Mayweather - Pacquaio remains only worthwhile mega-fight left

By Steve Janoski: It was a bizarre ending, one that could only come during a Floyd Mayweather fight: a kiss on the cheek, a touch of the gloves, and a ruthless knockout that will soon make its way onto the YouTube highlight reels.

And if Mayweather taught us anything, it was what Arturo Gatti and Shane Mosley already learned in their respective fights with the champ — if you’re in the squared circle with Floyd Mayweather, expect to get hit. Don’t talk, don’t hug, don’t look to the ref, and certainly don’t kiss. You’re here to fight. Young Ortiz learned this the hard way, and it is doubtful that he will “space out” at any time during the remainder of his career.

Of course, the ending of this fight has given Mayweather’s haters more ammunition than they could ever possibly want, and the fighter’s recent statements that he’d be willing to grant Ortiz a rematch only if he defeats fellow welterweight Andre Berto again have made the boxing world scratch its collective head.

That first fight, which Ortiz won in April, was a banger, no doubt, maybe even a “Fight of the Year” candidate. But the time for a rematch has passed — too much has happened since the first match.

Furthermore, Mayweather’s use of a Berto fight as some sort of measuring stick for worthiness is laughable, and it could make one ponder why Mayweather doesn’t want to immediately sign on for a rematch. Could the hustler be trying to sign a bigger, better fight, one that could possibly be the most momentous of the last 15 years, with a certain Filipino superstar?

Relax, I’m kidding.

But regardless, something else is at play here. The controversial nature of Floyd’s victory might normally warrant some kind of rematch, but those who understand boxing realized early on that Ortiz was totally outclassed and in trouble early, and there was only one possible outcome.

Ortiz, quite simply, deserves no rematch with Mayweather. He showed the world on Sept. 17 exactly what he was — a physically gifted but psychologically shattered individual who withers and fades under the heat of boxing’s brightest lights.

Some of the men who pull on the gloves are truly warriors, but others just like to play them on TV. Between his conduct in the Maidana fight and his throwing of the most blatant head-butt in the history of the sport during the Mayweather fight, Ortiz has showed that he belongs in the company of the latter. Nobody aside from that fighter’s most faithful of fans will want to see him back on the greatest of stages with the greatest of fighters.

There has also been some talk about Mayweather-Berto occurring instead, which is interesting only because Mayweather has not fought him yet. Berto, however, remains a fighter so unpolished that he was continually battered by Ortiz. Although he has the proverbial puncher’s chance, many of the 42 men that Mayweather has unceremoniously dismissed had that same chance and failed to capitalize on it. It’s doubtful Berto would be any different.

Even Oscar De La Hoya has joined the fray, and hinted last week that he might be tempted to take off his heels and make some sort of ill-advised comeback to fight the champ. However, the idea of De La Hoya and Mayweather getting back in the ring to repeat their May 2007 snoozefest appeals to most fans about as much as the idea of paying $60 to watch it does.

Unfortunately though, there are not many other fights available at welterweight for Mayweather, aside from the one great fight that neither he nor Manny Pacquiao seem all that intent on making (much to the chagrin of the boxing world.)

I won’t lie — they had me fooled initially, especially when they both signed on to fight the only boxers out there that somewhat emulate the other; Ortiz, a fast, strong southpaw with power in both hands, and Juan Manuel Marquez, a genius counterpuncher whose best attributes are his ring smarts and straight right hand. It appeared that Mayweather and Pacquaio might be sharpening their skills with risks just large enough to whet the public’s appetite for the mega-fight before finally signing on.

But, if Mayweather’s words are any indication, that fight is no closer to being made than it was at any time in the past two years. This in itself is a kick in the teeth to boxing’s most loyal fans, most of whom who sit by and watch helplessly as their brutally corrupt sport slowly suffocates itself under the weight of ego and money.

Honestly, both of these men could afford to take a page from one fighter they both knocked out: Ricky Hatton.

Regardless of what fans think about his boxing skill or career legacy, the Englishman who had “Pride in Battle” inked across his pale back was always, always looking to fight the best, even if that meant moving out of his weight class or taking a smaller share of the purse to do it.

