{"id":36666,"date":"2014-03-04T18:22:55","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T23:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=36666"},"modified":"2014-03-06T14:01:42","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T19:31:42","slug":"manny-pacquiao-timothy-bradley-rematch-and-a-dash-of-floyd-mayweather-jr-boxing-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=36666","title":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao – Timothy Bradley Rematch and a Dash of Floyd Mayweather JR- BOXING NEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Gina L. Caliboso<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the weekend, I watched the rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez, JR vs. Bryan Vera. But, I actually was more interested in the comments from Kellerman, Roy Jones, JR, and Lampley. The Orlando Salido bout seems to have given new meaning to getting in some body punches regardless if they were strategic or not. There is the Canelo Alvarez vs. Alfredo Angulo fight I\u2019m sort of looking forward to since I think it\u2019s important for Alvarez to shake of his lesson against Mayweather. He needs to get back into the ring.<\/p>\n

I continue to have a love-hate relationship with boxing. With the announcement of the rematch between Manny Pacquiao, 55-5-2, 38 KO\u2019s, vs. Timothy Bradley, 31-0, 12 KO\u2019s, and Floyd Mayweather deciding to go up against Marcos Maidana, I came into the living room with my father and asked, \u201cCan you believe Mayweather will go up against Maidana and Pacquiao is going up against Bradley again?\u201d Sheesh. My dad, a former boxer and longtime boxing fan, looked up and asked, \u201cWho\u2019s Maidana?\u201d My answer, \u201cHe\u2019s that crazy Argentine fighter. The one that fought against Adrien Broner.\u201d He squinted his eyebrows and said, \u201cMayweather? Why\u2019d he agree to fight him?\u201d I shrugged my shoulders. Dad answered, \u201cOh, who cares. Mayweather\u2019s just doing it for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Pacquiao\u2019s going against Bradley,\u201d I added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good fight. He needs to win. But he should retire. Retire as a winner with some money in your pocket,\u201d<\/p>\n

My dad, in his wisdom, managed to sum up the paths of all three boxers. Right now, Mayweather, Bradley, and Pacquiao stand on top of the welterweight division. When I think about boxing right now, those three are the boxers that immediately come to mind for sports and boxing fans alike. There are some other boxers, such as Nonito Donaire, Sergio Martinez, Brandon Rios, Ruslan Provodnikov, and Guillermo Rigondeaux, but none with the appeal, with the boxing credentials to carry the sport of boxing as it stands now. I\u2019ll add Andre Ward to that list as well, but even Ward seems to lack quality opponents.<\/p>\n

At the center of this triumvirate of the welterweight division, let\u2019s recap, or speculate. I feel like I need a Venn diagram of sorts, but Mayweather seems to be at the center of this boxing triangle.<\/p>\n

In the bout between Pacquiao vs. Bradley, let\u2019s consider that their first bout was a case of some questionable judging. I thought Pacquiao won, that\u2019s one result. Another result would be a draw. But a split decision in favor of Bradley? I didn\u2019t see that. I think it was the beginning of my family deciding to boycott PPV fights. It wasn\u2019t an impressive fight for either fighter and the judging reflected it. The bout was scored: 115-113, 115-113, and 113-115. I still think Pacquiao won, or at least the bout scored as a draw.<\/p>\n

In Bradley\u2019s last few bouts, his fights went below my radar, or at least watching him left a bad taste in my mouth. Bradley is an okay fighter, an athletic fighter, but his fights, eh. Kind of like how you feel after a first date. It\u2019s a phrase I often use for a lot of things these days. \u201cIt was okay.\u201d After the Pacquiao fight, Bradley went up against Ruslan Provodnikov. Now, that was a bout I give to Bradley. He really showed what he was made up of, fighting toe to toe with Provodnikov, and had he had a bit more polish, I think the wily, brawling, and quickly improving Russian would have won. After Bradley, Provodnikov went up against tough guy Mike Alvarado. Provodnikov won due to a cut on Alvarado\u2019s eye. Provodnikov is good, very good. He\u2019s got the goods.<\/p>\n

