by Diana Moskovitz
Deadspin
The many failings of Floyd Mayweather to follow the basic rules on how to be a good human being are well documented. He’s a serial woman beater who once evicted his father and pleaded no contest to threatening his children. His odiousness speaks for itself. But his competitor, Manny Pacquiao, is busy (via his handlers) doing his best to paint himself as a good guy, the man who will get revenge for all the wrong Floyd has wrought on the world. Good vs. evil is an easy sell of a narrative, and sportswriters have been quick to buy it as fact. But it’s insultingly shallow, and requires conveniently forgetting that Pacquiao is a shithead too.
Like Mayweather, Pacquiao’s dirty history is a mixture of personal failures amplified by the power that comes with wealth and celebrity. He has spoken out against gay marriage, insisting he has gay relatives but still opposes same-sex marriage because, “It’s the law of God,” was a mostly absent congressman in his home country last year, and didn’t step in when a basketball player in the Philippines was fired for stating the obvious—that the 5-foot-7 Pacquiao’s basketball career was a stunt and a joke. His concerns about the laws of God apparently didn’t conflict with allegedly mauling a fellow politician or cheating on his wife. The Phillippine government says he owes tens of millions in back taxes. And should you try to take comfort in thinking that perhaps Pacquiao at least respects women more than Mayweather does, remember that he fought against legislation in the Philippines that would mandate sex education, subsidize contraception, and expand family-planning offerings. And he is not just some random celebrity with a platform; he’s a politician who actively affects policy. That’s objectively more harmful than the usual powerless bigot-athlete.
Freddie Roach wants you to forget all that. Given his man’s cut of the PPV pot, he’s literally banking on it.
The longtime trainer fed mindlessly scribbling reporters their talking points, and they’ve dutifully repeated them. USA Today is just one example, in a piece under the all-knowing headline.
“Pacquiao fueled by Mayweather’s domestic abuse.”
“Manny is really against domestic violence,” Roach said. “It is a big issue maybe in the Philippines for him and being a congressman he can control some of that stuff. That is a big plus for me that Manny does not like the guy, I think the killer instinct is going to come back a lot faster.” ...
“(I see the fight as) good against evil, yes. I have even thought about bringing a couple of the metro cops from Vegas in to tell Manny how many times (Mayweather) has been arrested and how bad of a guy he is, but I decided I can’t go that far. He already doesn’t like him; I think we are OK.
The article doesn’t say what, if anything, Pacquiao has done or might do back in the Philippines to prevent domestic violence. Hell, it doesn’t even quote Pacquiao himself. This is pure, cynical salesmanship from Roach, who worked with post-prison Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist whose victim testified that the boxer laughed about the assault while she cried.
Then there’s Rolling Stone, which portrays Roach utilizing Mayweather’s badness as a training tool:
But with Mayweather, Roach can work Manny’s natural antipathy: He’s a bad guy, he’ll whisper into Pacquiao’s ear sometimes. He’s bad for boxing. You’ll be doing a courtesy to the world if you knock him out.
“He knows he’s a bad person,” Roach says.
At least reporter Michael Weinreb actually asked Pacquiao about his feelings toward Mayweather, though he got an answer oblique to Roach’s straightforward trope-usage. “Usually I don’t comment on his personal life,” Pacquiao tells Weinreb. Perhaps that’s true; it’s also a convenient way of outsourcing the media manipulation while keeping his hands clean.
Even older than leaving the hype to the hype men is the urge to package a fight in biblical terms, good vs. evil, the bad boy vs. the avenging angel, the evil woman-beater versus the defender of all. To see exactly how much stock to put into these roles, recall Mayweather’s 2001 bout with Diego Corrales, who had been charged with assaulting his pregnant wife. Leading up to the fight, Mayweather declared he would beat Corrales for “every battered woman in the world.” Mayweather won and went on to be arrested multiple times on charges that he violently battered the women in his life. Virtue is fungible.
