once again to fight Cotto, the current WBO welterweight champ, at an agreed-upon catch-weight of 145 pounds.

Over the next four months, this match-up is certain to provoke a firestorm of debate among devoted followers of the sweet science. Both men are accomplished stars who inspire great passion in their fan base, and yet they have unanswered questions hanging over them at the moment—questions that will be settled once and for all when they fight in November. For Cotto, those questions center on a single, harrowing fight and its after-effects— his war with Antonio Margarito in July 2008. That fight is Cotto's only loss as a professional, but what a loss it was. In an electrifying fight-of-the-year candidate, Cotto took a commanding early lead, only to get steadily chopped down by his relentless opponent. Margarito was seemingly immune to pain that night, a Mexican terminator at 147 pounds. But when Margarito was subsequently caught with illegal, hardened inserts in his hand-wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley this past January, the speculation immediately swirled about the savage beating he'd dished out to Cotto. Was it administered with loaded gloves? If so, how much did it take out of the Puerto Rican star, and could he ever expect to be the same?

Those questions still haunt Cotto's career more than a year later. He's had two fights since the loss to Margarito—an easy victory over Michael Jennings in February to capture the vacant WBO welterweight title, and then a June battle with the tough veteran, Joshua Clottey. Despite fighting most of the bout with a nasty gash above his left eye, Cotto found a way to eke out a split decision over Clottey. But, according to Doug Fischer, the co-editor of RingTV.com, Cotto's performance provided no conclusive answers as to whether the boxer has made it all the way back to his pre-Margarito form.

"Some folks, like myself, were impressed with the way he gutted out a close decision against a bona fide welterweight contender, with basically one eye," Fischer explains. "But there's another camp that thinks he's just not the same guy he was. He appears to them now to be a solid welterweight, but not someone who could conceivably be the welterweight champ anymore or a top-five pound-for-pound player."

HBO commentator Max Kellerman agrees that the verdict is still out on Cotto. He sees the fighter's best blueprint for beating Pacquiao in Cotto's victory over Shane Mosley in December 2007, but wonders whether Cotto has that kind of fight left in him. "The dominant question here is whether Cotto can handle Pacquiao's speed," Kellerman says. "And the good news for Cotto is that his timing was able to offset Mosley's speed, and Mosley's lightning fast. But is this the same Cotto who beat Mosley? He cuts more easily now, and he doesn't seem as quick as he once did. And in Pacquiao, he's going to have to offset a guy who at this moment is faster than Shane, and who's a southpaw, and who has just shown us that he can really punch, even at these higher weights."

There's no doubt that Pacquiao presents a frightening package to any opponent right now, but he's not without question marks himself, particularly when faced with a proven heavy-handed puncher of Cotto's size and caliber. "The question for Manny is, 'Can he take a shot from a guy who has more than respectable power as a welterweight?'" Fischer says. "Because I think Cotto has the ability to catch Pacquiao and hurt him." Of course, whether Pacquiao could handle the power of naturally bigger men has been the primary subplot heading into his three most recent fights, and each time he answered with a resounding "yes" and with increasingly spectacular emphasis. Last June, in his first fight above 130 pounds, he dominated then-WBC lightweight champ David Diaz. Six months later, he moved all the way up to 147 pounds and destroyed Oscar De La Hoya in an explosive performance that catapulted him to superstardom. Then in May, he followed up his De La Hoya masterpiece with a crushing second-round knockout of junior welterweight champ, Ricky Hatton.

It was an astonishing trio of victories that, taken as a whole, would seem to pose quite a convincing response to any doubts about Pacquiao's ability to cope with the size and pop of just about anyone. Still, doubts linger.

"Pacquiao has looked great in his last three fights," Fischer says, "but he's also fought the perfect opponents, the perfect guys to make him look like a million bucks."

Fischer is quick to qualify that statement by saying that he's felt that Pacquiao was the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world going back to around his second fight with Erik Morales in 2006. Like almost everyone in boxing, he is blown away by what Pacquiao is accomplishing in the ring right now. Nevertheless, victories over the slow, plodding Diaz, the old and weight-drained De La Hoya, and then the artless and overrated Hatton have not completely sold pundits that Pacquiao, a guy who won his first title as a flyweight, is up to the challenge of fighting an elite welterweight.

The Cotto fight should put those doubts to rest one way or the other. "If Cotto still has it, Pacquiao is going to be in there against a natural welterweight in his physical prime with a lot of pride," Kellerman says. And then we'll find things out."

Or, as Fischer puts it, "The way Pacquiao got rid of Hatton was impressive, and you have to give him credit for it, because he just blew him out of the ring. If he blows Cotto out like that, then my God…he's just a great fighter."

And Fischer is talking great as in "all-time great." Come fight night, Cotto will seek to prove that he's still among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport today. But Pacquiao will be competing for an even heavier bounty: to stake his claim among the best pound-for-pound fighters the sport has ever known.

Source : http://www.hbo.com/boxing/events/2009/1114_pacquiao_cotto/columns/questions.html

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Pacquiao to start promo tour for bout...

