Marco Antonio Barrera feels Manny Pacquiao needs revenge against Tim Bradley

By: Chris Robinson

If ever there was a fight that could be looked at as a breakthrough performance for Manny Pacquiao, it would be his 11th round thrashing of Marco Antonio Barrera in November of 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Pacquiao was a heavy underdog heading into the match, as he was moving up in weight to face Barrera, who had rejuvenated his career at the time with a pair of battles against Tijuana’s Erik Morales that thrust him back into boxing’s spotlight.

But Pacquiao wasn’t to be denied, as he dropped Barrera in the third round and overwhelmed him for the remainder of the fight with his speed and power. Seeing Barrera helpless along the ropes in the eleventh, referee Laurence Cole would call a halt to the action, rewarding Pacquiao with what was then his biggest victory as a professional.

Barrera and Pacquiao with link up again nearly four years later, with Manny winning an uneventful twelve-round decision, and Marco has always stayed classy whenever I have mentioned the Filipino icon’s name around him.

I crossed paths with Barrera this past weekend at the Nonito Donaire-Jeffrey Mathebula weigh-in inside of the Marriott in Manhattan Beach, California. With Pacquiao coming off of a controversial split-decision loss to Timothy Bradley last month at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, I felt the need to get Barrera’s take on the action.

“Yes, I saw it,” Barrera would state. “Manny Pacquiao won the fight, I think so. [Tim Bradley] won only two or three rounds.”

At the moment, Pacquiao is slated for a November return but it remains to be seen exactly who he will be facing next. Signs were initially pointing towards a fourth duel with Mexico City’s Juan Manuel Marquez but Barrera insists that Pacquiao must first get revenge against Bradley before looking at other options.

“The rematch [with Bradley]; the fight for Manny Pacquiao is the rematch,” said Barrera.

Pacquiao’s third fight with Marquez this past November was wildly-competitive, just as was the case in their first two encounters, and Manny escaped with a majority-decision that many felt he was fortunate to get. Marquez surely had his moments early but Barrera wasn’t too impressed.

“No, no. I think Pacquiao won the fight,” Barrera added. “[Marquez] didn’t throw many punches. He did what was necessary to win the fight.”

The last question for Barrera was if he still had any hope for a fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is presently spending time locked up in a Las Vegas jail cell, serving a 90-day sentence stemming from a September 2010 domestic violence case.

A Pacquiao-Mayweather match had been a hot topic in the sport dating back to late 2009, but it seems that the public has lost a little bit of interest in the match, as both sides have failed to come to terms on the showdown. Still, Barrera won’t quite give up on such a matchup.

“It’s interesting. It’s a fight I want to see,” stated Barrera.

It's Pacquiao in 6

Written by : MANNY PIÑOL

There is a spectacular optimism and overflowing air of confidence in the statements of American Timothy Bradley, Jr. as his June 9 engagement with Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao nears.

In fact, if you were new to the sport and you did not have the opportunity to really look deep into both fighters’ track records and psyche, Bradley’s brags about giving Pacquiao a “return bout” after beating him could be a scary warning.

Bradley is every boxing promoter’s dream: Young and undefeated with 28 wins, 12 KOs and one No Contest (against Nate Campbell when the fight was stopped in the 3rd because of a cut) and most of all, talkative.

Of course, boxing promoter Robert Arum would like all of us to believe that Bradley really has what it takes to upset the PacMan.

But behind the big talk, the immaculate fight record and Bob Arum’s endless drumbeat that Pacquiao should be wary of Bradley, what would an analytical reality check give us?

Indeed, Bradley’s record is impressive and he has defeated some of the big names in the junior welterweight division: Devon Alexander, Kendall Holt and Lamont Peterson, among others, all champions or former champions.

But does he have what it takes to make good his threat to end Pacquiao’s winning streak?

At 5' 6", Bradley does not have the height and reach advantage that both Oscar De La Hoya and Antonio Margarito had when they were pummelled and punished by the small Pacquiao who also stands 5' 6".

Having campaigned mainly in the junior welterweight division, Bradley is not as big and heavy a puncher as Miguel Cotto, Margarito and Dela Hoya, who fought as middleweights.

