Last night’s (August 19) season finale of Friday Night Fights delivered a Knockout of the Year contender when Hank Lundy rebounded from an earlier knockdown to KO David Diaz at the beginning of the sixth round. Lundy was comfortably outboxing Diaz when he was dropped in the fourth with a leaping right hook. Lundy was almost stopped in that round but held on. In the fifth, a pouring cut over Diaz’s right eye threatened to stop the bout. It would be Lundy who closed the book on Diaz with a counter straight left deposited Diaz flat on his back. This matchup was a show-stealer that easily eclipsed the main event, which was an easy decision win for Demetrius Andrade over Grady Brewer. The entire Lundy-Diaz bout is available below in the second clip.
This has been a big story over the last 24 hours. Bernard Hopkins stated that he finds it very strange that Manny Pacquiao has never faced a top African-American fighter. He hints that maybe Pacquiao’s team knows he would have trouble with that style. The quotes have spark huge debates about Manny’s choice of opponents, especially after his advisor Michael Koncz stated that Pacquiao’s career is now more about monedey than legacy.
“The selection of opponents for Manny has nothing to do with race, creed or color. It’s all about business,” Koncz explained to ESPN. “And they can cry all that they want. It’s all about economics, now, with Manny’s career. we have the luxury of doing that because Manny has proven to the world that he’s got nothing left to prove. If there are any boxing people out there who doubt him, then, to hell with them.”
View the entire ESPN debate below between Chris Broussard and Skip Bayless.
You know me, I’m just happy anytime boxing gets some mainstream press. On this actual topic, I can see some truth behind each side’s argument.
Hopkins is correct in saying that there is a lack of African-American fighters on Pacquiao’s resume. But Koncz’s point also rings true. How many slick, black fighters have a sizable fanbase that could equal the financial returns Pacquaio got for facing Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Antonio Margarito? The answer is only one, and that’s Floyd Mayweather. Still, Koncz’s stance is hurt by the fact his man recently fought Joshua Clottey, who has no real following in the United States.
During Manny’s lower weight run, there’s a few fighters that he bypassed who fit Hopkins’ description. Erik Morales fought slick, black southpaw Zahir Raheem immediately after defeating Pacquiao in 2005. Morales was outclassed and lost a wide decision. Because of Raheem’s style, size, and low economic profile, Pacquiao’s team went for the Morales rematch and never seriously considered Raheem as an opponent. In 2008, Pacquiao made his jump to lightweight. Instead of facing the number one guy at the weight, Nate Campbell, Pacquiao opted for a weaker titleholder in David Diaz. The business excuse can’t be used there, since Campbell was both a more challenging and well-known fighter than Diaz.
I believe it’s a styles thing more so than racial. Slick boxers are revered by boxing purists, but rarely become superstars. Floyd Mayweather is anomaly. Even when defeating them, they are very hard to look good against. After beating Cotto, Pacquiao’s camp dismissed Yuri Foreman as a potential opponent at 154 pounds. Foreman is a Jewish fighter and far from black. So as he’s moved up in weight, I believe Pacquiao’s team has preferred more stationary, come forward fighters.
People think they’re a lot different, but on the business end Mayweather and Pacquiao have both been careful in the opponents they’ve selected since reaching superstardom. Some of their predecessors like Sugar Ray Leonard were the same way. Bottom line is, there are no black fighters from 140-154 pounds that can be favored over Pacquiao except Floyd Mayweather. So when talking about black fighters, Floyd is the only name that needs to be on Pacquiao’s hit list.
Future Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward believes Manny Pacquiao’s recent title runs have displayed more skill than Roberto Duran’s previous weight class exploits.
In an interview with the Examiner’s Michael Marley, Steward first praised Pacquiao’s list of opponents since moving up to lightweight in 2008. Steward states that Pacquiao has not ducked any challengers despite being a natural lightweight.
“I look at Manny as a lightweight and he’s dominating the welterweights and now fighting at junior middleweight. His real weight, his true weight I think is 138 pounds,” Steward explained. ”The rest of his pounds they just fill him up. And another thing is that Manny does not dodge anybody. It’s kind of crazy, all that a blown up lightweight has been accomplishing. He’s been responsible for great fights against other great fighters.”
