Pound for pound: Top 10 lists of Rosenthal, Fischer -- Ring

By Michael Rosenthal, The Ring

The various Top 10 pound-for-pound lists have been static of late. That could change soon, though.

Eight fighters on the Top 10 lists of RingTV.com Co-Editors Michael Rosenthal and Doug Fischer, submitted as members of voting panel for the Yahoo! Sports monthly poll, are scheduled to fight before the end of the year.

Two of the eight – Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez, who are on both lists – are fighting each other on Nov. 20, meaning a shakeup is likely.

So by the first of the year Top 10 lists could look entirely different. Of course, that depends on how the rated fighters do.

Here’s a breakdown of which matchups involving fighters on the lists of Rosenthal and Fischer are most competitive (and are therefore more likely to result in changes), less competitive and least competitive.


MOST COMPETITIVE

Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez, Nov. 20, Atlantic City, N.J., HBO: Their first fight, won by Williams, was as close as it gets. There’s no reason to think their second meeting will be any different.


LESS COMPETITIVE

Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Rafael Marquez, Nov. 6, Las Vegas, Showtime: We know what we have in Lopez, a young, complete fighter on the rise. The question is whether Marquez still has it at 35.

Andre Ward vs. Sakio Bika, Nov. 27, Oakland, Calif., Showtime: Ward is emerging as a star; Bika is merely a solid replacement opponent. An upset here would be a shock.

Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis, Nov. 27, Las Vegas, HBO: Marquez looked strong against Juan Diaz in his first fight after he was embarrassed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. Katsidis is tough but a clear underdog.


LEAST COMPETITIVE

Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito, Nov. 13, Las Vegas, PPV: Most observers believe Pacquiao will be too quick for the plodding and presumably rusty Margarito. Some give the Mexican a chance because of his size advantage.

Tomasz Adamek vs. Vinny Maddalone, Dec. 9, Newark, N.J., PPV: Maddalone is just an opponent as Adamek continues to position himself for a shot at a heavyweight title.

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Dereck Chisora, Dec. 11, Mannheim, Germany: Chisora has had 14 pro fights and has faced no one remotely close to Klitschko’s ability or experience. This isn’t a good matchup on paper.


MICHAEL ROSENTHAL’S TOP 10

1. Manny Pacquiao: His position at the top shouldn’t be seriously challenged on Nov. 13.
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Only he knows when we might see him fight again.
3. Paul Williams: Can reclaim his imposing aura with a victory in his rematch with Sergio Martinez.
4. Andre Ward: Should have no trouble with Sakio Bika as he looks forward to the Super Six semis.
5. Sergio Martinez: Victory over Williams
6. Timothy Bradley: Can make a big statement against Devon Alexander on Jan. 29.
7. Juan Manuel Lopez: Is Rafael Marquez a legitimate threat?
8. Wladimir Klitschko: A victory over Dereck Chisora will mean very little.
9. Vitali Klitschko: Victory over Shannon Briggs meant very little.
10. Juan Manuel Marquez: Will have to be at his best against Michael Katsidis.


DOUG FISCHER’S TOP 10

1. Manny Pacquiao: Division-conquering Filipino icon epitomizes the term "pound for pound."
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.: Five-division titleholder possesses great talent, skill and technique, but toughest foe may be himself.
3. Juan Manuel Marquez: Lightweight champ good enough to give Pacquiao his toughest fights; tough enough to go 12 with Mayweather at welterweight.
4. Wladimir Klitschko: Heavyweight champ has dominated division for past six years.
5. Vitali Klitschko: No. 1-rated big man just as dominating as his younger brother.
6. Paul Williams: Two-time welterweight beltholder among the sport's best middleweights and junior middleweights.
7. Sergio Martinez: Middleweight champ proved elite status and mettle by giving Williams hell in their fight and by unseating Kelly Pavlik.
8. Fernando Montiel: Mexico's most-talented fighter is unbeaten in last 11 bouts, including a KO of excellent bantamweight titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa.
9. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam: Flyweight champ looked ordinary in last bout but the Thai legend clinched eventual hall of fame entrance with decision over undefeated Koki Kameda.
10. Tomasz Adamek: Former light heavyweight titleholder and former cruiserweight champ now rated among top heavyweights.