And most of all, Bradley’s fighting style, especially his defense, has not reached a level of sophistication as Pacquiao’s given the limited quality of opposition he faced in his rise to the top of the junior welterweight division.

In his last fight, against Cuban Joel Casamayor which I personally witnessed, Bradley showed fatal flaws in his defense, especially when he initiates the action which he loves to do.

Against Casamayor, who at the time of their fight in Las Vegas was more dangerous with his scathing statements than his fists, Bradley had a hard time connecting cleanly and left himself open in many instances when he was attacking.

Bradley loves to wade in and throw punches from wide angles and this fighting style is tailor-made for Manny Pacquiao.

I am certain that Pacquiao could take the power of Bradley’s punches but I have big doubts on whether the American challenger could withstand the bombs of the Filipino boxing icon which are dropped by both hands.

Bradley has not fought anybody as powerful or as awkward as Pacquiao. He has not been rained with unorthodox punches coming from the most unlikely angles like the hilarious double-fist whammy that the Filipino tagged Joshua Clottey with in Texas.

Timothy Bradley can talk and talk. He can dream of a stellar boxing career after a victory over Manny Pacquiao.

Boxing is beyond pre-fight talks and dreams publicly declared.

Timothy Bradley, Jr. is not the same league as Manny Pacquiao.

Before the end of the 6th Round, I expect Bradley to be slumbering in dreamland.

Source: The Manila Times.net

Manny Pacquiao doesn’t want you dead

A gross misquote gets out of hand -- but the iconic boxer still has a long way to go on the sensitivity front

By Mary Elizabeth Williams

Updated below

Let’s get something straight, so to speak, right off the bat. There’s no disputing that Manny Pacquiao is not the most enlightened guy to ever put on gloves and fight for a belt. In a story for Examiner.com this past weekend, blogger Granville Ampong wrote of how the boxing champ takes issue with Barack Obama’s recent groundbreaking declaration of support for same-sex unions. “God’s words first … obey God’s law first before considering the laws of man,” Pacquiao told Ampong, in what the writer described as “an exclusive interview.” Pacquiao was further quoted explaining that “God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other… It should not be of the same sex so as to adulterate the altar of matrimony, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah of Old.”

OK, it’s generally accepted that invoking Sodom and Gomorrah in general — and Sodom and Gomorrah of Old, in particular — is not going to win anybody a seat at the GLAAD awards. Sure enough, Pacquiao’s statements quickly set off a chain of angry and just plain disappointed responses from across the Net, where Pacquiao has been celebrated as a Filipino icon, and beloved for his humanitarian works. On Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles shopping center the Grove, where Pacquiao was to be interviewed for “Extra,” called off the event. “Based on news reports of statements made by Mr. Pacquiao,” read a statement from the center’s spokesman Bill Reich, “we have made it be known that he is not welcome at the Grove and will not be interviewed here now or in the future. The Grove is a gathering place for all Angelenos and not a place for intolerance.”

It’s a relatively free country, which means that the Catholic Pacquiao is welcome to express his views, even views many of us find backward and exclusionary. In return, a business like a shopping mall may choose to decline his patronage. What is not OK is what happened along the way.

You see, within the original Examiner.com piece, Ampong went off on a bit of biblical tangent. “Pacquiao’s directive for Obama calls societies to fear God and not to promote sin, inclusive of same-sex marriage and cohabitation,” he wrote, “notwithstanding what Leviticus 20:13 has been pointing all along: ‘If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.’”

That’s Ampong. Quoting Leviticus. You could go ahead and infer that this is what Pacquiao was alluding to in his remarks, and you definitely could say that’s some convoluted writing there. But Pacquiao himself clearly didn’t issue the quote. But let’s not let the barest understanding of attribution get in the way of a sensational headline, shall we? Before you could say gross perversion of the facts, Change.org was running a petition asking Nike to drop “homophobic boxer Manny Pacquiao,” declaring, “In an interview published Tuesday, March 15th with the conservative Examiner newspaper, the world-famous boxer and Los Angeles resident quoted Leviticus…” And except for the fact that Pacquiao didn’t quote Leviticus, Examiner.com is not a conservative newspaper, and the interview didn’t run on Tuesday, sure.