Which leaves us here, three weeks from the biggest fight of the young century. There are plenty of reasons, based purely on what’s likely to happen inside the ring, to avoid the fight. But sports is never just about the act itself. It’s about the the storylines, the unknown, the unexpected, the sides we choose, and what those choices say about us. We do define ourselves by the team or the athlete we back. And in this case, we have no comfortable choices.
Sure this all can be categorized and analyzed until the lesser evil is identified to our satisfaction. What’s worse, beating up women or trying to make it harder for millions of them to get birth control? Do you mind less the absent politician or the abusive father? Which is easier to tolerate, a man who leveraged his fame and fortune for favors across the Philippines or a man who leveraged his fame and fortune for favors across the United States? Athletes are human; they exist on the same ethical continuum as the rest of us, stretching from saints to sinners with a long, murky middle where most reside. It should be enough to sell this fight that Mayweather and Pacquiao are the two best boxers of their generation. But don’t let the appeal to morality confuse you: that’s all they’re good for.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
RollingStone: Inside Manny Pacquiao's Fight Club
Last month, Rolling Stone sent author Michael Weinreb to Los Angeles, to spend a day with boxer Manny Pacquiao as he trained for his May 2 fight with Floyd Mayweather. Turns out, the sparring and speed-bag work was only part of the story – the constant circus that follows his every move was impossible to ignore (Pacquiao is arguably the most famous fighter in the world, after all).
"There is the inner circle, there is the outer circle and there are the ever-widening concentric circles of hangers-on who drift about the periphery like a distant star hovering around the sun," Weinreb writes of the scene at Wild Card.
"There are the members of the Filipino media who show up every day, and there are the members of the American media who show up in fits and starts, and there are the HBO executives, and there is the promoter and there is the camera crew the promoter hired to document everything. There is the security detail and there are the pressmen and the managers and the canines and the trainers and the celebrities, because it would not be a Pacquiao camp without the celebrities."
It also would not be a Pacquiao camp without lunch at his favorite Thai restaurant, Nat's, a few jokes from entourage members Buboy and Nonoy or trainer Freddie Roach filling the swear jar he's set up at ringside ($5 per profanity, by the way). Through it all, photographer Leslie dela Vega snapped away, and here's her photo diary of the day with the Pride of the Philippines.
Continue reading HERE
"There is the inner circle, there is the outer circle and there are the ever-widening concentric circles of hangers-on who drift about the periphery like a distant star hovering around the sun," Weinreb writes of the scene at Wild Card.
"There are the members of the Filipino media who show up every day, and there are the members of the American media who show up in fits and starts, and there are the HBO executives, and there is the promoter and there is the camera crew the promoter hired to document everything. There is the security detail and there are the pressmen and the managers and the canines and the trainers and the celebrities, because it would not be a Pacquiao camp without the celebrities."
It also would not be a Pacquiao camp without lunch at his favorite Thai restaurant, Nat's, a few jokes from entourage members Buboy and Nonoy or trainer Freddie Roach filling the swear jar he's set up at ringside ($5 per profanity, by the way). Through it all, photographer Leslie dela Vega snapped away, and here's her photo diary of the day with the Pride of the Philippines.
Continue reading HERE
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Friday, December 7, 2012
LA Times: Juan Manuel Marquez out to rewrite legacy in fourth Pacquiao fight
In three fights against Manny Pacquiao, Marquez has lost two close
decisions and fought to a draw with the Filipino boxer. He has worked
hard and bulked up for their fourth bout Saturday in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao will smile his way to the ring Saturday night. His opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, will glare.
Pacquiao will try to beat his Mexican rival for the third time in four fights by again throwing caution to the wind with flurries of punches.
Marquez will again be more calculating. Convinced he's the smarter of the two in the ring, he has strengthened his body as never before at age 39, hell-bent to impose his will and finally have his hand raised in victory against Pacquiao after suffering two agonizingly close decision losses and a draw.
"This fight is more important than the last three," Marquez said of Saturday's non-title welterweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "Because it's for my legacy. The honor. The pride.