Source: ringtv.com

Retirement talk makes Manny Pacquiao chuckle, really -- Examiner

By Michael Marley, Examiner.com

HOLLYWOOD—Truth be told, I don't know if Manny Pacquiao will fight one more time or 10 more times.

Frankly, I don't think he does, either, at this point, a couple of weeks before he fights Antonio Margarito at Cowboys Stadium.

Pacman didn't really take the bait when I told him he did not look the “shy, retiring type” as he exited Coach Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym Monday evening.

But, as he made the short walk out of his usual post-workout dining spot, Nat's Thai Restaurant about two hours after dining with fans, friends, brother Bobby and conditioning/nutrition coach Alex Ariza at his side, I did make the 31 year old Fighting Congressmanny laugh about the topic.

It was Roach who recently suggested that the day is looming when the all time great fighter will hang up the gloves to concentrate on his political and business ambitions.

“Manny,” I said, “you can't retire.”

“How come?” Pacquiao said, offering a quizzical look.

“Because, Manny, if you retire anytime soon, then I can't afford to retire.”

The gym was closed to the media and public but Pepper Roach, ex-fighter turned trainer and Freddie's brother, reported to me that trainer and fighter went through a fast paced 12 plus rounds on the mitts.

Pacquaio laughed and then took off in his black Mercedes Benz.

Veteran Filipino sports announcer Chino Trinidad is among those who detect a difference in the Pinoy Idol's preparation for and attitude towards this particular fight.

Trinidad, who has known and covered Megamanny for 15 years, is not the worrywart type but he wonders if the fighter has lost some of the awesome fire in the belly he's shown in the past.

Except Trinidad describes it another physical way.

“I don't see the flaming embers, the fire in the eyes, I usally see with Manny this close to a fight.” Trinidad said.

“I had often told him he should leave the dabbling in politics until he was done with boxing and now I am wondering whether he is thinking more about politics than his upcoming bout.

“Back then, Manny told he's just driven to help people. But, in recent days, he's been constantly on the phone hearing from all these barangay elections back in Sarangani. All the captains from all the barangays are ringing him up asking for funding and Manny does not delegate his duties. He likes to be in charge of it all.”

Don't write Trinidad off as some casual observer. He's spent most of the past four or five days with Pacquiao, including on the 12-hour flight which brought them from Manila to LAX Saturday night.

Trinidad was a little amazed that Pacman rode down to San Diego after Sunday Mass to make a basketball game appearance tied to the Barona Casino interests. By strict order of Coach Roach, Pacquiao did not play but was limited to coaching.

“Now Manny thinks he's Phil Jackson or Pat Riley,” Trinidad said, laughing.

Pacman was also given the key to National City, south of San Diego, and accepted a proclamation announcing that it was Manny Pacquiao Day in San Diego.

As far as he's concerned, Trinidad wants to see Pacquaio retire at a positive point in his ring career.

“I want to see Manny go out on top, to go out with a bang,” Trinidad said. “I don't want to see him quitting boxing, just another old fighter drooling on himself.”

As for me, I will resist the temptation to do my karaoke version of “What Kind Of Drool Am I.”

(mlcmarley@aol.com)

Source: examiner.com

The ghost of Manny Pacquiao haunts the Wild Card Gym -- Telegraph

By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk

It is like a scene from Waiting For Godot. Or No One Writes To The Colonel. The action is in limbo. The movement in suspense. The foot sloggers go through their paces at Freddie Roach’s boxing gym on a drizzly Vine St, in Hollywood. Pounding, but with no purpose. It is the ghost of Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao which haunts the quad of the Wild Card Gym, scene of the eponymous Filipino Congressman for Sarangani.

When Roach and Pacquiao are away, as they have been for five weeks until today, Monday October 25, the gym is busy, but there is no purpose to proceedings. I thought I was unfortunate to turn up there last week,

It makes you acutely aware of how we, or better still, boxing, will miss the Roach-Pacquiao double act, when they are gone for good. Pacquiao will be first, into the mire of politics. For five weeks, the place is like a shell, overseen by Roach’s brother, Pepe. Roach is the enforcer, and on Monday, he had his mood on pressing matters. Namely on drilling Pacquiao. Earlier, he worked with the young British 140lb world champion Amir Khan.