The confusion stems largely from a Tuesday L.A. Weekly blog post by Simone Wilson, in which she wrote, “Pacquiao told the National Conservative Examiner over the weekend that gay men should be ‘put to death’ for their sexual crimes.” She then backpedaled a tad by noting “Yes, he was quoting Leviticus 20:13, but he hasn’t backed down from his harsh stance.” She continued further in the piece to invoke “what Pacquiao said” and ponder that “For the sports star to announce that he thinks thousands of gay Angelenos should be ‘put to death’ for loving a same-sex partner should hugely alienate him to the locals,” adding that “Because … uh … ‘put to death’? You just don’t say that kind of thing in 21st century America.” Maybe that’s why he didn’t. And by the way, calling the source “the National Conservative Examiner” greatly glorifies Examiner.com, a site anybody with an Internet connection and rudimentary typing ability can write for, “even if you’re not a professional writer.” It’s a site with all the journalistic credibility of, oh, L.A. Weekly.

But what kind of commitment to facts could we have expected from Simone Wilson? This is the person who, when real journalist Lara Logan was attacked in Egypt last year, hastily banged out a grotesquely offensive fantasy version of events, writing, “In a rush of frenzied excitement, some Egyptian protestors apparently consummated their newfound independence by sexually assaulting the blonde reporter.”

Wilson’s colleague Dennis Romero added more fuel to the mythic Pacquiao interview story Tuesday, in a piece headlined “Manny Pacquiao Says Gay Men Should Be ‘Put to Death.’” USA Today then jumped in, reporting that “Pacquiao also invoked Old Testament, and recited Leviticus 20:13, saying: “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman.” And the Village Voice blog, for good measure, reported, “The Bible Via-Manny Pacquiao: Gays Shouldn’t Get Married, They Should Be ‘Put To Death.’” How ridiculous did the whole thing get? On Pacquiao’s own “official” website Tuesday, writer Keith Terceira said, “Manny Pacquiao was recently quoted in the USAToday as invoking the old testament.” [sic]

I get that nobody really pays attention to what anybody posts on Examiner.com, but seriously. If you’re going to quote someone, read the damn source material already. You need to have an eighth-grade reading proficiency level to get a driver’s license, yet apparently you can be functionally illiterate and work for L.A. Weekly and USA Today.

On Wednesday, Granville Ampong wrote a follow-up post on the matter, saying of the Leviticus quote, “Pacquiao never said nor recited, nor invoked and nor did he ever refer to such context.” And Pacquiao likewise issued a statement, saying, “I didn’t say that, that’s a lie… I didn’t know that quote from Leviticus because I haven’t read the Book of Leviticus yet,” and adding, “I’m not against gay people … I have a relative who is also gay. We can’t help it if they were born that way. What I’m critical off are actions that violate the word of God. I only gave out my opinion that same-sex marriage is against the law of God.”

Pacquiao inarguably has a long way to go in the tolerance department. And his remarks were ignorant, to be sure. But you can’t cure ignorant with stupid. And you can’t change minds with lies.

UPDATE: LA Weekly writer Simone Wilson called us Wednesday to clarify our assertion that she initiated the story that Pacquiao himself deployed the Leviticus quote, telling us that “USA Today, the Village Voice, and his own Web site had already reported it” by the time she wrote her piece. Though the misleading content of her story remains the same, her place in the fray was not first. For which we apologize — and offer the sincere hope that the story can’t get any more meta now.

Roach and the “Pac-Man” Return to the Wild Card

(Photo © Chris Farina / Top Rank)

By Steve Kim

It’s been some time since trainer Freddie Roach was actually inside his Wild Card Boxing Club. For weeks or months at a time, he can be away from his renowned gym while traveling to various locales in his role as a color commentator and trainer, most recently conducting the first half of Manny Pacquiao’s training camp in the Philippines. But he touched down in Southern California on Saturday night as he and the “Pac-Man” resume their training to face Tim Bradley on June 9th in Las Vegas.

Monday was the first day he worked with his fighters at the Wild Card since late March.

“It’s been awhile,” admitted Roach, who put Pacquiao through the paces on Monday. “Been in the Philippines with Manny and Amir [Khan] and we had a good training camp over there and it’s good to be home, though.”