"For everything," Marquez said.
In this rivalry, those words are as fiercely serious as the hard stare Marquez delivers.
Remember, in 2004, Marquez was knocked down by Pacquiao three times in the first round, scraped himself up each time and rallied to win nearly every other round to gain a draw.
Their 2008 battle was incredibly narrow, Pacquiao winning a split decision because of an early knockdown. And their November 2011 classic was met by a roar of boos when Pacquiao was declared the winner by majority decision.
Marquez insisted this week that his career will not be defined by the Pacquiao fights.
Who's he kidding?
Sports history is loaded with greats best remembered for losing to their foil, or falling short of clutching the brass ring.
Joe Frazier lost two of his three fights with Muhammad Ali. The Lakers' Jerry West was a tragic hero when his team lost six NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics' dynasty in the 1960s. Charles Barkley, Dan Marino and Barry Bonds are others who come to mind.
Is the die cast for Marquez? Or can he alter the story?
Marquez undoubtedly has turned over every stone to search for the way to finally defeat Pacquiao, which explains his controversial union with strength and conditioning coach Angel "Memo" Heredia.
Earlier in his career, Heredia was a steroid supplier to track stars Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, then became a government informant in the prosecution's case against track coach Trevor Graham.
Marquez and Heredia say that the boxer's new muscular build came about naturally in training. Heredia called Marquez "Hulk" at Wednesday's news conference.
"Anyone who wants to test me, I invite him to have spent the last four months with me, to have got up at 4 a.m. with me every day, do the eight hours of work, and then tell me whether I'm doing this naturally or not," Marquez said.
Marquez's weightlifting regimen in Mexico City and his conditioning in the mountains, at 14,000 feet above sea level, have brought him to peak shape before his fourth bout against Pacquiao, said Marquez's veteran trainer, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain.
Marquez can't wait to unload his mighty left uppercut on Pacquiao, Heredia said.
"Pacquiao is a guy who's as difficult to knock down as a tree trunk," Heredia said. "Last fight, Juan hit him so hard he fell back a meter. We want to hit him again like that and see what happens.
"And Pacquiao hits hard, with those snappy and strong punches. There's solid strength and speed strength, and we have both now."
Beristain added, "My fighter's a lot smarter than Pacquiao, and a superior technical fighter."
The betting public anticipates another close brawl. Last year, Pacquiao was an 8-to-1 favorite at Las Vegas sports books. On Thursday, MGM Resorts listed Pacquiao at less than a 3-to-1 favorite.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, doesn't expect Marquez to change, not after 61 pro fights: "He's a counterpuncher through and through. I wish he'd be more aggressive like he's saying. I don't think it'll happen," Roach said.
"We'll remain the aggressor, and aggressors, as we've shown, win close rounds. I want Manny fighting all three minutes of every round. With more action, there'll be no question who the better man is."
Fueled by disappointment that has amplified with each Pacquiao fight — Marquez believes he won all three — the Mexican fighter said he converted his rage into his preparations for this fight.
"My highest motivation is wanting to have my hand raised," Marquez said. "I don't want to live with people telling me, 'We thought you won.' I want to really know I won."
Pacquiao said a major reason he wanted a fourth Marquez fight is to quiet his adversary, once and for all, to settle how each fighter will be remembered.
"He doesn't respect the decisions of the judges, so he needs to prove something Saturday," Pacquiao said. "But we expect to be more aggressive than ever, and I'm better prepared for the battle when it happens. I'm faster than him.
"It's not about the size. It's about the speed."
Right now, that's the epitaph. Marquez has one last chance to pound in new words.
LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao will smile his way to the ring Saturday night. His opponent, Juan Manuel Marquez, will glare.
Pacquiao will try to beat his Mexican rival for the third time in four fights by again throwing caution to the wind with flurries of punches.
Marquez will again be more calculating. Convinced he's the smarter of the two in the ring, he has strengthened his body as never before at age 39, hell-bent to impose his will and finally have his hand raised in victory against Pacquiao after suffering two agonizingly close decision losses and a draw.