Khan works tirelessly, building his fitness. Alex Ariza, head of strength and conditioning, looks on approvingly. Khan really goes for it at the end of his session. He winks at a few friends around the ring apron. After two years at this gym, he now feels at home.

Khan also told The Telegraph that “being around Freddie and Manny” is the “best feeling in the world, and the best place I could possibly be.” No wonder Roach and Ariza talk of him in glowing terms at present. Last week, in The Philippines training camp of Pacquiao, Khan sparred twelve rounds with the seven-weight world champion. And looked good doing so, by all accounts.

Pacquiao has arrived a little late after 3pm. A black Mercedes C500 pulls up and into the quad behind the Wild Card Gym. HBO’s 24/7 ubiquitous film crew are there, hard-working, good-humoured, boots on, always up for it. Peter Nelson takes photos, as we await his biography on Freddie Roach. It should be a good one. Roach is one of the pivotal figures in modern boxing, and, with Pacquiao and Khan, a foot in each camp of the two main rival boxing promoters in the United States. Golden Boy with Khan; Top Rank with Pacquiao.

Among the group of Filipino reporters, is television news host and in situ reporter Chino Trinidad. Humorous, engaging, and the best in the business in television sports reporting from The Philippines – his father Recah Trinidad is sports writer and has already written ‘Pacific Storm’, a book on Pacquiao – Chino believes he has seen a change in his subject in recent months.

Remember what Pacquiao has become in The Philippines. Think the roots of Maradona. Take away the cocaine binges. Think Ali. Think one people, rather than the world. Think Lionel Messi, then add a politicians desire with the cultured beauty of the young man’s left foot (Pacquiao is a lefty, too, by the way). Sprinkle in the relaxed poise in the public spotlight of David Beckham, then finally add the hysteria that was once held for the Lady Diana Spencer.

Trinidad has covered Pacquiao for 15 years. “I’ve covered him from his second fight when he turned pro,” Chino told me Monday as we (well, I) scoffed the scrumptious orange chicken at Nat’s Thai Food, within the quad at the Wild Card. Next door is a (rudimentary) Pacquiao Merchandise Shop. If you want a t-shirt with Pacquiao Bruce Lee-esque torso, they are there. You get the picture.

“I covered Blow By Blow, a boxing show Manny was on. It is where I met Manny. It came natural to me to commentate on boxing. My grandfather trained two boxers, my father is a journalist. I really haven’t seen a great change in the way this guy Pacquiao is. You get the image of the man from the camp, from the people around him. What Pacquiao says is the same banana as what he said to me 10 years ago.” Trinidad likes that.

But there is something new. A cause de politique. “I can see the embers in his eyes, at times, now, I think,” he muses. “Perhaps politics changes you. When Manny first wanted to get into politics, I voiced against it. Does he really need to do this ? My view was that he served the country better as a fighter, when, three times a year, he keeps us together, he unites a nation. I wear a Filipino t-shirt with pride, and a lot of that is down to what Manny Pacquiao has achieved. Filipinos now want to be identified as exactly that. Not as a nation of domestic cleaners.”

“He showed us that we can be redeemed, how we can make something of ourselves, a symbol of how you can arise to greatness from poverty. I was a sceptic about his politics. I just saw him as a modern-day hero.” We talk on, we talk of a shared interest in a man, a sportsman, a fighter, who fascinates us both.

Then Trinidad leans in. I remember once, he said this to me, and it made me realise I was wrong. “When I fight,” Pacquiao had told Trinidad, “ I make them [the people] happy for Sunday, then proud on Monday, and then by Tuesday, we all go back to our miserable ways. I want to eradicate that so that people are not thinking about where their next meal is coming from.” It resonated for Trinidad. It may well have already resonated with Pacquiao in Congress. And it may resonate soon for the boxing world. Perhaps we had better ready ourselves sooner rather than later for Pacquiao to haunt the Wild Card Gym – for a long time to come.

