By Bob Hanna, The Standard-Times
It's interesting to note who Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will fight now that their much anticipated showdown has imploded.
Pacquiao will face former welterweight champion Joshua Clottey, a very tough opponent, March 13, the date Pacquiao and Mayweather were supposed to meet, at Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Clottey (35-3), remember, gave Miguel Cotto all — some would say more than — he could handle in dropping a narrow split decision.
Mayweather, on the other hand, is allegedly considering four opponents: Paul Williams, Kermit Cintron, Paulie Malignaggi, and Matthew Hatton, younger brother of Ricky Hatton. Forget Williams. Mayweather wants no part of the 6-2 southpaw. He would, after all, be a legitimate test for Mayweather, who doesn't like legitimate tests.
Malignaggi and Hatton are junior welterweights, the preferred size for Mayweather since he moved up to welterweight (Arturo Gatti, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez come to mind). Malignaggi is a clever boxer who can't break an egg, while the younger Hatton is not even ranked (in the top 15) by any of the four major boxing organizations.
Cintron, a former two-time champ, is a legitimate welterweight who can punch, but off his controversial draw with Sergio Martinez (who appeared to be an easy winner) does not present much of a threat to Mayweather, which makes him a good fit for the Mouth.
The point is that while Pacquiao, who would love to get Mayweather in the ring after the latter's suggestion that he uses performance enhancing drugs, continues to fight top shelf fighters, Mayweather continues to look for no-risk opponents.
And that, my friends, is what should tell you which fighter is holding up the mega-match everyone wants to see.
Personally, I think Mayweather is scared of the Pacman, not from a physical standpoint, but from what a loss might do to his place in boxing history. Mayweather has always claimed to be one of the best, if not the best of all time.
In the meantime, he has found a chink in Pacquiao's psychological armor. The Pacman has no problem with urine drug tests, but he distrusts blood drug tests close to a fight because of a fear it will weaken him. It is baseless, of course, but not to Pacquaio.
But that's what gave Mayweather an out while still maintaining he wants the fight.
I do believe they will eventually meet, but only when Mayweather thinks he has an edge, like if Pacquiao moves up another division or otherwise shows some indication that he's slowing down. Or when the ego-driven Mayweather realizes that he has more to lose stature-wise by not fighting Pacquiao than by fighting him and letting the cards fall where they may.
As it stands now, Mayweather will go down in history as a very talented fighter, but one who was afraid to take risks. Great fighters are not afraid to take risks.
BERTO'S HEAVY BURDEN
It was with a heavy heart that WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, a one-man boxing team for Haiti in the 2004 Olympics, withdrew from his unification bout with WBA champion Sugar Shane Mosley Jan. 30 because of the Haiti disaster.
It was the biggest fight of his life, the one he hoped would establish himself as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters today. But the fight paled next to the carnage wreaked by the 7.0 earthquake that hit the island.
"I have seen the pain in my parents' eyes as they attempt to understand what has happened to our homeland and recognize a place they once called home," said Berto in a written statement.
Berto reportedly lost several relatives in the earthquake, but was relieved to hear that his sister, Naomi, and her daughter survived, though they are now homeless.
SILVER GLOVES CHAMP
Jose Ferrer, 11, of New Bedford reached the finals of the Eastern Regional Silver Gloves finals in New York last weekend before losing a very competitive bout to Mark Garcia of Brooklyn.
Competing in the 11-12-year-old class and representing the Heart Performance, Strength and Conditioning gym in New Bedford, Ferrer earlier won the New England championship at Manfredo's Gym in Pawtucket, R.I.
POIRIER LENDS HAND
Helping work the corner for boxers from the Fairhaven Martial Arts club in the ongoing Southern New England Golden Gloves Tournament at the PAL Hall in Fall River has been former New Bedford middleweight prospect Paul Poirier, who won the New England heavyweight title in a comeback that saw him fight former heavyweight champions Larry Holmes and Tony Tucker.
You can find more on Poirier by going to his website at PaulRocky.com.
RING SHORTS
It looks like former two-time heavyweight champion John "The Quiet Man" Ruiz of Chelsa, who recently signed a six-fight contract with Golden Boy Promotions, will get another title shot at age 38 in April, when he is scheduled to take on WBA champion David Haye in the latter's first title defense. . . Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade of Providence improved to 9-0 (7 KOs) with a first round TKO over Bernardo Guereca (15-10-1) in Laredo, Texas. . . In an interesting doubleheader on HBO Saturday night, WBO junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs) takes on WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KOs), while WBA interim featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (15-0, 13 KOs) faces Rogers Mtagwa of Tanzania.
Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Contact him at sports@s-t.com
Source: southcoasttoday.com
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