Brian’s Boxing Bag: (Manny Pacquiao, Kermit Cintron)
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By Brian Wilbur
Welcome back to RSR and my weekly mailbag. RSR was down last week due to maintenance.
Former RSR writer Kermit Cintron was in action over the weekend, fighting against pound for pound hopeful Paul Williams. Though Cintron was the underdog going in I felt that stylistically he could give Williams problems and possibly win. I still feel that way if they have a rematch but the Cintron vs. Williams bout was cut short due to a strange ending. Kermit fell out of the ring during a clinch, hitting his head and causing him to be unable to continue. The fight went to the scorecards and Williams was declared the winner on points after only 3 completed rounds.
The win is dubious to say the least because the bout seemed to end before it even started. The final result is a raw deal for Cintron, who was probably thrilled at the opportunity to fight Paul Williams on HBO, and is unlikely to get a similar opportunity in the near future.
Another big fight over the weekend, of the MMA variety, the mighty Lyoto Machida lost his undefeated record when he was knocked out by Mauricio Rua. A year ago Machida had an aura of invincibility reminiscent of a prime Mike Tyson, because not only was he undefeated, but he had never even lost a round, dominating the opposition in intimidating fashion. That aura, like so many before it going back to Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Jack Dempsey, etc., was vaporized.
Rua had reached a high level of success prior to his two fights with Machida, but his loss to Forrest Griffin (which now looks like a fluke) caused fans and experts to sleep on Rua as a legitimate threat to Machida. As the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Rua’s future is wide open. He is the ruler of the best division in the sport. When he seeks a third match against Machida or goes after Randy Couture, the winner of Rashad Evans vs. Quentin Jackson, or a rematch with Forrest Griffin, any and all will be excellent match ups.
Coming up this week, boxing fans will be able to enjoy an interesting Junior Welterweight title bout between Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi. Expect a ton of speed and a high level of skill between these two slicksters. Also on Friday, American fans will get their first glimpse at long time WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Sergiy Dzindziruk when he squares up against Daniel Dawson. Enjoy the fights and feel free to send me an email to share your thoughts and reactions to those fights or any other topic in the fighting world. My in-box is always open!
On to this week’s mailbag, we start off with an email discussing current events and then move onto some Mayweather and Pacquiao banter.
Worst. Fight. Ever.
Paul Williams vs. Kermit Cintron was a fun slug-fest for about 10 seconds before Cintron took a nose dive onto the concrete. What the hell was that all about? I really think that Paul Williams is overrated. Yeah he avenged his only loss, but the beat downs he received against Carlos Quintana and Sergio Martinez made me see “The Punisher” for what he really is.
The only reason he has had as much success as he has had is because of his goofy long arms. His power and chin are just okay. His boxing form and defense is atrocious. All you have to do is defend and counter punch a bit, use some angles and you’ll rough him up pretty good.
-GregG
GregG,
I don’t disagree with you there. First, that was a very big letdown of a fight. I feel so unsatisfied after inconclusive lame endings to fights like what happened on Saturday. This is reminiscent of Anderson Silva’s nothing fight against Patrick Cote, just a lot of posturing until a fluke fight-ending injury. After all of the hype in the weeks leading up to the fight you are hoping for something conclusive, or at least some decent action. Oh well, there is always next week in boxing, the year round sport.
I also agree with you about your assessment of Paul Williams. His two biggest assets are his size, obviously, and his stamina, which allows him to throw an impressive volume of punches. He presents a style that if difficult to beat if you haven’t seen it before. However he is one-dimensional so if you look at the blue print for how to beat him and prepare accordingly he shouldn’t be that tough of an out for a world class versatile boxer. I would confidently pick Sergio Martinez to beat him in a world title rematch.
Pacquiao Election
Do you think Manny Pacquiao will win his congressional bid for this upcoming election? How will that affect his career?
-Darnel
Darnel,
As much as I like to be a know-it-all, I know absolutely nothing about Philippine politics. If he was running for a political office in California he would probably win. He has a ton of fans in California and we have a history of electing celebrities over politicians.
As I write this response the election is currently ongoing. Pacquiao has already cast his vote and the result of the election will be in within a day or two. The mailbag should be posted on the front page of RSR before the results are in. I don’t know if Manny will win, though he probably isn’t a slam dunk to win since he has already failed once at winning a political election. We’ll see what happens.
Bob Arum and Pacquiao’s advisers claim that Pacquiao will continue fighting, most likely in November, whether he wins or loses. I have a hard time grasping how he will be able to walk away from his political duties for months at a time to train for a major fight. Anyway, Manny’s career is coming to a close I think anyway. If he fights and beats Mayweather in November there will be nothing more for him to accomplish in boxing so he might as well retire after that.