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Ricky Hatton let off over coke allegations but Hitman can't box clever enough to coax Wayne Rooney to Manchester City -- Daily Mail

By Jeff Powell, DailyMail.co.uk

Ricky Hatton is off the hook from possible prosecution for cocaine abuse but has failed to reel in Wayne Rooney to his beloved Manchester City.

It has been a mixed few days for the Hitman. First came the relief that police do not seem to have enough supporting evidence to bring charges following newspaper photographs of him snorting a substance.

Then the disappointment of Rooney's giant U-turn into a new five-year contract at Manchester United.

Whether or not Hatton was acting on authority from City, the word is that he was doing his best to coax Rooney into crossing one of football's great divides.

The two are good mates and are believed to have talked at length on holiday about the transfer which threatened to incite an outbreak of civil war in Manchester.

City have to be aware of the friendship between their most famous fan and the most potent English footballer of his generation.
It would not have been in the interests of manager Roberto Mancini and his mega-rich employers to dissuade Hatton from exciting Rooney's interest in a salary in excess of even the £200,000 a week for which he has now re-settled at Old Trafford.

And if they simply let Hatton get on with acting as an unofficial go-between, they have done nothing wrong.

Certainly, Hatton will have been a persuasive advocate for the club he has followed since childhood - and whose fans have turned out in their thousands to roar support for his boxing heroics on both sides of the Atlantic.

No-one outside the City hierarchy could have been better placed to convince Rooney that the massive spending there will continue until they have built a team to challenge for domination over club football at home and in Europe.

Hatton will have been as concerned about selling City to Rooney as with his own legal position.

The fight fraternity will simply be hoping that the decision not to prosecute him will enable the former world light-welterweight champion to sort out his life after the ring.

Hatton's warrior instincts - as well as his determination to remain a man of the people despite his glory - have cemented a place for him in the hearts of boxing lovers everywhere.

The difficulty of bringing a successful prosecution for the apparent addition of drugs to his lifestyle of boozing and binge-eating helps explain why the British Boxing Board of Control let him keep his promoter's licence despite revoking his permits as a fighter and a trainer.

They are nervous of law suits. Since Hatton has still not formally retired - 'I don't have the urge at the moment but you never know' - he could be encouraged now to re-apply for his boxer's licence.

If so, following his crushing defeats by Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao, it would be with an eye to going out as a winner with one last hurrah - at the City stadium.

......................................................................


To the relief of his trainer and promoter, the world's greatest pound-for-pound boxer has arrived back here in the no-nonsense sweat-shop called The Wild Card Gym.

Manny Pacquiao flew in from his native Philippines to concentrate solely on the November 13 set-to with Antonio Margarito in which he hopes to become the first fighter to win world titles in eight different weight divisions, a record which would be likely to stand for all time.

Not a moment too soon, chorused Freddie Roach and Bob Arum as the PacMan was mobbed by hundreds of fans at Los Angeles airport.

Roach the master trainer and Arum the Hall of Fame promoter had become worried that Pacquiao's work as a recently elected congressman in Manilla was undermining his preparation for dealing with the physically much bigger Margarito in their bout for the world light-middleweight title.

Although Typhoon Megi - which killed at least 13 Filipinos and left thousands more homeless - by-passed his training camp in Baguio City, the PacMan was beset by myriad distractions in his own land.

At one point during sparring he told Roach: 'I'm missing my job.'

That reference to his new political career left his trainer saying: 'It would not surprise me now if Manny retired from boxng.'

Personal appearances at gala functions also interrupted the usually spartan training regime and Arum noted: 'Speed is one of Manny's prime assets but he is not looking as quick in the ring at the moment.'

Pacquiao has less than three weeks to re-sharpen his act, although he says: 'I am fully confident of beating Margarito.'

Assuming he is right, a good deal of the credit will go to our own Amir Khan. Bolton's former Olympic silver medallist, also trained by Roach, is getting ready for the biggest fight of his life... a Las Vegas defence of his world light-welterweight title in December against Argentine power-puncher Marcos Maidana.

Khan flew to the Philippines to spar with Pacquiao and will continue to do so here in Hollywood.

Roach says: 'That good work is bringing back the old Manny.'