"This fight is more important than the last three," Marquez said of Saturday's non-title welterweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "Because it's for my legacy. The honor. The pride.
"For everything," Marquez said.
In this rivalry, those words are as fiercely serious as the hard stare Marquez delivers.
Remember, in 2004, Marquez was knocked down by Pacquiao three times in the first round, scraped himself up each time and rallied to win nearly every other round to gain a draw.
Their 2008 battle was incredibly narrow, Pacquiao winning a split decision because of an early knockdown. And their November 2011 classic was met by a roar of boos when Pacquiao was declared the winner by majority decision.
Marquez insisted this week that his career will not be defined by the Pacquiao fights.
Who's he kidding?
Sports history is loaded with greats best remembered for losing to their foil, or falling short of clutching the brass ring.
Joe Frazier lost two of his three fights with Muhammad Ali. The Lakers' Jerry West was a tragic hero when his team lost six NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics' dynasty in the 1960s. Charles Barkley, Dan Marino and Barry Bonds are others who come to mind.
Is the die cast for Marquez? Or can he alter the story?
Marquez undoubtedly has turned over every stone to search for the way to finally defeat Pacquiao, which explains his controversial union with strength and conditioning coach Angel "Memo" Heredia.
Earlier in his career, Heredia was a steroid supplier to track stars Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, then became a government informant in the prosecution's case against track coach Trevor Graham.
Marquez and Heredia say that the boxer's new muscular build came about naturally in training. Heredia called Marquez "Hulk" at Wednesday's news conference.
"Anyone who wants to test me, I invite him to have spent the last four months with me, to have got up at 4 a.m. with me every day, do the eight hours of work, and then tell me whether I'm doing this naturally or not," Marquez said.
Marquez's weightlifting regimen in Mexico City and his conditioning in the mountains, at 14,000 feet above sea level, have brought him to peak shape before his fourth bout against Pacquiao, said Marquez's veteran trainer, Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain.
Marquez can't wait to unload his mighty left uppercut on Pacquiao, Heredia said.
"Pacquiao is a guy who's as difficult to knock down as a tree trunk," Heredia said. "Last fight, Juan hit him so hard he fell back a meter. We want to hit him again like that and see what happens.
"And Pacquiao hits hard, with those snappy and strong punches. There's solid strength and speed strength, and we have both now."
Beristain added, "My fighter's a lot smarter than Pacquiao, and a superior technical fighter."
The betting public anticipates another close brawl. Last year, Pacquiao was an 8-to-1 favorite at Las Vegas sports books. On Thursday, MGM Resorts listed Pacquiao at less than a 3-to-1 favorite.
Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, doesn't expect Marquez to change, not after 61 pro fights: "He's a counterpuncher through and through. I wish he'd be more aggressive like he's saying. I don't think it'll happen," Roach said.
"We'll remain the aggressor, and aggressors, as we've shown, win close rounds. I want Manny fighting all three minutes of every round. With more action, there'll be no question who the better man is."
Fueled by disappointment that has amplified with each Pacquiao fight — Marquez believes he won all three — the Mexican fighter said he converted his rage into his preparations for this fight.
"My highest motivation is wanting to have my hand raised," Marquez said. "I don't want to live with people telling me, 'We thought you won.' I want to really know I won."
Pacquiao said a major reason he wanted a fourth Marquez fight is to quiet his adversary, once and for all, to settle how each fighter will be remembered.
"He doesn't respect the decisions of the judges, so he needs to prove something Saturday," Pacquiao said. "But we expect to be more aggressive than ever, and I'm better prepared for the battle when it happens. I'm faster than him.
"It's not about the size. It's about the speed."
Right now, that's the epitaph. Marquez has one last chance to pound in new words.