MANILA, Philippines - Late nights will soon be over for Manny Pacquiao.
The world’s best boxer today is set to embark on a whirlwind press tour of five key cities to mark the start of his preparations for the Nov. 14 clash with WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto.
He leaves for New York on Wednesday to be at the Yankees Stadium at noon of Sept. 10 for the launch of the press tour that would take him and Cotto to Caguas, Puerto Rico on Sept. 12, the AT&T Park in San Francisco for the Giants-Dodgers match on Sept. 13, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles on Sept. 14 and the PETCO Park in San Diego (Pacquiao only) for the Padres-Diamondbacks match on Sept. 15.
After a day or two, Pacquiao heads back to the Philippines, hopefully with his chief trainer, Freddie Roach, on hand, for the start of his training in Baguio City. According to plans, Pacquiao will train in the country’s summer capital, and would move to the Wild Card Gym in LA three weeks before the showdown.
Once training starts, it means no more late nights, parties, and shooting of movies and commercials for the 30-year-old icon who said the other day that while he was very busy the last couple of months he made sure he knew his limitations.
“There are some late nights because I worked on my showbiz career. But I made sure I get enough rest. I know my body. Sinigurado ko naman na sapat din ang pahinga ko kahit na medyo napupuyat,” said Pacquiao, who vowed to give it all once training starts.
While his tireless Canadian adviser, Mike Koncz, worked for possible training sites in Mexico or Vancouver, Pacquiao chose Baguio City, and has asked Roach to come over as soon as the press tour is done and over with.
Pacquiao the other day cleared the air on the rumored rift between him and Roach regarding the training, and on some things being written about Koncz.
“Things are being said and written about Mike Koncz but to set it straight he’s just doing his job. I like him because he gets the job done. And contrary to what’s being said, it’s not him calling the shots. I do. He only does what I tell him to do. Masipag siya (He’s hardworking),” said Pacquiao of Koncz.
Pacquiao’s Filipino trainer, Buboy Fernandez, is now up in Baguio for an ocular inspection of the possible training camp inside Teachers’ Village. The route that will cover Pacquiao’s roadwork, both flat and mountainous courses, is being laid out by Fernandez.
He said eight weeks should be enough to get him in tip-top fighting form and everybody who knows the pride of Saranggani Province in Mindanao could attest to the fact that when he trains he trains like no other.
Tax laws have prevented Pacquiao from staying in the US for the duration of his eight-week training as aliens like him are only given so much time to stay there. He is close to his limit (180 days in three years), and if he goes beyond that he will be heavily taxed.

source: - By Abac Cordero (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Video: Greatest Fights of Manny Pacquiao

Greatest Fights of Manny Pacquiao (HBO Special Presentation)

Fight with Oscar "The Golden Boy" De La Hoya (HBO Special Presentation)

Manny Pacquiao VS Ricky Hatton Round 1

Manny Pacquiao VS Ricky Hatton Round 2

Video Source: www.youtube.com

Freddie Roach might leave Pac man’s team

Freddie Roach isn’t happy with the way things are going lately with Manny Pacquiao, who has decided to train in the Philippines rather than some place else. “I’m not pleased with him [Pacquiao] training in the Philippines, there are too many distractions, but that’s what he wants to my understanding, and I believe he is taking this fight too lightly, Roach said in an interview at the Doghouse Boxing website. So there it is. Roach thinks that Pacquiao is taking this fight too lightly.

How come I’m not surprised? Of course Pacquiao is probably taking his November 14th fight against Miguel Cotto too lightly, because Pacquiao’s ego is being fed night and day by his legion of lovesick fans, who tell him how great he is and basically kiss his backside.
Pacquiao is probably believing what they’re saying about him and reading his own press. In the Philippines, Pacquiao is treated like a king, and there’s no one to tell him give him the straight talk like me. Roach sounds scared of Pacquiao judging from his comments.
That is so funny. It looks as if Pacquiao is drunk on his wins over a shot Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, and sees himself as infallible. Roach thinks that the people around Pacquiao are feeding his ego and making him think that Cotto will be an easy fight. I think Roach is partially right about that.
Pacquiao does have a lot of sycophants blowing smoke up his backside, but he also seems to have fooled himself with his easy wins against his hand picked opposition in the past year. Pacquiao seems to think that a victory over Hatton and De La Hoya translates into him being able to beat one of the best fighters in boxing in the 28-year-old Cotto.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news for Pacquiao, but Cotto isn’t shot like De La Hoya, and not prone to eating, drinking and ballooning up in weight between fights like Hatton. Pacquiao will finally be facing a good fighter for a change, and he’s going to get the living daylights beaten out of him.
It looks as it’s finally dawned on Roach who Pacquiao is facing on November 14th. Roach says “I have been watching countless hours again and again of Cotto’s past fights. He nullified Shane Mosley’s speed and that’s Manny’s greatest asset.” It’s too bad that Roach waited until now to watch video of Cotto, because if he had asked me about it, I’d have told Roach that Pacquiao was going to get a beating of his life against Cotto.
I guess Roach must have watched Cotto’s bouts against Antonio Margarito and Joshua Clottey, two of Cotto’s least impressive fights, when Roach gave the go ahead for Pacquiao to fight Cotto. Yes, Roach, Cotto is a very good fighter, better than Pacquiao that’s for sure.

Source: http://www.boxingnews24.com/.

Pacquiao - Hatton: Mismatch Fight

Mismatch Fight

Hatton gets what he wants...

Pacquiao knocks out Hatton in two rounds.

Las Vegas, Nevada - Philippines’ Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao displays a masterful demolishing of England’s Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton in just 2 rounds, ending it with a devastating left cross a second after the last 10 second marker sounded. The fight ended 2:59 of the second round