By Kevin Blackistone, FanHouse
The following is not a denunciation of Associated Press handing its 2009 Male Athlete of the Year Award to Jimmie Johnson, the NASCAR champion. He had another outstanding season. And I don't doubt that hanging onto the steering wheel of a 3,400-pound car threatening to spin out of control at 180 mph over three to four hours is an athletic feat. Playing golf it ain't.
But there was a more outrageous athletic accomplishment over the past 12 months than what Johnson pulled off. No one can debate its physical demands, either.
As Kanye West would say: "Yo Jimmie, I'm really happy for you. I'ma let you finish, but Manny had one of the best years of all time!"
That would be Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, all 5-foot-6 and 140-something pounds. Last December he forced a future (though aged) Hall of Famer, Oscar De La Hoya, into surrender and retirement sitting in the corner on his stool. He followed that outing with a frightening second-round knockout in May of lightweight champion Ricky Hatton (who as a result hasn't fought since). And last month he reduced a bigger champion, Miguel Cotto, to such a bloodied and battered mess that mercy ensued as the referee stopped it.
Pacquiao collected two more belts along the way, or one more title than Johnson picked up.
But Pacquiao's near unprecedented romp through three of boxing's best in a row is not the main reason some august institution that hands out an athlete of the year award should bestow their 2009 title upon him. Instead, it is mostly because of what Pacquiao's fireworks of fisticuffs did for a sport most people have pronounced dead or on life support.
Pacquiao over the past year singlehandedly -- or with both hands in his furious style -- revived more than niche interest in what during most of the last century was as much as a national pastime, if not international, as any sport. I mean, I was at a holiday party the other night where the first conversation that broke out was about Tiger tales and the next was about boxing, specifically Pacquiao's upcoming fight with Floyd Mayweather. The last time the latter happened was after Evander Holyfield turned the other cheek to Mike Tyson and Tyson took a bite out of it too.
Pacquiao is the reason Mayweather stands to make a record $25 million from meeting Pacquiao next March in what is shaping up as the richest bout in history. Mayweather won't cash in just because he's nicknamed himself "Money."
It's not a done deal yet. Mega boxing matches never are until the combatants are in the ring. There is much handwringing going on and to be done.
They haven't decided on a venue. Vegas is bidding with the MGM Grand casino backing it. Jerry Jones is trying to bring it to his billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium that could accommodate more than 100,000. I'd prefer Vegas, the capital of the fight game. But after visiting Jerry's world earlier this month, I can see him selling most of the seats at a pay-per-view price and allowing fans to watch the game on his humongous TV screen while being able to brag that they were at the big fight as well.
There is still a chance the bout could get pushed to May, which in my mind is better than March. March is for college basketball, but this card is so big it can compete.
And in the last few hours it's been reported that negotiations snared over Mayweather's demands that Pacquiao submit to Olympic-style drug testing. Pacquiao is said to have refused. He can afford to.
After all, Mayweather didn't hold up Pacquiao for a bigger cut of the purse. He agreed to a split; Pacquiao is to get $25 million too because his bargaining position, despite being a foreigner, is stronger. Pacquiao isn't just an American household boxing name like Mayweather; he's a worldwide boxing name.
Check this out: On the Time magazine list of 25 people it whittled down to Person of the Year was Pacquiao at No. 13. He was just ahead of Sarah Palin and just behind Barack Obama. President Obama! Tiger barely made the list at No. 23.
I'm not certain Pacquiao should be so close to the president or in front of Tiger. As the past few weeks proved, Tiger is a person well-known and followed in every corner. (I'm glad I heeded the advice of a mentor and have abstained from voting for individual athletic awards and Hall of Fame candidates. It is much more enjoyable pointing out oversights than making them.)
But this is what Time observed of Pacquiao's candidacy
Manny Pacquiao was considered a savior by two groups of people this year: Filipinos and boxing aficionados. For his countrymen, the diminutive pugilist once again proved that their archipelago could produce more than tales of violence, poverty and natural disaster -- that there was some undefined quality that could produce a fighter of such speed, resiliency and charisma as to be a living legend. For boxing fans, Pacquiao defied physics, rising through six weight classes to win seven world titles -- and galvanizing the sport like no other boxer in years. His two bouts this year were among the most dramatic in the sport ... His visceral charm -- or his bloody attraction -- will continue into next year with his expected multimillion-dollar, hugely lucrative matchup against Floyd Mayweather Jr., the only fighter remaining who can claim to be his equal.Time even put Pacquiao on the cover of its Asia edition last month before his bout with Cotto. Time last put a boxer on its cover 20 years ago. He was Tyson.
I'm not going to say Pacquiao is a transcendent figure like President Obama, despite his political aspirations, or even a transcendent athlete like Tiger, Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong or Muhammad Ali. But there isn't an athlete right now, LeBron James included, who has stirred so many people, especially those who otherwise wouldn't be interested in the athlete's particular sport.
Jimmie Johnson could chauffeur Pacquiao but he doesn't leave him at the curb.
Source: kevin-blackistone.fanhouse.com
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