The last time we saw Pacquiao, he was on the fortunate end of a controversial decision against arch-nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez back in November. After telling anyone who would listen that they would finally get rid of the Mexican counterpuncher, it’s not clear if Roach and his charge were more disappointed or embarrassed by the outcome.

“A little of both, to be honest with you, because we had a great training camp and then everything fell apart in the last week. Some of these distractions got in the way and nearly split he and his wife up. She wanted to file for divorce and stuff like that because the distractions were just too much,” explained Roach of the turbulent moments leading into that fight. “It was the first bad night we had in 10 years, so it was just bad timing and Marquez had a lot to do with that too because it’s a tough time every time we fight. The thing is, we had a good training camp; we all predicted knockouts and so forth and it was a little embarrassing, yeah.”

The camp might have been too much of a good thing as they may have peaked too soon, according to Roach, who made some adjustments this time around. “We didn’t start sparring till six weeks out. Last time, we started a little bit early because [Pacquiao] wanted to help Jorge Linares get ready for his fight. But the thing is, he had a lot of distractions in his life going on and it finally caught up with him.”

Yeah, Pacquiao was a rolling stone.

“So he got rid of all his distractions,” said Roach, who went through the whole laundry list of vices. “He gave his cockfighting farm away; he gave his nightclub away. He doesn’t gamble anymore; he doesn’t play basketball anymore. He doesn’t play darts anymore. He’s just cut everything bad out of his life and he went to the Bible. He’s going to Bible study now and he goes three times a day.”

Asked if he can see the newfound commitment to the Lord and domestic life translate in the gym, Roach answered affirmatively, “100 percent.” He admits that in the wake of what he witnessed leading into the Marquez fight and how Pacquiao performed that night, he had some concerns about how much his fighter had left in the tank. He says those worries no longer exist after their most recent time in Baguio.

So how does Pacquiao get up for Bradley, a fighter who’s relatively unknown and with whom he has no personal history with?

Roach says the motivation is very simple: “People are telling [Pacquiao] that he’s shot and all that because of his last performance and he wants to show the world that he’s not and that’s our motivation. He knows he needs to shine in this fight and Mike Koncz, everyone in camp, people want to see Manny Pacquiao knock people out and not win decisions. Manny understands that.”

So what does Bradley bring to the table?

“A lot of heart,” said Roach of the young man from near Palm Springs, who established himself as the best junior welterweight in the world and has never tasted defeat as a professional. “I think his dad’s really hard on him; I think he’s been brought up rough. I think his dad pushes him. The kid won’t quit.”

The knock on Pacquiao was that recently, he had not been fighting either A) African-American fighters or B) opponents in their physical primes. The “Desert Storm” is both and perhaps the best athlete Pacquiao has ever faced. “I’m not sure how athletic he is. He’s a workaholic; I know that, like Mayweather is in the gym and like Manny. He says he’s the best conditioned athlete in the world and that he’ll be there standing at the end. My bet is that Manny Pacquiao is the hardest worker in the world and he’ll be standing in the end.”



Source:  matchboxing.com

ROACH SAYS ACTIVITY AND SOUTHPAWS A BAD COMBINATION FOR MAYWEATHER

May 8th, 2012 | by Scott Smith

The Pacquiao camp are gearing up for their upcoming bout on June 9 against Timothy Bradley, and took time out of their schedule to express their thoughts on the Mayweather vs Cotto fight, with Freddie Roach having some very interesting things to say.

Manny Pacquiao remaining very diplomatic on the subject:

· “I saw the Mayweather-Cotto fight. It was a good fight and everyone [fans] was happy.”