Sports on Earth: WE MEET AGAIN
By Chuck Culpepper
LAS VEGAS -- One afternoon in the northern Philippines in March 2011, in the Baguio hotel that contains a boxing ring -- talk about amenities! -- Manny Pacquiao didn't come downstairs to train. Nobody fretted. Nobody blustered. Trainer Freddie Roach waited on a bench by a wall with a pulse rate that did not even hint at quickening. For one thing, he knew that Pacquiao's age begins with a "3" and mandates the occasional unexpected rest. For another, those training weeks qualified as excellent all told, and Pacquiao looked dazzling, far better than needed to dispatch the feckless Shane Mosley.
For another, you just can't expect kings to focus relentlessly, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant being exceptional.
And so a hushed afternoon brought a sportswriter's dream, a chance to bring along two ears and hear Freddie Roach. It gets no better.
Amid this anecdote nirvana, Roach enthused about his "best vacation ever," two weeks off to appear as a witness in a civil case involving Pacquiao and a former promoter. (Roach adored the whole process, the verbal sparring with lawyers.) He told of traveling the world to train the actor Mickey Rourke, and of the lunch the day after the 2009 Academy Awards of Rourke's nomination for "The Wrestler" and Sean Penn's win for "Milk." (Some of Rourke's friends teased him that he could have won if only he had played a gay wrestler.)
He told of following Pacquiao to a cathedral in either London or Paris -- it's hilarious that he couldn't remember which -- and how, while Pacquiao prayed, some Filipino fans spotted Roach off to the side, whereupon they came over to pose for photos, whereupon a priest approached Roach and told him to put away his camera, whereupon Roach replied with a profane adjective that he had not brought any camera, whereupon the priest threw Roach out of the cathedral. (Among the amusements of this motley trans-Pacific arrangement is the combo of a non-religious trainer with a boxer who has the practice gym hush for a minute before training so he can pray.)
You hear so much caution in sports-speak that boxing's bracing breeze of candor can exhilarate.
So Roach told of how Pacquiao once didn't speak to him for two days because Roach wouldn't divulge the snitch when the trainer learned Pacquiao had been out late, how nobody likes to wake Pacquiao from naps for the grumpiness, how Roach does not condone Pacquiao's daily pickup basketball but Pacquiao defiantly plays on until near-midnight of the last possible day, and how he considered the eight-division champion a man of such unusual kindness and generosity that Roach's worries include that eventually Pacquiao will give away everything.
So when you get to Pacquiao's fourth bout with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night, after three previous cliffhangers from which the judges gave two wins and one draw to Pacquiao, and when you see that Pacquiao's age is about hit 34, and you know that he's in the Philippine Congress, and you wonder about his last two blasé bouts (including the questionable win over Marquez 13 months ago and the very questionable loss to Timothy Bradley in June), and you vaguely mourn at the slow ebb of one of the most remarkable sports stories ever, Roach reassures.
When Roach reassures, you do listen.
"He's on fire," he said.
"The best Manny Pacquiao I've seen in a long time," he said.
"I think you're going to see the best Manny Pacquiao yet," he said.
"His focus is a lot better," he said.
There have been "four knockdowns in this training camp," a record, he said.
If you ask Roach where we stand on the long Pacquiao story arc, you get this: "This one arc goes way up now, and I think the last couple of fights, he was just going through the motions. This one brought back the fire in Manny Pacquiao. I know he needs that to win this fight and he's given me everything that I've asked for."
Pacquiao: "My focus is to fight hard."
Promoter Bob Arum, turning a sterling 81 on Saturday: "Really tremendously focused, the whole training session."
At the press conference, there's much talk about not going 12 rounds, about neither man leaving it to the judges, whom Marquez thinks have slighted him against Pacquiao and Pacquiao thinks slighted him against Bradley.
Thereby does a match that had the potential for dreariness -- Really? A fourth time? -- amass intrigue by the bucketful.
