Last Week in Boxing: Pacquiao Out Like a Lamb, Joshua in like a Lion
Last Week in Boxing: Pacquiao Out Like a Lamb, Joshua in like a Lion
By Jonathan SnowdenHBO announcer Jim Lampley was in tears as the Good Ship Manny Pacquiao came into port for what might have been the final time in a Hall-o
By Jonathan Snowden
HBO announcer Jim Lampley was in tears as the Good Ship Manny Pacquiao came into port for what might have been the final time in a Hall-of-Fame career. He might have been the only one.
Pacquiao himself seemed emotionless after finally settling the score with Timothy Bradley. Despite the love and unconditional support from the sea of fans who'd stuck with him to the bitter end, there was no joy in his eyes. No sadness lurked there either. There hasn't been a retirement this lacking in commitment outside of professional wrestling in years.
For one of boxing’s greatest modern attractions, there is little real drama as he putters to the finish line, his bandwagon all but abandoned as fans move on to other fighters or move on from boxing period. The very promotion of this rubber match with Timothy Bradley seemed to be based on nothing more than Manny’s own human frailty. If Floyd Mayweather’s listless PPV bout with Andre Berto was a victory lap, Pacquiao/Bradley III was a smoking and broken down jalopy being pushed across the finish line as the crowd dispersed.
Manny was still Manny. While Bradley was able to find his range and have a reasonably big moment here and there, it was Pacquiao who came with dynamite in his fists, knocking him down twice in an otherwise listless fight. The cards unanimously read 116-110 (8 rounds to 4). Those would have been acceptable scores for their prior two fights as well. Little changed over four years—Pacquiao was simply and demonstrably better than Bradley in 2012, 2014 and 2016. I suspect that would remain true into their dotage.
After the fight Pacquiao, wouldn’t fall for the bait and all but ignored Max Kellerman's attempts to book a fight with Canelo Alvarez on the fly. HBO undoubtedly would prefer that above all else. Instead, with this non-event, it looks like Pacquiao will head off into (a temporary) retirement, ending one of the great eras in welterweight history.
1. Earlier in the evening, Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KO) beat the tricky Arthur Abraham to become the first Mexican super middleweight champion and two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KO) knocked Evgeny Gradovich out with a sizzling left hook. Promoter Bob Arum has big plans for both, looking, perhaps, to create his own version of Golden Boy's Canelo Alvarez. So far, so good.
2. While the underwhelming Pacquiao fight gathered most of the eyeballs in the United States, it was actually a sell out crowd in England that stirred the imagination. Anthony Joshua’s steamrolled the largely untested Charles Martin in front of a loud, excited, sold out O2 Arena. Instead of a tepid celebration of past glory, Joshua provided the most powerful elixir of all: devastating power combining with technique to create a moment of explosive, glorious violence.
It's too early to get a read on Joshua's ultimate potential. After all, Martin barely counted as a champion. He was selected as a fall guy for Vyacheslav Glazkov whose promoters watched in shock as their charge’s knee blow out in the third round, forcing him into retirement. Martin wisely took the huge money offer from Matchroom Boxing and cashed out. Even if he’s a dummy, his management aren’t.
The win by Joshua is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise malingering boxing landscape. He is fit, young, athletic, skilled, and a murderous puncher. His promoter is willing to put him in front of audiences and make money now rather than play long waiting games in the hopes that larger paydays miraculously appear. Pacquiao may have gone out like a lamb, but at least someone is in like a lion.
HBO announcer Jim Lampley was in tears as the Good Ship Manny Pacquiao came into port for what might have been the final time in a Hall-of-Fame career. He might have been the only one.
Pacquiao himself seemed emotionless after finally settling the score with Timothy Bradley. Despite the love and unconditional support from the sea of fans who'd stuck with him to the bitter end, there was no joy in his eyes. No sadness lurked there either. There hasn't been a retirement this lacking in commitment outside of professional wrestling in years.
For one of boxing’s greatest modern attractions, there is little real drama as he putters to the finish line, his bandwagon all but abandoned as fans move on to other fighters or move on from boxing period. The very promotion of this rubber match with Timothy Bradley seemed to be based on nothing more than Manny’s own human frailty. If Floyd Mayweather’s listless PPV bout with Andre Berto was a victory lap, Pacquiao/Bradley III was a smoking and broken down jalopy being pushed across the finish line as the crowd dispersed.
Manny was still Manny. While Bradley was able to find his range and have a reasonably big moment here and there, it was Pacquiao who came with dynamite in his fists, knocking him down twice in an otherwise listless fight. The cards unanimously read 116-110 (8 rounds to 4). Those would have been acceptable scores for their prior two fights as well. Little changed over four years—Pacquiao was simply and demonstrably better than Bradley in 2012, 2014 and 2016. I suspect that would remain true into their dotage.
After the fight Pacquiao, wouldn’t fall for the bait and all but ignored Max Kellerman's attempts to book a fight with Canelo Alvarez on the fly. HBO undoubtedly would prefer that above all else. Instead, with this non-event, it looks like Pacquiao will head off into (a temporary) retirement, ending one of the great eras in welterweight history.
The Rest of the Week
1. Earlier in the evening, Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KO) beat the tricky Arthur Abraham to become the first Mexican super middleweight champion and two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KO) knocked Evgeny Gradovich out with a sizzling left hook. Promoter Bob Arum has big plans for both, looking, perhaps, to create his own version of Golden Boy's Canelo Alvarez. So far, so good.
2. While the underwhelming Pacquiao fight gathered most of the eyeballs in the United States, it was actually a sell out crowd in England that stirred the imagination. Anthony Joshua’s steamrolled the largely untested Charles Martin in front of a loud, excited, sold out O2 Arena. Instead of a tepid celebration of past glory, Joshua provided the most powerful elixir of all: devastating power combining with technique to create a moment of explosive, glorious violence.
It's too early to get a read on Joshua's ultimate potential. After all, Martin barely counted as a champion. He was selected as a fall guy for Vyacheslav Glazkov whose promoters watched in shock as their charge’s knee blow out in the third round, forcing him into retirement. Martin wisely took the huge money offer from Matchroom Boxing and cashed out. Even if he’s a dummy, his management aren’t.
The win by Joshua is a glimmer of hope in an otherwise malingering boxing landscape. He is fit, young, athletic, skilled, and a murderous puncher. His promoter is willing to put him in front of audiences and make money now rather than play long waiting games in the hopes that larger paydays miraculously appear. Pacquiao may have gone out like a lamb, but at least someone is in like a lion.