What Hatton recognized — and I wonder if these two do — is that there’s but a small window during which one can achieve true greatness in this game. And that window, for both of these aging greats, is quickly closing.

Article posted on 02.10.2011



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The noblest parts of the hardest game

BY STEVE JANOSKI
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The first professional fight I ever watched was on Cinco de Mayo, 2007.

That night, a few friends and I had gone to a seedy bar in a rough section of town to watch Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya go to war.

There had been a lot of hard talk before the fight, and I had just begun learning to box myself at the time, so I figured I should watch one or two fights to see what the top dogs did.

It was hardly a memorable fight— a mundane split decision victory for Mayweather that featured a lot of movement and very little brawling.

Regardless, it captivated me, as fighting in any form often captivates young men.

Growing up shorter than the rest of the crowd in my youth, I'd lost my first fight in kindergarten and faired only mildly better in many affairs after, so I knew what it was like early on to get hit.

Why anyone would want to make a profession of such a thing escaped logic to me, but I came to understand it that night.

It was the atmosphere around the ring, which, though filled with movie stars and former fighters and politicians, also has an electrical energy in it, a deadly calm that occurs on the seas right before a hurricane hits.

And then, for its flash and fanfare and fame— then, the brutal, unadulterated violence explodes.

It seems like a simple sport, the base of which comes down to "hit the other guy more, and harder, than he hits you." That's probably why every guy thinks he can do it, or that he knows what he's talking about when watching a fight.

The truth is that they can't, they don't, and that boxing is possibly the most complicated, subtly nuanced sport ever invented.

Even with the advent of Mixed Martial Arts, which seems to be overtaking part of boxing's market, there still is no question which is the "harder" sport.

MMA athletes are warriors just the same, but there are ways in MMA to dodge the brutality that's simply inherent in boxing.

Don't want to get hit in the face? Shoot for his legs. Take him down, make it a grappling match. Try and "tap out" the other guy.

In boxing, you can't tap out. The only way to tap out is to take a knee and let the referee stop the fight, but for real men, literally bowing in the face of an overwhelming opponent can be a soul-shattering experience.

And so we have fighters, guys like Micky Ward or Arturo Gatti or Diego Corrales, who made careers out of being known to never, ever quit, and to go out on their shield in the most literal sense of the term, finishing the fight either standing up or knocked out.

That's a lot to ask for when, after round upon round, you know you're not getting knocked out but the bones and your face feel like they've melded together in one mushy, painful pile, and that one more shot might blow them apart.

Boxing represents all that has left our society, and what lies in the souls of fighters is not found in the souls of those who play basketball or football.

When one of these players spikes the ball in the endzone or dunks on another guy, he's saying, "I've won. I'm harder than you, I'm more of man than you."

Sometimes the dunked on player will take offense, and a shoving match will ensure, maybe even a full blown fight. Because really, that's what all of these games come down to — who's more of a man, and who is the alpha dog.

And when you're looking to settle who is king of the mountain, well, that's settled with fists.

The spectacle of a boxing match is what forms the base for all of these other games that are trying to show who's king without getting beaten to death while doing it — this is why nobody "plays" boxing.

This society as a whole has become overwhelmingly frightened of violence. A cross word can get you sued, dodge ball is banned in schools, and HR departments and "mediators" settle disputes that once might have been settled the old way.

But in truth, a little violence is a good thing.

It's good to know where your limits are, what it feels like to get hit, and the sense of accomplishment you get from being so tired that your lungs are gasoline burnt and you can't hold your arms up and a fighter is trying to kill you…but you still made it through.

That's the kind of thing that boxing slams on the table and shoves towards you. There's no plaudits for those that can't make it, no participation trophies for the "B" level fighters.

Don't want to get hit? Get out of the gym. Not hard enough? You'll get knocked stupid, and no trainer will waste his time on you.

And if you do lose, you've got to admit that there's at least one guy out there who probably could have killed you if he didn't let up or the fight wasn't stopped.

This is one of most sobering thoughts that a human can have.