Mayweather Won Easily As Expected
Brian,
I think we both hit the nail right in the head with our Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosley predictions. I said that Mosley’s only chance was to land a lucky punch, well even the Hail-Mary punch almost came true and he didn’t capitalize on it.
An old and slow Mosley was able to hit and wobble Mayweather in the early rounds before he ran out of steam and he’s not even half as fast, aggressive and active as Pacman. So I think there is a good chance that Mayweather wouldn’t take the fight knowing what is coming for him. We are gonna hear an avalanche of excuses, but I’m hoping hes gonna man-up and fight.
My question now would be, did that performance against Mosley make your pick between Pacquiao vs. Mayweather a lot easier or a lot harder?
One more thing about Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, they may have similar hand speed, but the foot speed and foot work advantage clearly goes to Pacquiao.
-Vinjo
Vinjo,
Well, since the Mosley vs. Mayweather fight played out almost exactly like I thought it would my prediction for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao doesn’t change. Pacquiao’s performance over Joshua Clottey improved his chances of beating Mayweather in my head because he was able to handle a world class defense without a problem.
At this point I think the fight is still a pick ’em fight. Mayweather’s punches are much more accurate, faster, straighter, and smarter than Clottey’s punches were. Pacquiao’s endurance, speed, volume of punches, and angles are much better than any recent Mayweather opponent had to offer. They present stylistic problems for each other, and for that reason I think both men will have their moments in the fight.
Pacquiao showed much improved counter punching skills against Clottey, once again proving that he gets better with each fight, to the point where he might be on par with the counter punching master Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez didn’t have much success against Mayweather, but the punches he did land were counter punches when he had Mayweather against the ropes. Pacquiao, if he can cut off the ring, could find similar success with harder punches. Or Mayweather, if he can keep the fight in the center of the ring would be able to defend and pot shot his way to a decision.
Very tough to call. This is such a perfect super fight, because not only are Pacquiao and Mayweather the two biggest names and biggest draws, but they are evenly matched. I expect an epic bout with ebbs and flows, back and forth drama. Absolutely Pacquiao’s speed and power are intimidating. I am curious to see how the negotiations play out and who will walk away as the scapegoat this time if they fall apart. I am hopeful that an arrangement can be made.
As for your assessment of Mayweather and Pacquiao’s foot work, foot speed is an advantage for Pacquiao. Total footwork can be debated. Mayweather’s footwork is a big part of his game and one of the reasons he has dynamic ring generalship. He knows where to be and always is at the proper distance. Credit to Pacquiao though for turning one of his former weak points (footwork) into one of his strengths, to the point where is in the discussion for best footwork overall.
Donaire Will Be #1 P4P Next Year
LOL, if Paul Williams loses in his next fight then Manny Pacquiao lost to Floyd Mayweather this year, and Pacquiao and Mayweather retire soon after, I see a case where Nonito Donaire will be pushed to No. 1 by Ring Magazine without even fighting!
They really see something very good with Donaire eh? And I hate to question them considering the magazine’s credibility. No other fighter in history can I remember having the privileged treatment that Nonito Donaire is receiving right now. I’m okay with it but please, can the Ring magazine give their explanation why he is in number four in the first place? Then after that, I’m OK because I always believe in Ring magazine.
-Sam
Sam,
Nonito Donaire has done very little to be ranked that high, I totally agree with you. However, and like you implied, he is kind of there by default. Aside from the two all time great superstars in Pacquiao and Mayweather, the pool of pound for pound candidates is the shallowest that I have seen since I have been following boxing. There is a huge drop off after the top two, allowing mostly unproven guys like Donaire to have lofty rankings.
Given your scenario I can also see Donaire reaching the top spot even though I would vehemently disagree. Hopefully someone else steps up so that the Ring will not place an undeserving boxer as the #1 pound for pound by default instead of proving it in the ring. I could see either Paul Williams or Sergio Martinez jumping ahead of Donaire with a quality win. Also, the winner of Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez IV will likely be reintroduced to the top 10. The winner of the Super Six tournament will be a good candidate as well. Chad Dawson is a guy who has the talent to be number 1 pound for pound but just needs some opponents to prove it.
Donaire desperately needs to validate his outdated win over Vic Darchinyan. The rematch with Darchinyan is apparently dead in the water again so we can rule that out. A potential match with Fernando Montiel has been rumored, and would be huge. Montiel’s win over Hasegawa in Japan was very impressive and will perhaps put him in the Ring’s top 10.
Blood Test Confusion
Mosley vs. Mayweather was hype over this drug testing protocol right? On the HBO 24/7 show I never saw the fighters being injected with any needles with blood flowing. None! Zero! But i sure hell was not sleeping watching this 24/7. So why is it like that? Why was that portion of the test (actual test) being cut? Are the vials we’ve seen their own blood or fake blood? We don’t know because they edited the blood flowing into the tubes.