In 1978, Roberto Duran jumped from lightweight to welterweight. Duran had dominated the lightweight division for the majority of the 70s, and now looked to become a superstar. He did just that by scoring wins over Carlos Palomino and Sugar Ray Leonard, both marvelous displays of counterpunching and infighting.
But Emmanuel Steward points out that Pacquiao’s shown more diversity with his skill set during his climb through the weights. He notes that because of Pacquiao’s faster hands and feet, the Filipino champion hasn’t experienced the difficulty Duran encountered when pitted against opponents with good movement.
“Duran went up in weight, sure, but he was different than Manny. Duran was strictly a power puncher and guys who could box and move gave him big problems,” Steward detailed. “This guy [Pacquiao] shows himself to be phenomenal because he can come in at you, take your punch and then clip you with that straight left hand. Manny can catch you coming in. He’s got real hand speed but he also dares you to trade punches with him. He’s got his own rhythm and he’s got that unique quick step. Duran would just walk in, wade into you. Manny can do that but he moves so quickly it’s hard for the opponent to nail him.”
Pacquiao will test his pound for pound abilities again on November 13, when he moves up to a junior middleweight catchweight of 150 pounds against Antonio Margarito.
Roberto Duran competed in five different decades in a career that spanned from 1968-2001. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2007 with a final record of 103-16, 70 KOs.
Very interesting comments from Steward. You always have to be careful when comparing fighters from different eras. Personally, the deciding factor is always the level of competition, and how the fighter looked against that said competition. And in that regard, Duran hold a distinct edge over the Pacman.
Pacquiao is naturally smaller than Duran, as noted in the fact the Pacman won his first title at flyweight. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll compare their two careers from Pacquiao’s 2008 move to lightweight, and Duran’s 1978 move to welterweight.
When Pacquiao first moved to lightweight, he challenged WBC titlist David Diaz. While tough, Diaz was the weakest titleholder in the division. That was confirmed when Pacquiao gave Diaz a frightful beating. The consensus top fighter was Nate Campbell, who picked up the WBA, IBF and WBO titles when he defeated Juan Diaz in March of 2008. Instead of facing Campbell after dominating David Diaz, Pacquiao left the division without facing his best challenger at the weight.
Later in 2008, Pacquiao shocked many by agreeing to face Oscar De La Hoya at welterweight. Many believed that De La Hoya, a former welterweight champion in the late 90s, would be far too big for Pacquiao. Instead, De La Hoya was utterly destroyed by Pacquiao, who’s faster hands were too much for a De La Hoya that was uncharacteristically lethargic. It was later determined that De La Hoya’s struggled to get down to the 147 limit, and in the process weakened himself severely by fight night. The issue was so bad that De La Hoya’s team used IVs to try to get their fighter rehydrated.
In 2009, Pacquiao had one of the best years of his career when he knocked out Ricky Hatton at 140, and Miguel Cotto at 147. Both were title fights, with the former giving Pacquiao the linear title at junior welterweight, and the latter victory giving the Filipino fighter the WBO welterweight strap. Earlier this year, Pacquiao won a lopsided victory against Joshua Clottey, a solid contender who’s been ranked in the division’s Top 10 for years.
When Duran moved to welterweight in the late 70s, there were skeptics. But that was erased when he outclassed Palomino. Today, many fans who were either too young or not yet born forget how good Palomino was. The Mexican fighter was a very sharp counterpuncher, possessed an exceptional body attack, and was an excellent inside fighter. While not a one-punch knockout artist, Palomino kept his power into the late rounds and scored his best wins (John Stracey, Davey Green, Armando Muniz) via late knockouts. Outside of Leonard, he was the best welterweight of the late 70s, making seven defenses of the WBC welterweight title.
But against the smaller Duran, Palomino was completely befuddled. Duran outpunched him from long-range and on the inside. It was one of the best displays of skill in Duran’s career, and is a win that trumps Pacquiao’s three appearances at welterweight against Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya and Joshua Clottey. Palomino was a better fighter than each of them at that stage, having two-fisted power compared to De La Hoya and Cotto’s left hook, sharper combinations than that version of De La Hoya, and being physically strong enough not to give ground or become gun-shy against larger or aggressive opponents like Clottey.
Another counter-point to Emmanuel Steward is that an in-shape and focused Duran never just “waded in.” He feinted his way inside to disrupt an opponent’s rhythm and timing. Below, this completely destroyed Palomino’s ability to counter-punch.
