Manny Pacquiao What Do You See When You Look in the Mirror?
By “Bad” Brad Berkwitt
How does it happen? Is it greed? Bad business or maybe a combination of both? On November 13, 2010, the number one Pound for Pound boxer in the sport today Manny Pacquiao, 51-3-2, 38 KO’s goes against known cheater Antonio “Hands of Plaster” Margarito, 38-6, 27 KO’s at the Cowboys Stadium for the vacant WBC Light Middleweight Title.
This fight is a sham! By far the worst thing that has happened to boxing in a long time and that includes bad decisions, ridiculous sanctioned title fights and shame on the WBC who is allowing this fight to be contested for their strap. What did “Hands of Plaster” do to deserve a title shot? He was destroyed in nine rounds against a faded Sugar Shane Mosley without his “Special Weapon”. In his most recent appearance this past May, he was taken the distance by a nondescript opponent named Roberto Garcia who when there was no Plaster of Paris applied to his wraps, he couldn’t stop him going the full ten rounds.
Manny Pacquiao was all that was good in boxing. A man who rose from the depths of poverty and hooked up with a Class Act in Freddie Roach. This was the manuscript for a great movie. Where did it all go wrong and why? Greed! A greedy promoter, a boxer who allowed money to taint what would have been the right thing to do and that was turning down the fight. Face anybody that deserved a shot, but not a fighter that beat up your fellow boxers by cheating.
Pacquiao can say all that he wants or to pretend this fight is acceptable, but deep down, he knows in his heart how wrong this is for him to take the fight and the long lasting black eye it will leave on a sport that has endured so many black eyes over the years. I still feel Manny is a good man, but money does crazy things to some people. It’s too late for him to call of the fight, but a “Call to Arms” is mandatory whether a boxing fan, or a fan of just Manny Pacquiao, you must tune out on November 13th to show Bob Arum and Manny that they made a really bad business decision.
Manny Pacquiao when you look in the mirror what do you see?