But for how long? The likelihood is growing that Pacquiao will hang up the gloves early next year, leaving his friend and protegee Khan to take his place in the mega-fight against Floyd Mayweather Jnr which the whole world of boxing has been gagging to see.

......................................................................

As Audley Harrison comes down from Big Bear mountain here in California, the Klitschko brothers are anxious that these six weeks of high altitude training may have given him a decisive advantage over David Haye.

Wladimir and Vitali Kltischko are still hoping to get Haye into a ring and punch his insults back down his throat but the outside chance of those fights ever happening will disappear if the Hayemaker is blown away by the A-Force in Manchester on November 13. No WBA world title, definitely no dea

Wladimir warns Haye: 'I am worried that you will lose to Harrison. In fact, Harrison could well knock you out.'

The younger Klitschko is due to defend his versions of the heavyweight championship on December 11, against yet another London-based fighter.

Fanciful speculation that Wladimir might be on the wrong end of an even greater upset has dwindled with news that Dereck Chisora faces sentencing for assault and theft convictions in court on November 10.

At the least Chisora will have to break off traiining in Scotland. At worst he could be in prison - not in the ring in Germany - on his big night.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Bob Arum on Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, Kelly Pavlik -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

Top Rank Promotions' CEO Bob Arum spoke to FanHouse concerning his Nov. 13, and, Dec. 4 boxing cards, respectively, at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex., and, the Honda Center, Anaheim, Calif.

The main event at The Dallas Cowboys features an HBO pay per view televised WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) title clash between seven-division titlist and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts), of the Philippines, pursuing his eighth crown in as many weight classes opposite ex-titlist Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs), of Tijuana, Mex.

The monster Pacquiao-Margarito under card is comprised of Cuban-born southpaw and two-time former Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux (6-0, five knockouts), who has been competing as a professional super bantamweight (122 pounds), against Panamanian southpaw featherweight (126 pounds) Ricardo Cordoba (37-2-2, 23 KOs); the return of former WBO and WBC middleweight (160 pounds) champion Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs), of Youngstown, Ohio, against Bryan Lee Vera (17-5, 11 KOs), of Austin, Tex.; and rising Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones (22-0, 18 KOs) in a bout opposite Mexican-born Jesus Soto Karass (24-4-3, 16 KOs) of Los Angeles.

The main event in Anaheim features junior middleweight and middleweight prospect Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs), of Mexico, who is the son of the former world champion by the same name, opposite Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KOs), of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mex.

Also on the Dec. 4 card is WBA interim super flyweight (115 pounds) champion Nonito Donaire (24-1, 16 KOs) of the Philippines against Ukrainian WBA bantamweight (118 pounds) titlist Voldymyr Sydorenko (22-2-2, seven KOs), and lightweight (135 pounds) Brandon Rios (25-0-1, 18 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif., against Noe Balonos (21-5-1, 13 KOs), of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mex.

Chavez could be in line to meet WBA junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) of Puerto Rico, sometime in early 2011, and Donaire, to meet WBO and WBC bantamweight (118 pounds) king Fernando Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KOs) of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mex., on HBO on Feb. 19, said Arum.

FanHouse: Can you shed light on this reports from the Philippines indicating that you were disappointed after having observed a Manny Pacquiao sparring session?

Bob Arum: I got there on a Saturday, and the first session that I saw was a Saturday session. And, he looked listless and just nothing like the Manny Pacquiao that I was used to seeing. So I was very concerned, and I was so concerned that I articulated my concern to the press.

To the Philippine press. Sunday was an off day, of course, but Monday was the press day. And he hit the mitts and he had woken up a little bit and he looked good hitting the mitts. But then, on Tuesday, that was a sparring day. And he had Amir Khan added to the sparring.

Glen Tapia was there sparring and so Michael Medina. And he looked much, much sharper.


Of the bad day of sparring and the listlessness, what do you attribute those things to?

[Trainer] Freddie Roach was saying that that was part of a general pattern. That my criticism, in effect, woke Manny up. That he was going through the motions pretty much.


What are your feelings about Manny Pacquiao's assertion that Antonio Margarito knew about the illegal hand wraps?

He's entitled to his opinion, and that's Manny's opinion. I totally disagree with that opinion. I don't think that Antonio Margarito knew that his hands were being wrapped illegally. But everyone is entitled to their opinion about that.