Hatton is a very good win on Pacquiao’s resume. Although Hatton had shown signs of slowing down, he was still undefeated at junior welterweight and had kept his title since beating Kostya Tszyu in 2005. Pacquiao took him out quickly, showing how well he could deal with a pressure fighter.
But even if you think any of those fights are on the same level as the Palomino win, Duran’s victory over Sugar Ray Leonard in 1980 makes it a landslide. On any respectable list, Sugar Ray Leonard is at least Top 5 in the history of the welterweight division. Duran was indeed slower than Leonard, but he used his better timing, counterpunching, body work, and feints to negate Leonard’s advantage. The smaller Duran also bullied Leonard on the inside, where Hands of Stone made sure his shorter reach would now become an asset.
After the Leonard win, Duran’s career becomes highly inconsistent. Leonard won the rematch when Duran shockingly quit in the eighth due to frustration with Sugar Ray’s movement. When he moved to junior middleweight, Steward’s criticism of Duran struggling to deal with movement became more apparent when he dropped back to back decision losses to Wilfred Benitez and Kirkland Laing.
He rebounded with two career-extending wins over a faded Pipino Cuevas, and an inexperienced Davey Moore to win the WBA junior middleweight title. Later in his tenure at the weight, Duran would also post a memorable victory over the much bigger Iran Barkley to win the WBC junior middleweight title at 38 years old. However, it must be noted that Duran’s suffered bad losses at this weight. He was blasted out in two rounds by Tommy Hearns. And Hands of Stone was upset by lowly journey man Robbie Sims.
Next month, some additional clarity will come to this comparison when Pacquiao faces Antonio Margarito. Right now, it’s difficult to guage what Margarito has left. He did not look impressive in his last bout, but that did come following more than a year out of the ring. If the Margarito of 2005-2007 shows up, a Pacquiao win would be comparable to Duran’s exciting battle with Iran Barkley.
But there’s still only one fight Pacquiao can win that could make a Roberto Duran comparison valid, and that’s taking on Floyd Mayweather. Is Mayweather as accomplished as Sugar Ray Leonard at welterweight? Emphatically NO. Is Mayweather a Top 5 all-time welterweight? NO! But Floyd Mayweather is one of the most skilled fighters to ever to lace up the gloves, and represents the biggest fight of this era. A victory ensures Pacquiao moves up considerably in all-time rankings, and exactly where would be the fun debate for critics and fans.
Fighters like Pacquiao and Duran are rare, once in a lifetime fighters. Even though these debates are intriguing, let’s also remember to enjoy them while they’re here.
Manny Pacquiao and Rick Ross are among the celebrities featured prominently in Nike’s latest ”Boom” ad campaign.
The company is using the ”boom” catchphrase to crystallize game-changing or ending moments. In Pacquiao’s clip, NFL players Tim Tebow and Ndamukong Suh are getting tailored and watching the final moments of Manny’s 2008 TKO victory over David Diaz. With the ending knockout, each man yells out the signature “boom” catchphrase.
With Rick Ross not being an athlete, Nike constructed the Miami emcee’s “pivotal moment” as buying a gaudy new chain, which comes to life and also utters the “boom” catchphrase.
No real complaints on my end except the fight they picked for Pacquiao’s clip. If you want a real “boom,” all you have to do is watch and listen to the Pacquaio left hook that ended Ricky Hatton’s career last year. In fact, I just noticed that HBO announcer Jim Lampley says “boom” right after it lands. Maybe he needs to hit up Nike for some compensation.
Boxing is a sport where no matter how good you are, there’s always someone out there who can take you. Aside from the rare case, the majority of boxers will taste a bitter defeat at some point in their career. Sometimes, that loss is not a close defeat, but an emphatic, brutal beatdown. The game has seen many of the latter in its 100 plus years of existence. Today, I take a look at the fights that I’ve deemed the worst beatdowns since the year 2000.
For this list, considerations were made regarding the amount of punishment received and how long the beating took place. You’ll notice the majority of these fights go into the latter rounds despite the victim taking hellacious shots. That’s not only a testament to the brutality of this sport, but also the undying will to win of most fighters, even when the odds are hopelessly stacked against them.
Without further adieu, here is The Biggest Boxing Beatdowns of the 21st Century.