The poverty in the Philippines can burn its way into memory in a single Saturday stroll. People lie conked-out on Manila sidewalks. Children with grimy shins sell food on boulevard dividers. To think that one of those children grew up in the extreme south on dirt floors under holy roofs … then stowed away on a boat to Manila at 15 … then trained and hung out behind kitchen doors awaiting leftover food from restaurant managers … and went to cinemas with a friend just to look at the movie posters outside while trying to picture the images moving ... and sold food just like these kids now … then showed up at 22 as an Asia flyweight champion with a promoter in Roach's Los Angeles gym one day in June 2001, speaking no English … then had Roach "catch" him to reveal a phenomenal snap on the punches that the trainer found almost bewilderingly peerless … then became Manny Pacquiao, well …
I do get all biased.
I do want that story to keep going.
LAS VEGAS -- One afternoon in the northern Philippines in March 2011, in the Baguio hotel that contains a boxing ring -- talk about amenities! -- Manny Pacquiao didn't come downstairs to train. Nobody fretted. Nobody blustered. Trainer Freddie Roach waited on a bench by a wall with a pulse rate that did not even hint at quickening. For one thing, he knew that Pacquiao's age begins with a "3" and mandates the occasional unexpected rest. For another, those training weeks qualified as excellent all told, and Pacquiao looked dazzling, far better than needed to dispatch the feckless Shane Mosley.
And so a hushed afternoon brought a sportswriter's dream, a chance to bring along two ears and hear Freddie Roach. It gets no better.
Amid this anecdote nirvana, Roach enthused about his "best vacation ever," two weeks off to appear as a witness in a civil case involving Pacquiao and a former promoter. (Roach adored the whole process, the verbal sparring with lawyers.) He told of traveling the world to train the actor Mickey Rourke, and of the lunch the day after the 2009 Academy Awards of Rourke's nomination for "The Wrestler" and Sean Penn's win for "Milk." (Some of Rourke's friends teased him that he could have won if only he had played a gay wrestler.)
He told of following Pacquiao to a cathedral in either London or Paris -- it's hilarious that he couldn't remember which -- and how, while Pacquiao prayed, some Filipino fans spotted Roach off to the side, whereupon they came over to pose for photos, whereupon a priest approached Roach and told him to put away his camera, whereupon Roach replied with a profane adjective that he had not brought any camera, whereupon the priest threw Roach out of the cathedral. (Among the amusements of this motley trans-Pacific arrangement is the combo of a non-religious trainer with a boxer who has the practice gym hush for a minute before training so he can pray.)
You hear so much caution in sports-speak that boxing's bracing breeze of candor can exhilarate.
So Roach told of how Pacquiao once didn't speak to him for two days because Roach wouldn't divulge the snitch when the trainer learned Pacquiao had been out late, how nobody likes to wake Pacquiao from naps for the grumpiness, how Roach does not condone Pacquiao's daily pickup basketball but Pacquiao defiantly plays on until near-midnight of the last possible day, and how he considered the eight-division champion a man of such unusual kindness and generosity that Roach's worries include that eventually Pacquiao will give away everything.
So when you get to Pacquiao's fourth bout with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night, after three previous cliffhangers from which the judges gave two wins and one draw to Pacquiao, and when you see that Pacquiao's age is about hit 34, and you know that he's in the Philippine Congress, and you wonder about his last two blasé bouts (including the questionable win over Marquez 13 months ago and the very questionable loss to Timothy Bradley in June), and you vaguely mourn at the slow ebb of one of the most remarkable sports stories ever, Roach reassures.
When Roach reassures, you do listen.
"He's on fire," he said.
"The best Manny Pacquiao I've seen in a long time," he said.
"I think you're going to see the best Manny Pacquiao yet," he said.
"His focus is a lot better," he said.
There have been "four knockdowns in this training camp," a record, he said.
If you ask Roach where we stand on the long Pacquiao story arc, you get this: "This one arc goes way up now, and I think the last couple of fights, he was just going through the motions. This one brought back the fire in Manny Pacquiao. I know he needs that to win this fight and he's given me everything that I've asked for."
Pacquiao: "My focus is to fight hard."