What is your take on Antonio Margarito's comeback as far as bringing up Manny Pacquiao's association with steroids?

I think that for Antonio, that's a natural reaction that a fighter would have. You know, 'You say this about me, I'll say that about you.' So, you know, I don't pay that much attention to that.


Is a rematch a natural for Manny and Antonio in the event that Margarito were to pull the upset?

No. I mean, there's nothing contractual dealing with a rematch. In other words, there doesn't have to be a rematch. And, there's no way that I could compel a rematch. But if Margarito were to win, and they wanted to go at it again, both of them, then that would be terrific.

But again, nobody's every discussed a rematch, and that wouldn't be for me to decide. What the public will demand will be determined by if a Margarito beats a Pacquiao and how well the fight went. But who knows what the public will demand?


Can you speculate on what might be next for Manny Pacquiao in victory, should he continue his professional career and not go into politics full time?

Well, Manny Pacquiao, as I understand it, has moved up to junior middleweight for this one fight. My understanding is that he will move back down to welterweight after this fight.


Can you discuss what is at stake for Kelly Pavlik, such as a potential fight with IBF super middleweight (168 pounds) champion Lucien Bute?

Kelly Pavlik is at a crossroads in his career. This is his fight to get back. And if he wins this fight, then, he can look forward to even bigger fights, particularly against even someone like Lucien Bute.


What are your plans for Mike Jones?

Mike Jones is a terrific fighter, and the thing that I like about him other than the fact that he's a very, very good fighter is the fact that he has fan base. And he has people who passionately follow his career. They buy tickets and they all come to his fights. In this economy, and in this industry, he's a very valuable commodity.


Can you speculate on what might be on the horizon for Mike Jones as far as his world title aspirations, big fights in general, or potentially one against Manny Pacquiao?

Mike Jones wouldn't be an appropriate fight for Manny Pacquiao right now because very few people know who Mike Jones is. But, you know, let's see what happens a year from now.

Forget Mike Jones fighting for a title. How far away is Mike Jones from becoming an attraction for a big, pay per view fight? And I think that Mike Jones, he's maybe a year away.


Is a potential shot at Andre Berto something that you would like for Mike Jones?

We would do that fight in a second between Mike Jones and Andre Berto, but we offered Jones for Berto before they opted to take the fight that Berto has with Freddy Hernandez. And they turned the fight down.


What about a fight between Andre Berto and Miguel Cotto?

The problem with Berto is that he's a lovely kid and he's a good fighter, but he's a tulip, which means that his value has been set by what HBO is paying him for his fights. And, like the frenzy over tulips centuries ago in Holland, it's the same thing.

Berto shouldn't command anything like what HBO is paying him. Therefore, it makes it very, very difficult to make a big fight for Berto against somebody like a Miguel Cotto because the kid wants to be paid more than he would get paid for ordinary fights.

Therefore, he would be vastly overpaid. So it's very difficult.


What does the future hold for Julio Cesar Chavez as it pertains to Miguel Cotto?

The fight with Chavez and Cotto is what is on the drawing board for right now. But, if, for example, Margarito lost to Pacquiao, but looked very, very good in losing the fight, then, maybe, the fight to make is a Cotto-Margarito rematch. And then, you might have Chavez fight somebody like a Yuri Foreman.

We'll have to get one fight at a time done. We have a lot of options in those weight classes.


Is Nonito Donaire-Fernando Montiel a lock for Feb. 19 on HBO if Donaire wins his next fight?

It's not just likely, it's going to happen. And it's going to happen in the first quarter of next year, 2011, and it will be shown on HBO.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

24/7 Review: Part 1--Manny's Behind, Margarito Looks To Get Past Wrapflap -- The Sweet Science

By Michael Woods, The Sweet Science

With HBO producing, and Liev Schrieber narrating, a 24/7 spotlighting me would be engaging, evocative, poignant and dramatic. They could make the bland grand, turning my rather pedestrian existence into something majestic.