#10 Mikkel Kessler vs. Librado Andrade (March 24, 2007)
“Are you human?!” HBO commentator Max Kellerman to Librado Andrade after the fight
Despite losing every minute and getting his head snapped around repeatedly every round, this was the fight that made Andrade’s career. This is one of the best displays of chin that you will ever see outside of heavyweights George Chuvalo and Tex Cobb. Librado Andrade never stopped coming forward and took wincing bombs from a prime, hard and accurate punching Mikkel Kessler. This fight made many proclaim Kessler as having the best 1-2 in the business.
Kessler landed 348 punches in this bout with the majority being head shots.
#9 Alfonso Gomez vs. Arturo Gatti (July 14, 2007)
2007 was the end of the road for popular all-action fighter Arturo Gatti. For years, Gatti had thrilled fans with dramatic comeback performances (Wilson Rodriguez, Gabriel Ruelas) and slugfests (Mickey Ward trilogy). But at age 35 and at too high a weight class for his frame at welterweight, Arturo Gatti was nothing but a punching bag even for limited fighters like Carlos Baldomir and Alfonso Gomez. What was on display in this sad final fight was simply Gatti’s warrior spirit, but not much else. For those who followed Gatti, Gomez’s final overhand right was a sad end.
#8 Felix Trinidad vs. Ricardo Mayorga (October 2, 2004)
When Felix Trinidad announced his comeback in 2004 against Ricardo Mayorga, there were some questions. Could Trinidad withstand Mayorga’s wild pressure and brawling tactics? Could Trinidad, who has regularly hit the canvas with flash knockdowns, handle Mayorga’s power? Would Mayorga’s chin brush off Trinidad’s power?
Turns out, Trinidad picked the perfect opponent to look good against. Outside of the brazen display in the first round where Mayorga taunted Trinidad into hitting him with several left hooks, Trinidad administered a methodical, beating that resulted in the Mayorga hitting the canvas for the first time his career. This fight proved the Nicaraguan’s toughness, but his form was never the same after the amount of left hook bombs Mayorga took in his fight.
#7 Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya (December 6, 2008)
Hindsight is 20/20. Leading into this fight, most journalists believed Pacquiao had taken too big a leap in moving to welterweight to face Oscar De La Hoya. The consensus was that De La Hoya, a former world champion at the weight, would be too strong for Pacquiao, who was jumping 12 pounds for the contest.
It turns out the opposite was true. De La Hoya had not competed at welterweight in seven years, and the pushing his body back down to the 147 pound limit weakened him. On the fight, his reaction time was bad and he was nothing more than a sitting duck for a fighter possessing the speed and power of Manny Pacquiao.
After smacking him with hard counters in the early rounds, Pacquiao pressed his attack in the mid and latter rounds on a hapless De La Hoya. Realizing he had nothing left, De La Hoya retired on his stool after the eighth round and called it a career. He conceded afterward that his former trainer Freddie Roach was right in that he could no longer “pull the trigger.”
#6 Roy Jones vs. Jeff Lacy (August 15, 2009)
Roy Jones had been down as an elite fighter since 2004 when he suffered back to back knockouts to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. But even a diminished 2009 version had more than enough to dominate a younger but damaged Jeff Lacy, who following a rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder and a beating from Joe Calzaghe had nothing to combat Jones’ speed and caginess. Jones rope-a-doped, clowned and abused Lacy.
Lacy has not fought since 2009 and may be done with boxing following this stoppage loss.
#5 Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson (June 8, 2002)
Just because two fighters are close in age doesn’t mean physically they are at the same stage of their careers. So was the case with Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, a fight that should’ve conceivably happened in the mid 90s. By 2002, Lewis was still the formidable heavyweight champion of the world. Tyson, who’s crouching and explosive style tends to result in shorter primes (see Marciano, Frazier), was a mere shell of his former shelf with nothing resembling his late 80s form except punching power.
After a decent first round, Lewis commenced to bludgeoning Tyson with wincing right hands round after round. Lewis would later remark about his astonishment about the shots Tyson was taking. But everyone has their limits, and Tyson’s reached his in the eighth. Lewis scored a knockdown off a snapping uppercut and effectively ended Tyson’s career as a contender with a follow-up overhand right for a second knockdown. Lewis pushed for another payday in a rematch, but Tyson refused.