Now with Pacquiao over Hatton fight, I’ve seen him taking the drug test (the actual drug test!) and also with Clottey fight. He did have his blood drawn when the needles was injected through his veins. I saw blood flowing through those needles. Why am i not surprise about this BS over drug testing!
How can Mayweather demand for 3 blood tests against Pacquiao when it’s random? Especially when Mayweather and Mosley only had 1 blood test taken? How can it be random with Mayweather and Mosley when they had only 1 blood test? We sure are dicks to not even notice!
According to NSAC, they were given 8 samples for Mosley (4 vials for urine and 4 vials for blood) and 7 for Mayweather (4 vials urine, 3 vials blood).
And no more? You’re telling me that was what was stipulated in their fight contract? Only 1 blood test to be conducted? Nothing more? Not 3 or maybe 2 blood tests? Lil’ Floyd sure knows it ain’t easy taking blood!
-Jaime
Jaime
I didn’t watch the 24/7 series so I am not sure what portion of the drug testing procedure, if any, that they edited out. I know that Mayweather and Mosley both have had their blood drawn as part of the Olympic style random blood testing. So that answers one of your questions. There is no schedule for the testing because it is random. The randomness ensures that the fighters cannot prepare for the test. Some other feedback that I have heard from watching the series is surprise at how much blood is being drawn from each fighter; the amount being more than expected. With the amount of blood that they are taking perhaps Pacquiao was correct in saying that the blood loss could negatively affect his performance.
I think your paranoia about Floyd cheating or possibly faking giving his blood stems from your fierce defensiveness over Manny Pacquiao. I see no evidence to suggest that Mayweather and Mosley did not follow standard USADA testing policy.
By the way, I love how Naazim Richardson handled himself in the press conferences leading up to the fight. He brought up Mayweather’s previous use of Xylocaine and when Leonard Ellerbe denied the usage, Richardson pointed out team Mayweather’s hypocrisy about giving credence to rumors regarding performance enhancing drugs without having evidence.
Also, what was up with the tagline? “Who R U Picking?” This isn’t a text message! Spell out the words please!
Steroid Issue Blown Out of Proportion
Joopabs,
If we try to work on the knowledge that “if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it”… Then the Mayweather camp should voice their concern/doubts regarding the drug testing procedures to the NSAC and let the NSAC act on it. These procedures have been the de facto standard for a lot of high profile fights in quite a long time now and if something is awfully wrong about it then it should be an NSAC problem to address and act upon.
If for a compelling reason, the Mayweather camp finds the existing drug testing procedure to be inefficient — they can always opt not to fight in an NSAC sanctioned fight.
If and when the rules are amended to apply random blood testing to all succeeding NSAC sanctioned fights then it is agreed that blood testing should be done on the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout.
As far as fairness and sportsmanship is concerned, the rules should not change for one fighter alone. It should apply to all succeeding commission-sanctioned fights regardless of who the participants are.
I even remember one time in billiards history when Corey Deuel was blazing through tournaments because of his famous soft-break strategy that some billiards tournament rules where changed to force players to break harder. You know why some tournaments made that rule change?
So what’s the point here? As opinionated his argument regarding soft break may sound, It means that as much as you have problems with the rules, the decision to change the rules should come from the commission (or in billiards case, tournament organizer) not from the participants and it should apply to all regardless of the participants.
Now, some would argue that boxing is flexible enough to allow some additional terms on fight contract and even Pacquiao has demanded a ridiculously huge penalty for being overweight — but we all know that’s something Mayweather Jr. doesn’t even worry about. The fact is, the fight can proceed with just the commission placed rules and regulations. This is too much posturing from both camps but what all the public want is the fight to get signed, sealed and delivered. Then they can go posturing some more.
-Joopabs
You make a good point. I am very curious why Mayweather brought up this issue seemingly out of nowhere. He had never been a pioneer for stronger drug testing in the past. Mayweather’s actions for the Pacquiao negotiations and for the Shane Mosley fight is putting some pressure on the NSAC to take a look at and possibly change their testing procedures, although they have gone on record saying that they stand by their policies. Since the NSAC is standing pat with their drug testing procedures then perhaps what Mayweather is demanding is unnecessary.
Athletes from player’s unions in other sports, such as baseball and football, also refuse to give blood to the tests because they feel like the needles are intrusive and overkill. Pacquiao’s hesitancy to take the tests has precedence with other high profile athletes.
I am a bit tired of trying to debate the issue though. I, like millions of other boxing fans from around the world, just want some kind of agreement to be reached so that Mayweather and Pacquiao can finally meet in the ring. Cross your fingers fight fans!
That is all I’ve got this week ladies and gents. Take care until next time and send in those emails!