Regarding Mayweather’s rumoured plans to retire Pacquiao seemed uninterested and indicated his current position:

“I have no opinion on Mayweather’s plans to retire. That’s his decision. A very personal decision, I’m glad to be back at Freddie’s gym. I have no plans to retire. I still love what I’m doing”
Freddie Roach was a little bit more outspoken on the subject, which is usually the case, with a little jibe at Mayweather:

· We are on a steady pace to get Manny to where he will peak on June 9. We built a good base to build on in our training in the Philippines. Now it’s time for the hard work and the strategy,We had a good session today. Manny went a strong 10 rounds with me today on the mitts. He’ll sleep good tonight. I did not see the Mayweather-Cotto fight but I do know that Floyd’s slippery defense is now better outside the ring than inside the ring. But that is the path he has chosen”

And with that being said Freddie is so confident it seems a little arrogance is creeping into his thoughts regarding the possibility of getting Mayweather in the ring:

“Would Manny beat Floyd? You bet. The way to beat Floyd is to outwork him every minute of every round. Manny is the only fighter capable of executing that game plan. Activity kills Mayweather.You need to stay busy against him and not let him dictate the pace by slowing down the fight. Southpaws are his other weakness. Manny is just a bad combination for Floyd to fight. If it would bring Floyd into the ring, I’d agree to have Manny fight him right handed”

That is a bold statement considering Pacquiao with both hands got outboxed, and given severe problems by a poor man’s version of Mayweather in the older, slower Juan Manuel Marquez.  It is no coincidence that Roach would make these bold remarks after seeing Mayweather get tagged a few times, opening the door for the Pacquiao camp to chase the fight even harder with the belief that Pacquiao has a chance.  Was it a plan all along to wait until Mayweather gets older and is not as elusive, my guess is yes, but a man of Freddie Roach’s experience, should realise that Mayweather fought Cotto’s game and his approach against Pacquiao would be totally different.

I really think Roach should check the stats before he makes such ludicrous comments regarding Mayweather’s defence.  Yes landed 105 punches in the fight, but considering a drained Cotto landed 172 against Pacquiao in shorter time, Marquez landing 138 and Margarito landing 229 and most shocking of all Joshua Clottey landed 108 punches and he was in survival mode from the moment he left the dressing room.  It may be better for Roach to concentrate on improving his fighter’s defence before criticising the best defensive fighter in the sport,

The Pacquiao vs. Bradley welterweight championship collision will take place Saturday, June 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nev., and will be produced and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions, Tecate, AT&T and MGM Grand, remaining tickets to Pacquiao vs. Bradley are priced at $1,200, $900, $600, $400, and $200. Ticket sales at $1,200, $900, $600 and $400 are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $200 are limited to two (2) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000 . Tickets also will be available for purchase atwww.mgmgrand.comorwww.ticketmaster.com.

Source: fighthype.com

IT’S OPENING DAY!

PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 08 May 2012

Eight-Division World Champion Congressman
Manny Pacquiao Is Back Training at Wild
Card in Hollywood

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. (May 7, 2012) – Boxing’s Commander-In Chief, Congressman MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, began his U.S. training camp today at Hall of Fame-elect trainer World-Famous FREDDIE ROACH’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif. Pacquiao is in his final five weeks of intense workouts as he prepares for his world title defense against undefeated junior welterweight champion TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY.

Pacquiao began the day with a 6:45 a.m. run from Griffith Part up the Hollywood Hills to the landmark Hollywood sign. He shaved a minute off his personal best time, running the 3.5 mile course in 22 minutes.

Later that afternoon, Pacman worked out for three hours with Roach at Wild Card, going 10 brisk rounds on the mitts followed by two hours of conditioning and hitting the bags.

Manny Pacquiao

· I saw the Mayweather-Cotto fight. It was a good fight and everyone [fans] was happy.

· I have no opinion on Mayweather’s plans to retire. That’s his decision. A very personal decision

· I’m glad to be back at Freddie’s gym. I have no plans to retire. I still love what I’m doing

· Freddie and I had a good camp in the Philippines and we are ready to work very hard in preparation for Timothy Bradley. Bradley is strong, undefeated and young. I have a great deal of respect for his talents and his accomplishments."

Freddie Roach

· We are on a steady pace to get Manny to where he will peak on June 9. We built a good base to build on in our training in the Philippines. Now it’s time for the hard work and the strategy.

· We had a good session today. Manny went a strong 10 rounds with me today on the mitts. He’ll sleep good tonight.

· I did not see the Mayweather-Cotto fight but I do know that Floyd’s slippery defense is now better outside the ring than inside the ring. But that is the path he has chosen.

