by Colin Linneweber, Senior Analyst
As expected, WBO world welterweight champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao severely outclassed former IBF welterweight titlist Joshua “The Hitter” Clottey to earn a lopsided unanimous decision victory last weekend at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX.
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), the first boxer in history to win seven world titles in seven different weight divisions, acted as a puncher and Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs) played the role of a willing punching bag.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
The final punch statistics showed that Pacquiao landed 246 of 1,231 punches in comparison to Clottey’s paltry total of 108 of 399.
Now that Clottey is an utter afterthought, Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, will begin to seek for the Filipino icon’s next opponent.
The public has long clamored for a matchup that would pit Pacquiao versus “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs).
Unfortunately, an extremely lucrative Pacquiao-Mayweather prizefight seems unlikely because the two insanely stubborn and egotistical camps haven’t been able to agree on a drug testing protocol at this juncture.
Mayweather is now scheduled to fight current WBA welterweight champ “Sugar” Shane Mosley May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
A potential adversary that has been mentioned for Pacquiao is disgraced former WBA, IBF and WBO welterweight titleholder Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito.
In order for Margarito to even be eligible to scrap, he first needs to regain his license to box.
The “Tijuana Tornado” had his boxing license justifiably revoked by the California State Athletic Commission for “at least a year” last February after it was confirmed that he attempted to battle Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) with a plaster-like substance inside of his hand wraps.
Thankfully, Margarito was caught and proved to be a cowardly charlatan by officials at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the match began and he had the opportunity to seriously injure Mosley with his cement fists.
Once Margarito had his illegal hand wraps removed, the “Tijuana Tornado” was promptly brutalized by Mosley and defeated by ninth round TKO.
Margarito is the quintessential tough and rugged Mexican pugilist in the ring.
Nevertheless, his attempted actions against Mosley are a cardinal sin in boxing and they should never be forgiven.
Plus, Margarito is simply not in the same sphere as Pacquiao is as a boxer.
Pacquiao’s trainer, Dedham’s Freddie Roach, said he would like to see “Pac-Man” fight Mayweather and then forever retire from the vicious sport of boxing.
“Mayweather and be done with it,” said Roach, 49, a four-time trainer of the year who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last decade. “There are no more challenges out there. I know there are some fights, but will the general public really want to buy that? I’d like to see him go out on top and not be one of those cases that stayed too long.
Manny has things to fall back on that others don’t. He’s an actor, a singer, he’s running for Congress. Why is Roy Jones still fighting? Because he doesn’t know anything else but boxing. Manny does.”
Manny has things to fall back on that others don’t. He’s an actor, a singer, he’s running for Congress. Why is Roy Jones still fighting? Because he doesn’t know anything else but boxing. Manny does.”
Roach (39-13, 15 KOs) fought as a professional lightweight for nine years himself and he blames his ailment on competing in the Sweet Science for too long.
“People ask me, ‘Why would you want the guy you make the most money off to quit?’” said Roach. “We’ve done well with each other. I’d rather see him quit than go on after Mayweather. It is more important to me that he has a long and healthy life when this thing is over.”
Boxing fans want, and deserve, to see Pacquiao versus Mayweather.
Sadly, boxing has aptly been called “the red light district of sports” and fans rarely receive what they warrant.
Despite a purse that could pay both prizefighter’s in excess of $30 million apiece, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will never fight.
Typically, boxing and its deprived fans will be the biggest losers yet again.
Now, in the meantime, Bob Arum just needs to find Pacquiao another slouch to lambaste.
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We can really tell what will happen if ever Pacquaio fight Mayweather, but I know the world is really excited about this.
