Junior lightweight sensation Manny
Pacquiao has been on a roll of late; in fact, this statement is probably
a huge understatement. Pacquiao has been walking through everyone put in
front of him, and has only been fighting solid fighters like Erik Morales
and Oscar Larios. He has been steadily climbing up pound for
pound lists everywhere. So, it's ok that he's taking one tune-up fight,
he deserves it. Saturday night's Pay per view involving the Pacman will
be just that, a tune up fight. So, if you're thinking about ordering
Saturday's PPV for the sole reason that you think the main event will be
a competitive one, then save your money. Not to say that the PPV as a
whole is not worth watching, but the main event should be anything but
competitive.
I don't mean to insult Saturday's Top Rank pay per view. I'm just
saying that this is the type of fight that Pacquiao should have on HBO.
It would serve as a free showcase for an upcoming PPV. This main
event is not Pay Per view material. The hype has been pretty good; the
promoters are trying their best to hype the main event as PPV material.
They're trying to sell the angle of Pacquiao trying to defeat another
Mexican fighter. They're also selling hard the fact that Solis is a
solid, undefeated fighter. At first glance the average person might
see Solis' 32-0-2 record with 23 KOs and think this has the makings to be
a Fight of the Year candidate. But, hold on just a minute.
Not to knock Jorge Solis, he's a solid young fighter, but he's just
not in the league of Manny Pacquiao right now. Most would consider
Pacquiao at least a top 5 pound for pounder and Solis is nowhere near
that. Yes, Solis' record is impressive, but the only name fighter that
he's fought is Humberto Soto and that fight ended in a 3 round No
Contest. Also consider Solis's last 4 opponents before you drool much
more over his record. His last four opponents have records of 9-3, 6-1,
12-2 and 28-15. This doesn't look like the type of records that a 32-0
fighter takes on, and you sure as heck don't go from fighting a 9-3
fighter to fighting Manny Pacquiao. It looks like Solis is getting thrown
to the wolves. He's being thrown in to showcase Pacquiao in anticipation
of Pacman's next big fight, (already scheduled for June against Zab
Judah). This is all fine, but the pairing just doesn't have it as a main
event in a PPV broadcast.
Again, I don't mean to totally bash this event; however, if you're
buying the show expecting to see a competitive main event then you're
going to be disappointed. But, if you're ordering the PPV because you
want to see Manny Pacquiao and a couple of good undercard fights then you
should be fine. Pacquiao is always fun to watch, and there is a good
chance that he will KO Solis, whose style is tailor made for Pacman with
his going forward style.
The undercard is solid with two world title fights. Jorge Arce will
be taking on Christian Mijares in a grudge match. Like Pacquiao, Arce is
always exciting to watch, and this fight has more of a chance to be
close. In the other undercard Brian Viloria takes on Edgar Sosa for the
WBC flyweight strap. This has the chance of being a good fight,
especially if Viloria brings his A or B game. As I was saying, this is an
intriguing pay per view, just understand that the main event is basically
a showcase, tune-up fight.
Pacquiao will have a lot of options after this fight. Nearly
everyone wants to fight him, because he is the most exciting fighter in
the smaller weight classes right now. Plus, a fight with Pacman
guarantees good money because of his huge following amongst Filipino
boxing fans.
There have been talks of many
different possibilities for Pacquiao. Some of the names thrown around are
Edwin Valero, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera. All these
fights would be blockbusters for Pacquiao.
For you Pacman fans out there,
please don't worry, none of these mega fights will be jeopardized by
Saturday's fight. As for Manny, he deserves this, because he has taken so
many big, tough fights recently, he's allowed a tune up. But, don't be
fooled that's just what Saturday night will be for the Pacman, a tune up.