· Would Manny beat Floyd? You bet. The way to beat Floyd is to outwork him every minute of every round. Manny is the only fighter capable of executing that game plan. Activity kills Mayweather. You need to stay busy against him and not let him dictate the pace by slowing down the fight. Southpaws are his other weakness. Manny is just a bad combination for Floyd to fight. If it would bring Floyd into the ring, I’d agree to have Manny fight him right handed.

Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs), boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the lone congressional representative from the Sarangani province in the Philippines, will be defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship crown against undefeated WBO junior welterweight champion Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs), of Palm Springs, Calif.

The Pacquiao vs. Bradley welterweight championship collision will take place Saturday, June 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nev., and will be produced and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions, Tecate, AT&T and MGM Grand, remaining tickets to Pacquiao vs. Bradley are priced at $1,200, $900, $600, $400, and $200. Ticket sales at $1,200, $900, $600 and $400 are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $200 are limited to two (2) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

For Pacquiao-Bradley fight week updates, log on to www.toprank.com and www.hbo.com

Kiss Mayweather-Pacquiao Goodbye

Written by Lee Wylie  
Monday, 07 May 2012 16:22 

Let's make one thing perfectly clear. Regardless of how some people scored the fight, Floyd Mayweather did a masterful job in dethroning Miguel Cotto on Saturday night, in what I consider one of his best ever nights. Yes, there have been better performances in the past from Mayweather - his ring artistry in the Corrales and Gatti fights remain his signature performances - but this may have been his most complete performance in showing both his offensive and defensive brilliance. However, despite Mayweather chalking up his 43rd career win, against zero losses, you could say May 5th was the night that finally ended any and all hope of this generation's defining fight involving boxing's biggest and boxing's best, between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacqiuao.

Prior to Saturday night, Floyd Mayweather was in pole position so to speak, with regards to the ongoing saga that is Mayweather versus Pacquiao and in particular, how the fight would actually turn out. Boxing has always been full of triangle theories - if fighter A beats fighter B and B beats C, then surely fighter A beats fighter C. Of course, as any boxing enthusiast will tell you, there is a styles dynamic to boxing that doesn't always allow the sport to work in this manner. Nonetheless, before Saturday night, Mayweather would have been a clear favourite over Manny Pacquiao, based on his dominance - and Manny's lack of - in besting Juan Manuel Marquez.

As we all know, Floyd prides himself on how he managed to master Marquez with relative ease, whereas Pacquiao somewhat struggled with the very same Marquez across three fights. Agree or disagree, I believe it's Mayweather's way of establishing dominance over Pacquiao, without actually having to climb into the ring with him. To further my point, I believe that Miguel Cotto was specifically chosen as Mayweather's opponent on Saturday night to further enhance his percieved domination over Pacquiao - if Mayweather fared better against Cotto than Pacquiao did, then he would have even more reason to claim superiority over his Filipino rival. Bragging rights would well and truly belong to Mayweather.

As we all know by now, things did not quite go according to plan. Like I said earlier, I thought Floyd was brilliant on Saturday, especially in taking the fight to Cotto. However, because Mayweather put on one of his most aggressive displays in recent memory, you could say he may have won the Cotto battle on Saturday night, but he may have lost the Pacquiao bragging rights war. More importantly, events on Saturday night could result in never seeing Mayweather and Pacquiao in the ring together in a competitive way.

Mayweather's wish list.

Make no mistake, Mayweather would have loved nothing more than to top Manny Pacquiao's -12th round stoppage - winning effort over Miguel Cotto. This is why we saw a Floyd Mayweather who threw nearly 400 power punches - almost more than the average number of total punches Mayweather usually throws in a 12 round fight - against Cotto. Mayweather also nearly threw in excess of 700 total punches, a huge output for the normally conservative Floyd Mayweather. Undoubtedly, Mayweather was going for the knockout on Saturday night. The fact that he didn't get it may have resulted in irreversible damage to the ego of maybe the most egotistical sportsman currently walking the planet. As good as I thought Mayweather was on Saturday night, apart from a brief moment late in the 12th round, Mayweather never really looked close to stopping Cotto. Manny Pacquiao on the other hand, managed to hurt Cotto on numerous occasions. Against Mayweather, Miguel Cotto fought as if the trophy at the end of the fight would be his life. Against Pacquiao, Cotto appeared to run for his life.

