Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Pacquiao will still KO Mayweather




To all Pacfans, no trace of doubt ever clouds their minds and would cling to the notion that their hero is unstoppable. I know I do. But what did we learn in the Mayweather-Marquez bout? Boxing is large enough to have room for aficionados and fanatics alike who are in the camp Floyd Mayweather jr. To them, Floyd has returned and did it with a show of defensive genius against the only opponent of Pacquiao who got the best of him, though falling short of a clear victory. Pacquiao narrowly escaped the intelligence of Marquez on the ring, but Floyd stood tall and totally dominated the smaller lightweight champion. There is no avoiding the weight issue as we saw a bloated Marquez sadly clinging to greatness against a faster, younger and bigger opponent in Floyd. Marquez at the post-fight interview was quick to admitting that despite their adjustments in speed at the middle rounds, it is the size and weight that made the difference. Marquez was simply too small to climb at 147lbs (as the previously agreed 144lbs was scrapped on the day of the weigh in by signing new contracts). Marquez never brought speed and power with him to the higher weights and the welterweight was two weight divisions above lightweight, where he is champion and fought two hard earned victories. Asked about how Pacquiao would fair against the bigger Mayweather jr. considering his own demise as the smaller fighter, Marquez stated that it is a question of styles. Indeed, Pacquiao's style of coming forward was perfect for Marquez as a counter puncher. Being both counter punchers, Marquez and Floyd, had to force each other to narrow the distance. Floyd's reach advantage made him control the fight with his potshots and discouraged Marquez to land more of the very few clean punches the Mexican lightweight champion mustered.




Pacquiao's style of aggressive attack will bring the fight to Floyd, who is the clear counter puncher in this bout. However, if Pacquiao has to be effective, he would have to learn to duck the potshots while landing his counter. By conventional boxing logic, the pure swarmer wins over the pure boxer. No fighter will have pure preferences but in its rudimentary form, Pacquiao could be a swarmer, and Floyd, the pure defensive boxer. Roach alluded already to this logic, when he explained that he would not care where Pacquiao lands his swarm of punches, as long as he lands them. Here we have a glimpse of his initial thoughts on catching Floyd's unbreakable defense by confusing the timing with combinations and simply a storm of punches, to which Pacquiao is accustomed of bringing. At the same time, the advantage of size, weight, and strength is easily neutralized by Pacquiao's own speed in coming in and out, while exploding into sudden bursts of flurries. If we see Pacquiao hurting Cotto, this will be an indication that, where Marquez failed in landing effective shots, Pacquiao's accurate sharpshooting will sting. In the end, the Pacman would have to win rounds too by appearing to be the busier fighter, but with accurate and heavy punches, there is a good chance of a late stoppage.


Pacquiao starts training: some thoughts of worry




The Pacman started his training for the Cotto bout in Baguio. Freddie Roach arrived and they immediately started on padwork. Roach is caught stating that if he didn't know any better he would think that the Pacman has been on training for over a month already. It will be 4 wks in Baguio and 4 wks in LA. Considering the jet lag and the slowing down of training it would be more like 7 weeks. The further apprehension is that the first 4 weeks are in the Philippines where media coverage would be daily, not to mention the amount of Filipino fans lurking around the gym. Everyone has their faith on their heroes but if the hero tempts fate by compromising his preparation, it casts doubts even on the most ardent followers. Roach himself earlier retracted from his previous confession that he foresaw a KO victory for the Pacman, to which Nacho Beristein agrees and points to the 5-6 rounds as the stoppage period for Cotto. We can dismiss this as Roach's deja vu of the second bout with Barrera, where the Pacman got distracted in the Philippines in a similar training camp scenario. At that time, instead of the predicted KO, the Pacman simply won a unanimous decision over the Mexican warrior. This time, the Pacman comes back to a vaguely familiar ground at a catchweight closer to welterweight, where Cotto is one of the reigning sluggers. Will Pacquiao perform as the expected victor? Will the finish be as spectacular as his recent fights? We will have to wait.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Watch Mayweather vs Marquez Online Free

There are many ways to do this but if you search via google chances are you will land on various sites that will ask you to register and pay a "donation". Just try the site justin.tv and on the chat window, fans exchange sites where they find links that will actually show the fight live for free. Justin.tv itself could be showing it too. Try www.p2p4u.net they have a few links available.