"Editor Mike changes Juliette's diaper, deftly using a moist wipe to make certain that his most precious offspring is clean, and for the time being, serene. He stands over her a contrast in size, and a stranger might see his bald dome and hulking form, and register surprise as he makes goo goo sounds, and grins goofily, in an attempt to make the newborn smile. She does, and gurgles, and Editor Mike scoops her up, tenderly, and hands her off to his wife, Jessica. Because The Sweet Science needs his attention, because TSS Universe demands new content. If they don't get, they get as cranky as Juliette, protesting her soiled diaper."

Please read that last bit in Schrieber's voice, and add some soundtrack music of your choice to juice it up...

HBO's latest 24/7 takes a comprehensive look at the two principals in the November 13th junior middleweight clash pitting Manny Pacquiao against Antonio Margarito. The first installment ran Saturday, and we got a look at Pacquiao in the political ring, as Congressman. "That's my dream, to serve people. I want to help them, because I know what they're feeling. I know the feeling of being nothing in life," says the seven division champion, who is gunning for a title in an eighth class. The Congressman has taken leave from the current session to train for his fight, and we hear that he gets constant updates from aides.

Is it possible, we wonder, is the man spreading himself too thin? Will he leave the sweet science to put more emphasis on politics?

Freddie Roach admits that he worries some when Manny talks about "missing his job" and he reminds the fighting pol that boxing is his number one vocation.

Viewers see in contrast that Antonio Margarito, referred to as "a disgraced ex champion," is fully on message, looking to shore up his rep, tainted by his hand wrap flap. He tells viewers that he didn't know what was in his wraps as he waited to face off with Shane Mosley. Most folks find that hard to believe, but we'll likely get as much closure on this as we have on the JFK assassination. Margarito, in street clothes, tells us that he grilled trainer Javier Capetillo, asking him about the hardened wraps, and wondered why ingredients for plaster of Paris were found on the confiscated pads. His co-manager Sergio Diaz tells us Tony was depressed as he sat out for 16 months, after California pulled his license. "I'll prove to the whole boxing world that I can win and I'm back," Margarito said.

Roach and Pacman both tell viewers that they are sure Margarito knew. "It's common sense," Pacquiao says.

"We have to give him a chance to recover his career," says the benevolent Filipino.

Moving on, we see Manny's advisor Michael Koncz say that Team Pacquiao did compromise on the issue of drug testing while negotiating with Team Mayweather for a superfight, to a point. "We pretty much agreed to anything on the drug testing, except not within seven days," Koncz says. We'd heard before that Manny had agreed to be tested at any time, no constraints, so there ya go...

Margarito doesn't look like a man holding on to a sick secret, a toxic knowledge that drains his energy. His dimples are on display, and his team seems confident that he'll get it done against Manny. Trainer Robert Garcia says he accepted the job training Margarito after accepting Margarito's explanation about the wraps.

We hear that he'd had to drop 35 pounds in a seven week camp to get ready for Mosley, but we see him weighing 158 for a fight which is set for 150 max, or less. Team Margarito had battled for a few pounds more, but they hold little leverage, and lost this skirmish.

Footage is shown of Coach Roach in the Philippines, as schoolgirls giggle like it's Paul McCartney and 1964.

Footage of Pacquiao sparring is offered. Glenn Tapia and Michael Medina are in to approximate Margarito. Pacquiao's timing is off, and we see him getting whacked around some. "In Roach's view, training is slightly behind schedule," we hear, ominously, and add to that a balky left heel, which keeps Manny from doing all his roadwork. Also, the politics thing is worrying Freddie slightly.

Much ado about nothing much? Storylines to pad the show? Or legitimate points of worry? We shall see come Nov. 13. EM leans toward the search for storylines theory...

Margarito's wife of 12 years, Michelle, says that the wrapflap has been tough on them. But she stood by her guy, we see.

Garcia smacks Marg's belly with a stick for three minutes, a Signapore special of sorts, and EM wonders if he can last three..seconds, that is...

I am left giving Margarito more of a chance at toppling Manny, which is, I believe, the point of the show. "I feel powerful, I feel good about knocking him out," the comebacking Californian says.

Part 2 premieres next Saturday.

What about you, TSS U? Did this installment leave you thinking Margarito has a solid chance at the upset?

Source: thesweetscience.com