The Boxing Truth

While the Pacquiao-Mayweather tilt may appear to be on the ropes now, a little less hipocracy from Mayweather and a little thicker skin from Pac-Man would save this fight. Both parties need to acknowledge the Truth.

The Truth? During the holiday season? Yes, friends, so close to the time we all fib to our kids that there’s a man in a red suit flying in a sleigh driven by reindeer dropping off presents to them, it’s time for a little levity. We need to get a little serious as we dive into our egg nog, which may or may not be spiced with some liquid Truth of its own. With all the spin and hot air flowing around the Sweet Science, it’s time to sort through the hype. Here are some pre-Christmas harsh realities of the fistic world:

Truth #1: Floyd Mayweather and his father having any concerns about another fighter’s use of illegal drugs is laughable.

It looks a whole lot like Floyd, Sr. forgot where he was for three years in the early 90’s. That would be in jail for smuggling cocaine into the U.S. Yes, in case everyone’s forgotten, he’s a convicted felon. Not only that, his brother (and Floyd Jr.’s uncle) Roger Mayweather may not be able to train Floyd for his showdown with Pac-Man because may be in the clink himself for allegedly choking and battering a female fighter earlier this year. And everyone’s taking the allegations of these guys seriously? Also keep in mind that Floyd, Jr.’s assertions of wanting this Olympic-style drug testing for fairness reasons comes from a guy that didn’t bother to make weight for his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez, where he came in two pounds heavy in a fight in which he already had a distinct size advantage. How fair was that to Marquez? “Practice what you preach” is not a credo that the Mayweather clan subscribes to, and hasn’t for some time.

Truth #2: Manny Pacquiao needs to grow up a little bit.

All of this hubbub could have been avoided, however, if Pacquiao and his camp pointed any of this out to the relatively clueless mainstream media. Boxing scribes and fans already know to take a Mayweather statement with a grain of salt; however, since this fight has already garnered a great deal of international media attention (which actually is a good thing), a lot of what has been alleged about Pacquiao has been given gravitas it doesn’t deserve. Manny and his camp should know this, but instead, they’ve been acting overly offended and defensive about the whole matter. Pacquiao’s now calling the fight off one minute, threatening to sue Mayweather the next, screaming about how his image has been tarnished, etc. Instead of being so petulant, Manny needs to realize that he’s being called a cheat by a group of people who don’t have any credibility in the first place. How Pacquiao’s reacting is likely exactly how the Mayweather camp wanted him to; it’s like a little brother who tries to needle you a hundred different ways so one will eventually get to you. Pacquiao needs to understand that they’ll only get into his head if he lets them, and he’s definitely letting them.

Truth #3: The fight will still get made.

Does anyone really think, with a likely figure of $200 million to be made on this blockbuster bout, that this fight won’t get made? Please. Everyone has been wringing their hands all week about weather Boxing’s Biggest Fight Ever might be in doubt, as if this was some Pavlik-Williams bout that might be in jeopardy. Floyd might be full of it most of the time, but he’s not stupid, and neither is Golden Boy Promotions or Bob Arum at Top Rank. While boxing fans like to think that this fight needs to be made solely to help bring boxing back to the mainstream (if only for a time), the reality is different. In Truth, there will be so much money floating around for everyone from the promoter to the street vendor, all concerned have too much green to lose not to make the fight happen. The only wildcard in this situation may be Pacquiao himself, who gives away so much of his money already that it may not be the determining factor for him in deciding whether or not to take the fight. Either way, come hell or high water, this fight will get made.

Truth #4: Gus Johnson needs to go. He’s terrible.

For all of us NFL fans out there who’ve had to suffer through torturous NFL games with Johnson as the lead commentator, we already knew what was going to happen when Showtime hired him for their Showtime Championship Boxing series. It’s not that Johnson doesn’t know either game. It’s not that Gus doesn’t make sense or can’t get his point across. It’s just that HE SHOUTS AT DAMN NEAR EVERTHING THAT HAPPENS!!!! And that’s not to be mistaken for enthusiasm. Joe Tessitore has enthusiasm. When he gets excited during Friday Night Fights, he pulls the viewer, Teddy Atlas, and half of the arena crowd right into the action. When Gus gets excited, we’re with him at first, but by the 50th time he does it within 12 rounds, our nerves are frazzled. He’s excruciating to listen to because of that. Half the time when something significant actually does happen in the fight, no one knows if it’s legit because they’ve heard Johnson lose it so many times prior to that moment. During the Timothy Bradley-Lamont Peterson fight earlier this month, Gus must have had Peterson almost knocked out about ten different times, which was not anywhere close to the case. Boxing fans need commentators who can be their eyes and ears from the arena, and if those commentators can’t tell the difference between a good punch and a fight-ending one, then it’s time to get someone new. I hate to say this about a fellow Michigander like Johnson (who really is a good guy by all accounts), but Steve Albert needs to be reinstated to full-time duty yesterday.

Truth #5: Russ Anber’s treatment of Jean Pascal’s shoulder in his fight with Adrian Diaconu was nothing short of disgraceful.

Yes, Russ Anber is Canada’s Mr. Boxing, writes an excellent column for tsn.ca, and has helped promote the sport in North America. But his actions as chief second and subsequent column about Pascal’s recent win over Diaconu to retain his 168-pound title were head-scratching. Pascal separated his shoulder no less than three times during the fight, with the final time in round ten being so bad that he was literally slumped over to one side when he came back to the corner. Both Anber and head trainer Marc Ramsey, rather than saying that the third time’s enough, actually helped pop the shoulder back into place in the corner so Pascal could continue, which Pascal did, primarily with one hand. Yes, Pascal won the fight, but it was revealed afterwards that the super middleweight titleist had a bone fragment loose in his shoulder, which eventually required surgery on his labrum. While the surgery was a success, the question has to be asked: Would that have been necessary had the corner stopped the fight when the injury became apparent? And why wasn’t this even talked about in the media post-fight? Anber then wrote a blog on tsn.ca talking about Pascal’s heart and toughness in gutting out a victory, as if he had no say how any of it had played out. Nowhere in the column was it mentioned that there was any concern for Pascal’s safety or long-term health, just that his shoulder made its way back into the socket. Somehow, it’s hart to envision Teddy Atlas or Freddie Roach pushing a fighter out of his corner who had separated his shoulder that many times. As it is, Pascal is now out of action for two to three more months before he can begin training. It’s tough to know for sure, but given the different types of shoulder injuries due to separations by athletes over the years, Pascal looks to have gotten off lightly. Perhaps Anber should remember that the next time one of his fighters is injured in the ring.

…and that’s the Truth. Have a happy New Year!