Email: Janoski@northjersey.com

A Final Plea for Mayweather-Pacquaio

By Steve Janoski: I imagine that these must be dark days for Floyd Mayweather Jr. Just a few short months ago, he was boxing’s triumphant conquering hero - returning to the sport last July and quickly dispatching two of the toughest, most talented fighters in the world in Juan Manual Marquez and Shane Mosley.

Immediately following the Mosley fight, he rose back to the top of the elusive “Pound for Pound” rankings once again, but there was more going on in the ring on the evening of May 1 than just taking some worthless mythical title from a placeholder.

Mayweather proved something to his detractors that night when he took Mosley’s best right hands and not only withstood them, but came back to utterly dominate the bigger, stronger fighter without having to back up while doing it.

For that short time after this virtuoso performance, the game was his again; he had made millions off the two fights, and his name was cleared in the eyes of not only the boxing public, but also in the eyes of the IRS. Many boxing fans, though they hated to admit it, began to suspect that he would easily defeat Manny Pacquiao in what everyone believed was an imminent match.

However, after the negotiations for the fight stalled for the second time, Pacquiao signed up to fight Antonio Margarito. The one-sided demolition of that same fighter last Saturday night has struck the boxing world hard, and made the iron hot for a drastic change; the pendulum has swung back in the Filipino’s favor.

And my God, how far Mayweather has fallen since.

The furor spread instantly over the internet. The wall of Mayweather’s Facebook page is alight with messages— nearly all of them having to do with Pacquiao, and not all of them cordial.

Some are messages of support from his real fans, while others are quiet, humble inquiries into what appears to be his seeming reluctance to fight the Filipino. Many, however, are far more boisterous, calling the fighter “Gayweather” or “Fraud” and telling him that Pacquiao will “destroy him.”

One fan even went so far as to say that Floyd has lost his own Facebook page.

“Floyd has lost his skills, he always loses money, he’s losing his fans, and he’s even lost this Facebook page,” the fan proclaimed. “This page belongs to PACQUIAO now.”

It doesn’t stop there. Every YouTube tribute to Floyd has been inundated with comments of the same ilk— brutally brash callouts by anonymous screen names looking to rattle sabers for their fighter.

All the while, piles of opinion articles are accumulating, many of which contain feature authors proclaiming the era of Floyd Mayweather dead, and that Saturday’s mauling of Margarito has left the outcome of a future Mayweather-Pacquiao fight all but decided.

As if this isn’t enough, Mayweather’s personal life also appears to be in shambles. He’s been hit with a restraining order by his ex-girlfriend that prevents him from seeing his two sons, the result of an allegedly violent confrontation in September. The slew of charges he faces for this incident could put him in prison for over 30 years.

Another incident occurred just last week, with a security guard claiming that Floyd poked him in the eye through an open car window when the guard was parked outside Mayweather’s Las Vegas home. This could result in another misdemeanor assault charge if pursued by the prosecution.

And, in one final blow, his trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather, will likely stand trial on Jan. 24 on charges of attacking a female boxer. Roger, who is currently free on bail, could face a maximum of 10 years in prison if he’s convicted, meaning that even if Floyd ducks jail, he may be left without his trusted trainer for the biggest fight of his life.

Frankly, Floyd’s life is becoming a Shakespearean tragedy of epic proportions, where the attributes that have led him to these magnificent heights— his unwavering pride and his willingness to commit violence— are leading him directly to his brutal end.

But fear not. All is not over— especially when we’re talking about Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

I made the mistake once of questioning his heart, and he came back and proved me wrong; I suspect that he may do the same thing with the current flock of critics, especially in regards to a possible fight with Pacquiao.

Pacquiao’s fight with Margarito, while impressive, was not a shocking upset; one might even say that it had a predetermined outcome. Size difference be damned, few gave the slow-footed, wide-punching Mexican a realistic chance at defeating the Filipino southpaw, and with good reason. But we boxing fans are a fickle, insatiable brood, with short memories and minds that are easily swayed by the pre-fight hype heaped upon us.

