AN EVENT?

Dougie,
I had a house full of people and this event didn’t live up to the hype. What a disappointment. It wasn't Manny Pacquiao’s fault. It was old man Bob Arum’s weak undercard and over-hyped main event. I hope Miguel Cotto's fight at Yankee Stadium lives up to the excitement. Peace — Frankie from the Bronx

I agree that the televised undercard was rather ordinary but you should put most of the blame of The Event’s failure to live up to its promise on Joshua Clottey. He had the ability to make for a competitive main event, but he didn’t go for it. Clottey refused to take risks, and when the guy who doesn’t want to fight is concerned only about going the distance, guess what folks? We’re going to get a one-sided/boring match.

I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much for the June 5 fight at Yankee Stadium. Yuri Foreman isn’t the most aggressive junior middleweight out there and Miguel Cotto, who I saw getting his drink on in Dallas this past weekend, may not be able to carry 154 pounds as effectively as he did 140 and 147. But we’ll see. At least you won’t have to pay extra for Foreman-Cotto. It’s an HBO World Championship Boxing special event.

HE IS WHAT HE IS

Channeling Dennis GreenÔǪÔǪ.Clottey was exactly what I thought he would be. I don’t know why everyone was surprised by him. He has always fought that style. Has he been dominated like that? No. But to be surprised that he wouldn’t take a risk when he was getting waxed? He doesn’t take risks when he’s winning big!

Yawn. Manny, you are the man. You blow me away. It seems to me the only way to beat Manny is to be willing to plant that back foot, wait for the tornado to come at you, and drill it. Literally fighting fire with fire. JMM is the only one to effectively do that so far (El Terrible did a wonderful job of sticking and getting the hell out of the way in the first fight, but Manny is so far beyond where he was at that point that I don’t think that strategy would work anymore).

Is there anyone that can do this? I think Floyd, however much I dislike him, COULD do it but I don’t think he has that heart anymore. Sugar? Oh man. I love the Sugar Man but the former fastest welterweight alive would seem to be the guy with the “puncher’s chance” which is just an amazing credit to PacMan.

Can anyone, in Doug Fischer’s mind, beat Manny Pacquaio right now? (Aside from your “son”ÔǪ.he’s not even close yet. He could have the tools but they fight tomorrow and he’s stretched by the 6th). JMM-PacÔǪ.I could watch tapes over and over. — Tony Knopp, LA

I’ll say this about “my son” versus Pacquiao and leave it alone, he would freakin’ GO FOR IT if he got the opportunity that Clottey had Saturday night. He would take risks (not stupid ones but aggressive moves with bad intentions). End of story.

After watching the PacMan in action against Clottey Saturday night, I strongly favor him to beat Money (eight rounds to four) and slightly favor him to outpoint Sugar (toss-up fight, and I do mean “fight”). Pacquiao is indeed the man. He has the highest blend of offensive intelligence, activity and intensity that I’ve seen since a prime Terry Norris. He is hands-down the best fighter on the planet.

MARQUEZ STILL THE MAN

Hey Doug,
I know that people are going to be talking about how great Manny is, but in all the hullaballoo let’s not lose sight of how great this makes Juan Manuel Marquez look. Yes, granted, he lost to Floyd. But he is the only man to make Manny look mortal. Hell, in my opinion he beat Manny twice. Manny has been running through all his opponents in the last two or three years but who is the only man to have equaled him or bested him? Look I'm not trying to poo poo Manny but let's give the devil his due. If Paquiao is an all time great so is Marquez, peace out Dougie. — Jose Avila

I agree with that take, but if Pacquiao goes on to beat Mayweather or Mosley, I’m going to rank him above Marquez in an all-time/pound-for-pound sense.

CLOTTEY DID HIMSELF NO FAVORS

Dougie:
Clottey did not earn a lot of fans yesterday fighting in the biggest stage that he will ever fight. I think he did not give himself a chance to win and his corner, very accurately, told him in every round. I was really disappointed with his performance on what was supposed to be one of the biggest fights of the year. I think this goes back to his Cotto fight and why he didn't win. He's a very good fighter who does not show up when it counts. At least Cotto gave it his all against the PacMonster and was at his level for three rounds. He tried and took risks. That's all you can ask for from an elite fighter, to compete at the highest level. Clottey appeared to be content with just sharing the ring with Pacquiao. He didn't even try and that's going to haunt him forever. I would rather be KO’d trying than losing like that. — Formby

Clottey’s no Ike Quartey. He shouldn’t be mentioned with Azumah Nelson. (Hey, here’s a fascinating featherweight/junior lightweight mythical matchup: Pacquiao vs. “the Professor.”)

What will hurt Clottey’s credibility from now on is that he happened to be one of the few fighters on the planet tough enough to take Pac’s punishment (let’s face it, most fighters would have been done in by the little dynamo’s body attack) but he lacked the balls to go along with his durability.

BRING ON MOSLEY

Hey Doug,
This fan wants to see Pacquiao-Mosley not Pacquiao-Mayweather. I hope Mosley does what you say and beats Mayweather in a conclusive fashion so that we can skip a rematch and move on to Pacquiao-Mosley. That should be a real fight with two offensive guys trying to win. I enjoyed Pacquiao's performance just because with him being so offensive minded there was always that chance that Clottey could land something big. And it was a great performance!

