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-Photo Credit: C Bennett/Goossen Promotions-
I t
seems like it took four months of misery to get to a relevant
month of boxing; it also cost Shannon Briggs some of his
long-term health. Once here, with a loaded November of boxing,
the well- oiled machine that are Top Rank and HBO seem to be
doing a good job of telling you that there’s only one fight
that matters. "Mr. Everywhere" Manny Pacquiao is doing a great
job of living up to his name; from crooning with Will Farrell
to stumping for Harry Reid in Las Vegas. 24/7 is selling the "Manny is
distracted angle" in perfect harmony with the "man in search of
redemption" narrative we all love. So how did that whole thing
work out for Margarito? Glenn Johnson beat "excuse machine" Greene in the Super Six and
"JuanMa" proved too much for
Rafael Marquez. Meanwhile, quietly, Sergio Martinez and Paul
Williams prepared to fight one another again.
Again; while most
elite fighters take years to come to terms and years to
rematch, the two kingpins from 154-160 lbs are doing it again.
And while some of you actually believe they are fighting for a
share of the middleweight title; the stakes are so much bigger
than that.
They first engaged one another in December of 2009 due to
Kelly Pavlik's staph infection; most fighters in Williams’s
position would have passed citing "totally different fighter.
"We
would have shrugged and said "well, he’s got a point. "Williams, with two weeks to prepare, dove right into the shifty
Martinez’s path and produced the fight of the year. They
fought like the men they were; dangerous, much avoided and
hungry for recognition. Williams won a close "toss up fight" but ended up losing the war as Martinez went on to vanquish
Pavlik in a bout that needs no repeating. Meanwhile we watch
with baited breath and argued about what celebrities like
Pacquiao and Mayweather "should" be doing. This Saturday night
is the dream of inner idealists when we can witness what
Martinez and Williams "are" doing.
Fighting the most dangerous opposition
I love the NFL like most, but I also love it as a model when it
comes to fan interaction and the flowing of information. The
NFL may mean National Football League but to me it also means
"not for long. "It is a sport of right now, immediacy is king;
"any given Sunday" is a part of the allure. Trying to sort out
who is supreme in boxing, especially when men (of similar
size) have different promoters or agendas is the most
frustrating fan experience in sports. The NFL, (also violent)
but with a strong infrastructure guarantees its consumers
there will be competition at the highest level and the
gladiator who is superior will be determined. Martinez, a late
bloomer, and Williams, a match up nightmare at 6’2", are victims
of not only the business but our (so-called) power rankings.
We rate pound for pound supremacy based on career
accomplishments which should be the job of the guys in
Canastota. When Tom Brady steps on the field this Sunday guess
who he is? Somebody that better win today or he’ll be
nobody for 7 days. A player/team has 16 opportunities through
the season to show the viewers who they are and they can't pick
and choose against whom. Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez in
my opinion are 1. And 1A pound for pound in my rankings, like
a sane and sober sports fan I’m adopting the "what have you
done for me lately?" metric system of the NFL. I also adopt
the theory that the fight we may never see is between a
guy who walks around at 150 lbs, and a guy who weighed in at
144 lbs. and broke Antonio Margarito’s orbital bone. Neither
will even mention Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez! So both
of them will have to settle for #3 and 4 on my list.
Fight, or step aside.
The loser of Saturday's fight will have to settle for... (drum
roll)… the best fighter in the world at 154 lbs. I say this
because both men have proven that no one at that weight can
beat them either. Bob Arum won't let the loser anywhere near
Miguel Cotto. Manny Pacquiao admitted Margarito was a tough
fight, and he dominated the guy. When asked about Williams, he
said no so fast the assembled media laughed. So, let me get
this straight, we rate these men the best of the best and they
can show a blatant unwillingness to fight men who could pose a
stylistic disadvantage to them? And we laugh? Is that funny to
the two men who are deserving of the right to prove they are
the best? Should we call Saturday's fight "battle of the two
men who will never get a chance?
At Some Point when do we factor in "willingness to do battle”?
My mama used to tell me: "Boy, it ain't if you win or lose.
People don’t mess with someone who is willing to get it
on."
The few men listed above, Williams and Martinez are elite,
but all of them are at a stage where they are either inactive
or they dictate who they take on. If Pacquiao can say Yuri
Foreman is too big and then take on a stable mate that Arum is
trying to revitalize to a valuable Mexican "audience," anything
can happen. Had Margarito won, he would've cut off a leg to stay
away from Martinez (who says he can’t make 150) and suddenly
found it unimportant to avenge his loss to Williams. Yet, you
best believe the winner of Williams vs. Martinez will be
looking for Pacquiao and with good reason. We, as fans, may not
know all the inner workings but I warn that you shouldn’t, I
don’t like being "fantasy fight manager" because the pay is
terrible. Williams and Martinez for several years have taken
on the best, beat them and then called out the next best- why
should we dishonor them by rating them behind people who
aren’t even willing to talk about fighting them?
HBO should see this rivalry as an opportunity to rid
themselves of the reluctant celebrities and not so hungry
lions like Angulo and Berto. Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams
should be pushed at the big names (Mayweather, Pacquiao, and
Cotto) and the so-called young guns with impunity as a new
"cost of doing business." Oscar and Manny are outliers, and
HBO should stop trying to recreate something that occurs a
couple of times a generation.
The gateway to acceptance in the
mainstream is promoting and rewarding fighting attitudes, like
Williams and Martinez. Make it a point this Saturday after the
replay of Pacquiao’s destruction of Margarito to point out to
the viewer that the two gentlemen you are about to see are
on that level. Let the guy channel surfing know that not
only are both men willing to fight Manny and Floyd, they are
deserving and capable of beating them both. If they don’t say
it, those who don’t know will keep asking that stupid question
real boxing fans are sick of. I’ll be tuning in because it
will be one of the rare Saturdays boxing "feels" like a MAJOR
sport, you know; elite athletes taking chances. I’ll also be
tuning in because the winner will be my pound for pound #1
fighter in the world, something Mayweather and Pacquiao have
no intention of disputing in the ring.
11-17-2010
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