Promoter Bob Arum, turning a sterling 81 on Saturday: "Really tremendously focused, the whole training session."
At the press conference, there's much talk about not going 12 rounds, about neither man leaving it to the judges, whom Marquez thinks have slighted him against Pacquiao and Pacquiao thinks slighted him against Bradley.
Thereby does a match that had the potential for dreariness -- Really? A fourth time? -- amass intrigue by the bucketful.
The poverty in the Philippines can burn its way into memory in a single Saturday stroll. People lie conked-out on Manila sidewalks. Children with grimy shins sell food on boulevard dividers. To think that one of those children grew up in the extreme south on dirt floors under holy roofs … then stowed away on a boat to Manila at 15 … then trained and hung out behind kitchen doors awaiting leftover food from restaurant managers … and went to cinemas with a friend just to look at the movie posters outside while trying to picture the images moving ... and sold food just like these kids now … then showed up at 22 as an Asia flyweight champion with a promoter in Roach's Los Angeles gym one day in June 2001, speaking no English … then had Roach "catch" him to reveal a phenomenal snap on the punches that the trainer found almost bewilderingly peerless … then became Manny Pacquiao, well …
I do get all biased.
I do want that story to keep going.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
"Charles & Reggie: Toe to Toe with Manny Pacquiao" explodes on TNT tonight
We all know that Manny Pacquiao loves basketball and is a big fan of the NBA. It is well-known that on numerous occassions, he would defy his trainer Freddie Roach's order not to play the game during training just so he can play pick-up basketball with his friends.
But if there is any doubt left about the Filipino boxing superstar's passion for the game, we only need to remember his fight with Timothy Bradley last June wherein Top Rank head honcho Bob Arum decided to delay the start of the main event so that Pacquiao could watch Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat.
We also know that NBA Legends and Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller are big boxing aficionados. They are also regular fixtures at big time fights in Las Vegas. And NBA fans have seen Charles Barkley figured in a scuffle with fellow TNT analyst Shaquille O'Neal eons ago during one of their games, but if we are talking about Sir Charles' boxing skills, that's another story.
On numerous occasions, both Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller have been very vocal about their love of prizefighting as well as professing their admiration for Manny Pacquiao during their coverage of NBA games on TNT.
And in last week's Thursday night telecast of the Miami-San Antonio game, Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller spoke about their experience working out with Manny Pacquiao.
Charles Barkley: “We spent a day with Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach, and let me tell you something — one of the great days of my life. “
"I don’t wanna brag, but there’s no doubt in my mind I could knock Manny Pacquiao out."
To which, Reggie Miller disagreed, “No, you can’t. Manny (Pacquiao) call me, let’s set this up.”
Now, there is no doubt that Reggie Miller is one of the best shooters to ever play in the NBA. Yes, there is no doubt that Charles Barkley is one of the best talkers, if not the best bruisers to ever play in the NBA. And there is no doubt that Manny Pacquiao is one of the best boxers to ever display his wares in the ring. Aside from their common love for Boxing and Basketball, all three are funny and hilarious in their own special way.
Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller gave us a hint of what we should expect from the 30-minute TNT special wherein they went toe-to-toe with Manny Pacquiao.
"As a boxing fan, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done," Barkley said.
"As a professional athlete, it's always interesting to hear how other elite athletes prepare themselves for competition. Training with Manny was an experience I'll never forget," added Miller.
It will be interesting to see how Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and Manny Pacquiao talk shop, interact, and literally and figuratively throw jabs at each other -- a welcome respite from all the monotony and serious talk about the fourth fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, subjective odds, analysis and all, being peddled to every boxing fan by boxing scribes during fight week.
Let us keep our fingers crossed and hope that the well-advertised TNT special will not only be explosive but a knockout; Laugh-wise, that is.
Tonight, TNT will air "Charles & Reggie: Toe to Toe with Manny Pacquiao" after the NBA double-header between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks at 8 p.m. ET, with the Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns following at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Note: This article was previously posted on Detroit Fight Sports Examiner
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