Man, that undercard sucked. I was thinking “I paid for this crap?” Tell the big wigs for me that I'm now very skeptical of PPV and will only buy quality stuff. There are other ways to see the fights…

By the time Soto-Diaz rolled around I could barely stay awake and had to hop on to the computer to stop myself from nodding off. It wasn't a bad fight but after the two first ones … Aaarghh!

Duddy and Castillo have had enough … — Stephen

Castillo is definitely done. I don’t want to see him in a boxing ring again. Duddy is still serviceable as a Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. opponent, which is in the works. I like the Irishman in that matchup that nobody asked for. If Duddy spanks Junior, I wouldn’t mind seeing what he can do against some of the Contender grads who campaign at 160, such as Sergio Mora and Peter Manfredo Jr.

And in retrospect that was really a one-sided ass kicking. What made it special was that Holyfield was such a huge underdog. The last time the Fight of the Year was the biggest event AND an awesome fight was in 1992 when Riddick Bowe outpointed Holyfield for the heavyweight title. Damn, those were the days. Maybe Manny and Shane can rekindle that kind of excitement in the sport.

PACQUIAO-CLOTTEY/MAYWEATHER

Doug-
I'm a long-time reader of your column. I had a few thoughts about the fight and possible future fights.

1. Pacquiao’s performance was all the more impressive even though, as Manny Steward said, he’s not even a real welterweight. This little guy is just amazing. He’s everything the fans want to see in a champion.

2. Mayweather would try to employ a defensive, safety first strategy against Pacquiao as well. However, as opposed to Clottey's high, tight guard, Mayweather would use upper body movement and that funky cross-arm type guard that he has. This would leave him with the same problem that Clottey had though, which is not throwing enough punches. He might make Manny miss a lot of punches, but can he land enough of his own? I don't know that he can. The strategy for Manny against Mayweather is simple. STAY BUSY and GO TO THE BODY. He'll have a lot easier time hitting Floyd's body than his head. What do you think? Am I wrong?

3. The questions in No. 2 might be a little premature considering Mayweather has a formidable opponent in Mosley. I, for one, am hoping that Shane beats the crap out of Mayweather and finally shuts him up. I think Mosley should use the same strategy that I recommended for Pacquiao. For Mosley, a return the murderous body puncher he was when he was a lightweight might be in order. Hey Shane, think “Little Mike McCallum.” I'm sure that Mosley has the power to hurt Mayweather, but how best to get to his head? And can he keep up the work rate? I doubt he wins a pure boxing match against Mayweather. I hope to hell that it’s within his power to turn it into a brawl, or at least make Mayweather stand and throw. Let’s hope Mosley renders a possible Mayweather-Pacquiao fight moot.

4. Kudos to Lenny DeJesus! He seemed to be the only one who realized that hanging out in a corner of ring meant there was fight happening. Sure as hell didn't look like Clottey knew. Maybe Pacquiao beat the will out of him in the early rounds. Either way, Clottey just doesn’t seem to have the mental constitution to progress to the next level. How many times did we hear DeJesus implore Clottey to “take chances,” “open up,” “you've lost every damned round, let’s go”? Clottey gave nothing in return. It was disappointing to see. DeJesus seems like a trainer who’s going to give his charge the straight dope and nothing else. What kind of fighter would want a trainer like THAT? One that WANTS TO WIN! I hope he gets some young prospects to work with.

Anyway, Pac-Man was awesome as usual. Keep up the good work Doug. — Freddie, Pasadena, CA

Thanks for writing Freddie. I’ll respond to your points in order:

4. I haven’t seen the broadcast yet so I really can’t comment on the corner work of DeJesus, but if he told Clottey to move his hands he did his job and he kept it real.

UNEVENTFUL

What's up Doug? First time writer, long time reader here. Pacquiao was great as always, Jerry Jones was a great host and the stadium was great too but sadly, I think the “EVENT” was a disappointment. Do you think some of the 50,000 plus that attended the fight got turned off?

I have to give credit to Pacquiao for trying so hard to put on a good show and even taking a lot of risk when he is already winning on the scorecard but it takes two to tango to put on a great show. How much again is Clottey making for this fight and please don't tell me has an upside on the PPV? Clottey was a MAJOR disappointment. The guy didn’t even try to win. I hope he doesn’t get a second chance.

The undercard sucked also. You know it’s bad when I’m doing the wave in my living room instead of watching that crap undercard. Typical Bob Arum undercard. The next time you see him, can you give him the middle finger for all of us “schmucks?” Watching Duddy is a chore just like watching Chavez Jr. Please don’t tell me Arum is really trying to pit those two in Cowboys Stadium. Does Arum really want to turn off the Dallas people from boxing? So, I guess Arum is still in shock and probably can’t believe that Castillo is now a shot fighter, right? Who is his next experiment? Arum putting fights in major stadium is great but at least put on a great show for those fans that pays to see a show. Dana White was probably laughing in his seat there in Dallas. When will the boxing people get it?