Floyd WeightCheater Jr. weights in on Light Weight Champ Marquez



Controversial? Barely, it's just outrageously a clear mockery of contracts and public awareness, and a manipulation of boxing rules. Everyone, the fans who are willing to pay to watch, the Marquez team, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, all have been fooled to believe that the fight will be at 144lbs. Considering that Marquez, who was truly a featherweight (126 lbs) just coming off from being a Light Weight (135 lbs) champ is now forced to fight at two full weight classes above (at welterweight, 147 lbs), this is no match at all. The public has been cheated big time. WeightCheater jr. (Floyd M), weighed around 152lbs the week before the fight, which was definitely known by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. But who would believe a fighter could safely drop to 144lbs from 152lbs in a week?!  Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, was told only in the afternoon (September 18 2009) of the same day as the weigh in that Marquez waved the clause stipulating the fight to be held at 144lbs. Shaefer's excuse is that this is no surprise for everyone. What? If this is no surprise, why did the bout agreement filed with the commission say 144 pounds and not 147? The Marquez team has agreed to continue and fight anyway at 147 lbs, to have his biggest payday, and wave the 144 lbs agreement. The agreement included a fine tuning to the amount of 250,000$ a pound. Kizer insists that Marquez agreed without coercion.



Yes, everyone was led to believe the fight was at 144lbs. But WeightCheater jr. and his team had always intended to pull all advantages and have the fight at 147 lbs, two full weight classes above Light Weight (135 lbs), which is where Marquez just left off. Barrera once claimed that Marquez has never brought power with him as he climbed weight. And we know how Floyd fights. So are we going to see what we expected all along? As Roach would call it, "a boring fight"? Well, now it's also a cheater's fight.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Pacman punch


Pacquiao is a natural puncher. He is known to punch at odd angles, it's as if his fists come from all directions. Early in his career he got used to storming his opponents with punches and would often be careless. Becoming a seasoned elite in the sport has made him more cautious yet still a formidable puncher. His fans have seen the likes of a Filipino Tyson in this "little" slugger. The Pacman's speed and power has been tested against a variety of fighters of ranging skills, strength, and size, as he rose in weight coming from 106lbs upto welterweight (147lbs). We have yet to see his plateau as he continues to improve and gain strength in each fight.

Pacquiao vs Hatton in Hindsight

A few months back we witnessed just what might be the greatest single punch in boxing recent history. This punch was heard all over the world.



There is much to look forward to in the next Pacman bout against the great Puertorican fighter Cotto.

Marquez drinks his own urine

Marquez did what? Yes, he drank his own urine! This guy will do anything to win his bout against Floyd. But he will have a lot more to do than drink his own piss. It was quite a startling revelation indeed as episode 3 of the Marquez-Mayweather HBO 24/7showed in its first few minutes on the TV monitor as Floyd and his family watches.  
There is great hope from a few like myself that Marquez will do what most think is not possible, that is, to defeat the slick fighter Mayweather. It would be Marquez' biggest break and for once, not fall within the shadow of the Pacman. For a while some would think that Marquez simply follows Pacquiao's footsteps by gaining weight himself and always mentioning himself being the victor in their 24 round battle. They were both close fights but perhaps even for those who saw both fights, there were enough knockdowns to award Pacquiao the winning point in their second match. Marquez will fight his best against Mayweather and hopefully they both live up to the hype as the ticket sales do not show promise.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Pacquiao will KO Cotto