In reality though, the Mexican brawler is cut from the same cloth as Pacquiao’s past handful of opponents— hard-hitting but sluggish on his feet, and little more than a wavering heavy bag for the tornado that is Manny Pacquiao on fight night.

Was Margarito much larger? Yes. However, he’s always been more of an inside fighter, walking through punches to land his own heavy uppercuts and hooks. He rarely employs a solid jab, and doesn’t throw a particularly long right hand; a rangy fighter, he is not.

For a fast southpaw like Pacquiao, this was not a spectacular challenge. Freddie Roach knew this, and that’s why he let Pacquiao take the fight. No misleading, overblown 24/7 series should make anyone believe that Margarito had any real chance besides a fluke knockout.

But when people talk about Pacquiao “destroying” Mayweather, I really must ask, even in the glowering ruins of the post-Margarito destruction— have we forgotten whom we are talking of?

Hate him or love him, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is 41-0. He has made fighters of every style and caliber look like amateurs, and he’s done it for more than a decade.

His resume is a list of the most talented fighters of the last 10 years— Emanuel Augustus, Jose Luis Castillo, Oscar De Lay Hoya, Zab Judah, Diego Corrales, DeMarcus Corley, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Arturo Gatti, Carlos Baldomir; Floyd has humiliated and defeated all of them.

Is Pacquiao better than all of these fighters? Yes. His combination of speed, power, footwork, and angles puts him at the top as far as ability, with the exception of maybe Mosley at lightweight or De La Hoya in his prime.

However, to say that the outcome of any fight with Floyd Mayweather is a foregone conclusion is foolhardy, for the simple reason that 41 men have tried, and all have failed. As the fighter himself is so fond of saying— all 41 had a game plan, and none of them worked.

On top of this, Mayweather, being an astute counterpuncher with an exceptional understanding of range, distance, and angles, is the type of fighter that Pacquiao has had trouble with in the past. He is far more Marquez than he is Cotto, Hatton, Clottey, or Margarito.

I will make no prediction on this prospective fight, as it’s simply too early to even entertain the thought (or get my hopes up that it happens in the first place). But one thing is certain: having Manny Pacquiao in the ring with Floyd Mayweather will drive Mayweather to dig deeper, and perform better, than he ever has in his life.

Will that be enough to prevail? Who knows. But it will certainly be enough to make the fight an encounter that Mayweather would have extraordinary incentive to win— he should know better than anybody that in America, when you win, we tend to give you a pass on a lot of misdeeds.

Whoever triumphs, the excuses will abound. The fight took too long to come to fruition, someone had hand problems, someone was on steroids, someone injected lidocaine, someone got old overnight or someone was already shot and now they’re “exposed”— we boxing fans don’t like giving credit to winners, no matter who it is.

Ironically though, it’s the fans who would be the real winners of this matchup. The massive buildup to this fight would be one that this generation of fight fans has never experienced, and the battle itself might approach the level of those bouts that have come to be described as “legendary” in the history of the sport— “The Rumble in the Jungle,” “The Showdown,” “The Brawl in Montreal,” “The Thrilla in Manilla,” “The War.”

It would be the only matchup of this era capable of duplicating the raw excitement purely because of the characters of the personalities involved. And, if it does finally happen, these two modern warriors will face off and have the opportunity to, as Homer said, “Stand and fight to the finish, twisting and lunging in their deadly dance,” and leave the memory of their battle imprinted on the minds of every pair of eyes watching for years to come.

The chance for the two greatest fighters of an age to have the opportunity to come toe-to-toe while still in their primes happens rarely, and this fight not happening because of squabbles about blood tests or payouts would be the greatest travesty in the history of the sport.

It would also give every fan in the world the right to – no, it would nearly demand – that every fan in the world turn their back on an already fading niche sport, because we deserve more than this from the fighters, the promoters, and the boxing world in general.

Floyd, Manny— do not rob yourselves of the chance for your names to live forever, with a place in the history books that emulates the likes of Hector and Achilles, and to be the first memorable warriors of the new millennium.

And for the love of God…do not rob us of the chance to watch you do it.

This article originally posted on Eastsideboxing.com

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