Anyways, thanks for letting me vent out. I know Mayweather is the most gifted defensive fighter today but do you think Pac is the most gifted offensive fighter today? I hope Pac-May happens soon because it’s the only fight out there. Thanks. — Ax

There’s one other fight “out there” and it’s Pacquiao-Mosley. I think that’s what we’ll get and I think fight fans deserve a huge event that will deliver a great fight. Lord knows we’ve suffered through enough let-down “events” like Saturday’s, which wasn’t a total bust. From what I could gather being on the scene before, during, and after the fight was that the 50,000-plus enjoyed themselves. Remember, most of those folks were Pacquiao fans. They were there to “root for the team” and their guy won, so all was well with the world. The hardcore fans in attendance seemed to be in awe of the stadium (which was awe-inspiring) and the atmosphere. The casual fans — and there were many of them — don’t know what a really good fight looks like. They were fascinated by the giant image of these modern-day gladiators on the Jerry-tron. While hardcore fans were thinking that Humberto Soto is “lucky he isn’t in with Edwin Valero” or “will be in trouble when he fights Anthony Peterson” and that David Diaz “is a punching bag,” the casual fans were thinking “Wow, this Soto guy has skills” and “My God, this Diaz guy has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.” The casual fans were blown away by Pacquiao. They can’t wait to tell their coworkers that they saw him fight live on Monday morning.

Pacquiao is definitely the most gifted offensive fighter today.

TRASH TALKING MORONS

Hi there Dougie,
Greetings from one of your many UK fans.

I’ve just watched the delayed transmission of the PacMan-Clottey fight. As one of your correspondents said last week, this fulfilled the first part of hardcore fight fans’ belief that this bout and the Maynever-Mosley combo were a better deal for us than the over-hyped “superfight.” Pac's latest was a good contest, characterised by the latest in a succession of brilliant performances by Manny. And how about that hug before the final roundÔǪ that typifies everything I love about this great sport.

A few more points while I'm here:

(1) I'm a huge soccer fan (hey, I'm from Scotland and soccer is our religion). The governing authorities in that sport have a censure applicable in cases of “bringing the game into disrepute.” If boxing had an overall regulatory authority, instead of the fragmented farce that is the multi-body, multi-title reality, maybe someone would be throwing the book at Floyd Mayweather Snr. for his unfounded doping slurs instead of Pac having to take him to court….

(2) While they're at it, my fictional regulators could also impose a hefty fine on that clown Malignaggi for jumping on the “doping accusation bandwagon” and accusing Amir Khan of being on steroids. Here's some news for Paulie: Our boy Khan will knock you on your back and shut that trash-talking mouth for good. Your belief of belonging on the A-list will be shattered once and for all.

(3) After the Clottey demolition, I'm even more convinced Manny takes Floyd if they ever get it on. PacMan handed out the same level of one-sided beating to a heavier, stronger opponent than Maynever did to the smaller, weaker JMM… and Manny took a few good, hard shots from Clottey with hardly a flinch.

(4) I was at the Liverpool Arena over here on Friday night to see a great Frank Warren bill, packed with quality UK youngsters who prove that there’s life for Frank after Amir Khan's defection from the Warren stable to Golden Boy. Watch out for Kell Brook and Tony Bellew, coming to “world” title shooting-distance in the next 12-18 months.

(5) Barry McGuigan had an article in a national daily newspaper over here calling for “your son” not to be licensed to box due to his blood clot. I can sympathise with McGuigan's view because he’s had to live with the consequences of one of his opponents dying after a fight. What are your views about Valero’s chances of being allowed to fight in Vegas or some of the other hotbeds of boxing action? Will we see this man fulfill his awesome potential? I sure hope so….

Keep up the good work, Doug… love those mailbags and all your insightful articles online. — Alistair Strachan (Southport, England, UK)

Thanks for the kind words, Alistair. Thanks for finally writing in. I’ll respond to your points in order:

5. Yeah, I had 15-20 fans email me Barry’s column. I see where he’s coming from, but I don’t agree with him. Do I worry about Valero? Yes. If he was really my son we’d sit down and have a very serious talk about him retiring. That said, I don’t worry more about Valero than I do most prize fighters. I certainly don’t worry about him as much as the old lions who continue to fight like Holyfield and Castillo, and faded former badasses who are making comebacks like Erik Morales and Johnny Tapia. I really worry about former world-class fighters who have become stepping stones and are clearly impaired from the damage they’ve received in the ring like former cruiserweight beltholder Kelvin “Concrete” Davis. Nobody ever writes anything about a guy like Davis because he’s not an undefeated hotshot with buzz like Valero, but he’s seriously endangering his health by continuing to fight — and I have no idea why commissions allow him to fight when he keeps getting hammered in all of his fights. The thing to remember about Valero is that, over the past five years, his noggin has probably been scanned and examined by more specialists than any other active fighter and so far he’s been cleared to fight in six countries and one U.S. jurisdiction (Texas). I think we will see Valero fight in Las Vegas (though maybe not this year) and I believe he will fulfill his awesome potential in the next two years. And I KNOW it’ll be a blast watching him.