#4 Floyd Mayweather vs. Arturo Gatti (June 25, 2005)
Years from now when Floyd Mayweather’s career is over, people will look back on this fight as the beginning of the “Money Mayweather” character and his ascent to mainstream boxing superstardom. Mayweather had been in the Top 5 pound for pound rankings for several years, but had failed to generate a significant following with his defense first style. He broke that tradition with this fight by constantly deriding Arturo Gatti for his past alcohol problems, his fighting ability(“he a paper champion and C+ fighter”), and even his appearance after years of fighting (“Gatti looks Chinese”).
Unable to get a fight with the true champ of the division in Kostya Tszyu, Mayweather essentially used this fight as a PPV showcase and totally outclassed and humiliated Gatti. Whether it was triple overhand rights or Fight Night-type hooks to the body, Gatti had no answer for Mayweather’s offense. After just six rounds, both of Gatti’s eyes were swelling and he had yet to land a significant punch. His trainer Buddy McGirt stopped the massacre, and Gatti found out the answer to his question regarding whether he had the skill to handle the elite fighters of the division.
Mayweather would have his final non-PPV fight in his next bout against Sharmba Mitchell. Since then Mayweather has gone on to become the biggest PPV fighter of all time.
#3 Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz (June 28, 2008)
Manny Pacquiao only made one appearance at lightweight. But that appearance was an absolute annihilation of belt-holder David Diaz. Diaz would admit later that while he could handle Pacquiao’s power, the speed was just too much for him. By the later rounds, even right jabs were snapping Diaz’s head back and visibly bothering him. The knockout would come in the ninth when a Pacquiao left hook resulted in a bloody Diaz sinking to his knees and slowly falling on his face.
Pacquiao was so impressed with Diaz’s heart that he gave his opponent a portion of his purse.
#2 Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito (January 24, 2009)
Before this fight many were fearing for Shane Mosley’s safety. In his mid-30′s and coming off an uneven showing a few months earlier against Ricardo Mayorga, many believed Mosley was in store for beating against reigning welterweight champion Antonio Margarito.
Margarito had become one of the most feared men in the division. He had twice KO’d Kermit Cintron, and stopped Miguel Cotto after easily shaking off the Puerto Rican star’s punches. The belief was that Mosley would also be overwhelmed and possibly stopped late.
Someone forgot to tell Shane Mosley that. The man nicknamed Sugar turned in one of the best performances of his career. He easily bullied Margarito on the inside and used his superior handspeed to punish the Tijuana Tornardo with hard right hands and a left hook. Margarito’s famous chin was on display, but only take the shellacking for so long. A straight left hand and right hook hurt Margarito and resulted in a knockdown in the eighth. In the ninth, Mosley cornered him and ended matters with several hooks that dropped Margarito again.
Magarito’s reputation would be forever sullied when illegal, hardened plaster-like wraps were found in his hand wrappings before the fight. He would be suspended for over a year, and many fans and critics would later say the beating he received during the fight served as karma.
#1 Joe Calzaghe vs. Jeff Lacy (March 4, 2006)
Famed trainer Emmanuel Steward called this the most-lopsided superfight in boxing history. If you happened to catch this fight, you’d be inclined to agree.
Joe Calzaghe was viewed by many, especially in America, as a fraud. He was considered the stereotypical European fighter that defended their belts in their home country and failed to seek out stronger challengers in the U.S. After nine years of defenses in the UK, Calzaghe finally secured a fight with a top U.S. challenger in Jeff Lacy.
Lacy was viewed as the heir apparent to the division. Undefeated and with huge knockout power, many were predicting Lacy to simply blast Calzaghe out of there early.
Instead, fans got a performance that validated Calzaghe’s career and signaled the end of Jeff Lacy’s. To say Calzaghe dominated would be an understatement. The Welshman utterly destoyed Lacy, winning every second of the fight for the entire 12 rounds. Early on Calzaghe realized Lacy was no match for him, and began smiling at the American as he pummeled him with combinations. Because Calzaghe was not a puncher, Lacy had to take rounds and rounds of punishment.
Lacy’s corner could have pulled him around the eighth, but they kept him in there to take unnecessary damage. It did no favors for his psyche, and Lacy was never the same mentally after this fight. He physically suffered a huge setback in his next bout when his best weapon, the left hook, was taken away following extensive rotator cuff surgery.