I am just a fan just like you most probably. Here, I would not be troubling you with all the hype about Pacquiao's skills (or even Cotto's). There is a whole bunch of hype out there in the net about these two fighters. Cotto is supposedly bigger and stronger, while the Pacman is simply just faster. You will even read about Freddy Roach talking about the speed of Pacquiao, which in this fight will fall on his feet, not so much with his hands. This means, in Roach's mind, one of the main strategies for the Pacman is to escape Cotto's power by his usual in-and-out movements. For many of us who have very short memories, this actually gives a sense of deja vu. Against so called bigger and tougher opposition it is not new to hear that the Pacman will be quick to evade the opponent's power punches. However, something peculiar has just occurred. Whereas, Freddy predicted the KO of Cotto a few months back, now we hear Freddy Roach predicting that the Pacman will go the distance but win every round (of course this is a bit of a stretch). Note that this new prediction by Roach, who has not failed us with his bold foretelling of how the Pacman will fare against recent foes, has changed. Is this due to the fact that Cotto has been training much earlier than the Pacman, while the Filipino slugger was still shooting scenes for his movie/TV career? Is this because Roach has finally seen something in Cotto's videos to cause him alarm? Whatever the case maybe, Boboy, Pacman's close associate (the big Filipino guy who is always in Pacman's corner) is not too apprehensive in a recent interview in the Philippines, saying that it is but natural that the trainers do get worried for their fighters. Although just about a week before this interview, Roach is caught stating his being upset on how Pacquiao is not immediately starting his training, and that Roach prefers to set camp in Mexico instead of Baguio (which is now the current training camp for the Pacquiao team before the last three weeks to be held in LA). The supposed training camp in Mexico is at a higher elevation to have Pacquiao ready to go the distance, whereas the Baguio site is about half the Mexican peak. All these gossip/hype around Pacquiao's late start of training forgets the fact that the longest recent training that Pacquiao did was against dela Hoya for a period of 10 weeks. Now, Pacquiao wants to train in his regular 8 weeks to avoid over training. This could be a sign of confidence but to those who worry, hopefully not a sign of over-confidence. At the height of rumors of the waning trust of his trainer Roach, and a rift in the Pacquiao camp (Roach vs Pacquiao's manager), there is still a full 9 weeks before meeting cotto. Plenty of time to gauge how Pacquiao will be ready to meet a truly stronger and bigger man. Not to discount that Diaz, dela Hoya, and Hatton were also pitted as bigger opponents, they were not Miguel Cotto, as Cotto himself claims at a press conference in the New York Yankee stadium.
Now, if we were to recall that Nacho Beristein predicted that Pacquiao will KO Cotto within 5-6 rounds, I'd say, Pacquiao himself is at this level of confidence. Although Cotto started training much earlier, he is now under the wing of a new trainer due to a feud with his old trainer. This fact was something Nacho considered. Given already the fact that the Pacquiao is the favorite almost 2-1 against Cotto, it would not surprise me if Pacquiao delivers. He himself will not say anything about the fight except his usual script that he will fight to the last drop of his blood. Despite the current hype around the Pacquiao camp, I would still go for what Nacho claimed earlier. There is a very good chance that Cotto will be KOed within the middle rounds, if Pacquiao would show real confidence at fight night and show that he could come close to throw combinations after a couple of potshots, while being able to jump back and evade. It is already mentioned in a few reports that the Pacman is requesting the biggest ring allowed anticipating the plan to move around and keep the fight at the center where speed takes the advantage. Cotto is good in cutting angles but Pacquiao just might be too fast with his feet in the middle of the biggest available ring.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Pacquiao will fight everyone

All boxers, together with their promotion team, would have to make choices in terms of getting the best quality opposition, which at the same time would generate the most revenue. The Pacman has proven to find a good balance in both quality and revenue as his wars with the great Mexican fighters, Barrera, Morales, and Marquez defined his career as a fighter to reckon with, until defeating dela Hoya and Hatton, which gave him celebrity as well as legendary status.




If Pacquiao were an old time fighter like the great Filipino boxer Pancho Villa (Francisco Guilledo), then the Pacman would fight almost every few month and would have beaten some hundred boxers by now and would have fallen against much bigger opponents. And if Pancho Villa did not die of tooth decay on his early 20s, he would have risen to be one of the greats in boxing. But such are hypotheticals. They sound much grander than current hype before a match (and even long after a match). One thing will always be true, the Pacman has captured the imagination of his fans, and for them, the Pacman rose to the occasion by always going after bigger and stronger opponents, risking defeat. And when he falls, the might of his vengeance shows no mercy as it was against the great Morales.

Why do Pacquiao fans think he is great?

The Pacman at his best, tearing through weight divisions, knocking out legends. If Pacquiao has no skills- then he is pure genius, a natural born fighter- defeating Barrera (2x, 1KO), Morales (2x, 2KOs), Marquez (1x, 4 KDs), Dela Hoya (KO at 8th), Hatton (2KDs, KO, all in 2 rounds)-- becoming the first fighter to earn 4 lineal titles in 4 different weight divisions, having championship titles in 6 different weight divisions, being the only fighter to be successful in 4 of the original 8 weight divisions and declared by ring magazine as this decade's best fighter, transcending the sport of boxing by entering Time Magazine's 100 most influential persons in the world (2009). Ever wonder why many PacFans are newbies to boxing? Well, that's because the Pacman gives a new thrill to boxing that attracts beyond the reach of any other fighter. Some fighters have to learn their skills for many years-- a very select few were born natural fighters. The Pacman brings this legend to life by being the most exciting fighter to rampage on the ring.