At this point in the article, you can yawn a bit because I\u2019m going to talk about Mayweather. But I can get the immediate questions out of the way: First question: Will Pacquiao ever fight Mayweather? Not very likely. In fact, if Pacquiao decides to retire, Mayweather will jump on it and say he would have fought him if he didn\u2019t retire. Second question: Will Bradley get a shot at Mayweather? Not very likely. And the reason? Bradley would lose and he knows it. Third question: Does it matter for either fighter to go against Mayweather? For Pacquiao, yes, because the fight has been on and off the promotion cards for a couple of years now. For Bradley, eh, not really. I\u2019d rather see Bradley go up against Provodnikov again. I think Bradley needs to put that prior bout out of his mind and shake it off.<\/p>\n

As for Mayweather and his bout against Maidana, it was a smart move for him. He let the fans decide between Khan or Maidana. Khan? Amir Khan? Yes, boxing fans, the Amir Khan that Maidana nearly put out in the opening rounds of their bout against one another. Maidana is an exciting, unpredictable fighter. I\u2019m hoping for a good fight. But let\u2019s consider the Mayweather skill set and how his fights play out. Speed. Jab, cross, hook, maybe an uppercut \u2013 out of range. Opponent attacks Mayweather. Mayweather retreats to the middle of the ring, jab, cross, hook. In and out. Higher connect percentage. Opponent can\u2019t stay inside and backs off waiting for Mayweather. It\u2019s a long wait because I don\u2019t think Mayweather actively engages. But, he does manage to make his opponent fight his fight. Don\u2019t try to beat Mayweather. Outpunch him. Fight him. Be aggressive. Show him you can fight from all angles. Don\u2019t stand with him because he\u2019ll win on speed and show he has control of the fight. But am I wrong here?<\/p>\n

If you re-play Mayweather\u2019s rounds of boxing, you can go in and out of the room (as I often do) and you can\u2019t tell the first round from the 12th round. If he has KO power, why have his fights gone to twelve rounds? Yes, I remember the Ortiz fight. Actually, I try to forget it but bring it up for point proving purposes.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been called pro-Pacquiao and the inverse to that is being a Mayweather hater. Somewhat true. But I won\u2019t deny this about Mayweather. As unpredictable as the sport of boxing is, Mayweather does what any fighter needs to do \u2013 he wins fights. No matter his opponent. Mayweather has found a way to win and remain undefeated. I give kudos. But now, as it stands, the bout against Maidana will really just go down as another Mayweather scenario (see play by play above): I\u2019ll fight who I can beat.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to hear this instead: I\u2019ll fight whomever, wherever, for whatever amount of money. Or actually, to be more specific: I\u2019ll fight Pacquiao, in Manila, with a 50-50 split. Yeah, right.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, on February 25th, we celebrated the 1964 fight between Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston. On my Google+ page, I mentioned it was a turning point for heavyweight boxing. The division was never the same. It was an era of the great heavyweights. Cassius Clay, later Ali, never backed down from his desire to fight. He took on everyone. And, simply, he fought.<\/p>\n

But here we are, 2014, and two, or three, of the best welterweights continue to dance around one another. Did I say dance? I mean, duck.<\/p>\n

Mayweather. Bradley. Pacquiao. Have a summit. Catch a Lakers game. Go shopping. But put it on the table, with the boxing world to see. Choose a bout for the sport of boxing. I care enough to write about and say boxing needs the superbout. Mayweather has strategically placed himself as the go-to opponent for a great bout. Smart move. But he needs to step up too He, apparently, can go to anyone and make it a fight. Isn\u2019t it odd he hasn\u2019t approached Bradley or Pacquiao?<\/p>\n

Read: Former IBF Featherweight Champion Tom \u201cBoom Boom\u201d Johnson Goes on the Record<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gina L. Caliboso Over the weekend, I watched the rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez, JR vs. Bryan Vera. But, I actually was more interested in the comments from Kellerman, Roy Jones, JR, and Lampley. The Orlando Salido bout seems to have given new meaning to getting in some body punches regardless if they were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,2218,532],"class_list":["post-36666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing","tag-bradley","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36666"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}