On Saturday, Mayweather hit Cotto with some really spiteful punches, particularly his overhand right and left uppercut combination. Yet Cotto remained undeterred. On the other hand, Pacquiao inflicted damage upon Cotto even with glancing blows. It's not hard to imagine what Floyd Mayweather must be thinking right now is it?

I consider Saul Alvarez to be one of the hardest punchers in boxing - nobody knocks out the ever durable Carlos Baldomir with a single shot without possessing some serious fire power. Saul Alvarez - who must have weighed around 165 pounds on fight night - hit Shane Mosley with some truly terrible shots on Saturday night. Alvarez was throwing bombs, and I mean...bombs. Shane Mosley's response? He walked right through them. Let's go back to Shane Mosley's fight with Manny Pacquiao. Early in that fight, Pacquiao landed a left hand on Mosley that did not appear to be that big of a punch. Mosley went down. His response upon beating the count? Mosley fought the rest of the fight in survival mode, and then claimed Pacquiao was the hardest puncher he ever faced. Mayweather, who was hurt big time himself in round two against Mosley, didn't really come close to stopping Sugar Shane throughout their bout.

Again, if Floyd believed there was something suspicious with regards to Manny Pacquiao's punching power before May 5th, one can only imagine what he maybe thinking now.

Suddenly, it's Manny Pacquiao who now appears to be in the driving seat. A quick glance at their respective results against common opponents suggests this;

Pacquiao TKO 8 De La Hoya      Mayweather  SD De La Hoya
Pacquiao TKO 2 Hatton             Mayweather TKO 10 Hatton
Pacquiao TKO 12 Cotto             Mayweather  UD Cotto
Pacquiao  UD Mosley                 Mayweather  UD Mosley *
Pacquiao  UD/SD/D Marquez      Mayweather  UD Marquez


* Pacquiao was more dominant over Mosley than Mayweather was. Unlike Mayweather, Pacquiao scored a knockdown and was never hurt himself.

We know Floyd Mayweather thrives on his own perceptions - there is no doubting, he believes his own words. When he says he is the greatest of all time based on the notion that he has never lost a fight, whereas fighters like Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali have, rest assured he believes it. Before Saturday, Mayweather believed he was superior to Pacquiao because of what he was able to do to Marquez in contrast with what Pacquiao was unable to do to Marquez.

It is no secret that before May 5th, one of the biggest stumbling blocks that stood in the way of making the mega-fight a reality was Mayweather's obsessive allegations that Pacquiao's weight jumping exploits were not legit. Now ask yourself, are we really any closer to the fight becoming a reality? During the post fight interview, Mayweather again mentioned Pacquiao's name, claiming that Pacquiao is refusing to take the test. So we are back on the testing protocol are we? Last week it was the purse split, the week before it was the arena, the week before that it was the lawsuit.

The point is, we are probably now further away from the fight becoming a reality than ever before. The fact that Mayweather could not stop Cotto, and Pacquiao could and that Alvarez, a huge junior middleweight could not put Mosley on his keester and Pacquiao could, will further enhance his beliefs that something is awry. On a personal note, I believe Mosley saw every one of Alvarez' shots coming and was able to take the mustard out of a lot of them, whereas Pacquiao caught Mosley on the blindside - it's the punches you don't see that hurt, remember.

Nevertheless, Floyd Mayweather truly believes that something is amiss with regards to Manny's freakish power as he likes to say. In reality, Pacquiao hasn't scored a knockout over anyone weighing 147 pounds or over, yet we have heard Mayweather boast about how unnatural it is for a featherweight to be knocking out junior middleweights.

I've always felt Pacquiao's style, not power, would be very problematic for Mayweather. Yet after Saturday night, I think Mayweather's strength could be more of a deciding factor than I first thought - Mayweather was like a venus flytrap in tying up and man handling Cotto at close quarters. After Saturday night, I now view the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight a lot closer, after originally believing Manny would have the upper hand.

None of this really matters though, Floyd had already, it is quite possible,  made up his mind before May 5th that the fight was never going to happen. The events of May 5th have only but enhanced this notion. The fantasy fight that we all crave, will forever remain just that, a fantasy.