MANNY AND OSCAR: IT’S JUST BUSINESS

As a purist, I was never previously in favor of a Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya fight, now scheduled officially for September 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. My reasons are quite simple–just take a look at the Tale of the Tape.

Oscar, 39-5 (30), is 5’10½” with a 73” reach. He turns 36 next February 4 and wants very much to become a billionaire. He has the pedigree, winning Olympic Gold in Madrid in 1992, and turned pro that November as “The Golden Boy” at 133 pounds.

Manny, 47-3-2 (35), is 5’6 ½” with a 67” reach. He turns 30 less than two weeks after the De La Hoya fight and, having fought in the lower weight classes throughout his career, will be paid possibly the equivalent of five or six normal paydays.

While the two sides have been quibbling over percentage points in recent negotiations, (Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach placed the final figure at 65-35), it should be remembered that Pacquiao will earn a substantial amount from Philippine television and other ancillary rights. All in all, Manny may walk away with $20-25 million.

Pacquiao fought his early fights in obscurity in the Philippines, turning pro in 1995 at 106 pounds. Manny just recently moved up to 135 in June to capture the WBC lightweight title from David Diaz.

Oscar has fought at as high as 160 pounds when he pushed the envelope, as he always has, to move to middleweight and unsuccessfully challenge Bernard Hopkins after winning a controversial squeaker over middleweight Felix Sturm for a title trinket.

So on the basis of size, strength, and one would presume, power, it appears as if Oscar was looking for a fight in which he couldn’t get hurt, and retire with a victory while reaping the financial dividends of fighting the sport’s pound for pound best fighter and arguably second in popularity to his own.

Just moving to 147 alone is pushing things too far for Pacquiao in my thinking. I can see a Paul Williams at 6’2” work his body into a middleweight to face Kelly Pavlik, but our Manny is 5’6 ½ ” and doesn’t have a welterweight body.

His only true physical advantages would be speed, stamina, and the fact that he is a southpaw. Speed kills, this is true, but my questions center on how reasonable it is to expect Pacquiao to carry his punch to 147, and just how well he will absorb the harder shots of the naturally bigger man.

In my way of thinking, Oscar has never previously ducked anyone but in passing up the likes of Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams to take on a significantly smaller man tarnishes his legacy. Further, as Goliath to Pacquiao’s David he might find himself cast as the villain, an unheard of position for a fighter of his immense popularity. That’s not what he would want in his farewell fight.

That’s assuming that it remains his farewell. Oscar has been dancing around that question of late, seemingly leaving the possibility open.

Surprisingly, it’s Pacquiao who has spoken of retirement. Apparently his mother Dionisia and other relatives have expressed a desire for his to end his career. In an interview, Manny said that he wanted two more fights after Oscar.

Realistically, he’ll need more time than normal after the De La Hoya fight to safely reduce the weight gained for that bout before entering the ring again. It seems that in boxing it can be easier to move up than to come back down. Ask Roy Jones Jr. or Antonio Tarver.

Despite all the negatives, it’s obvious that this is the fight that the fans wanted, aside from those writing me threatening a boycott of the fight. It’s the biggest possible revenue producer for all concerned.

So at the end of the day who really cares what I think? For that matter, who has the energy to fight it? So, as far as I’m concerned, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

From a business standpoint, this fight is going to make some bottom lines healthier and make some executives look better than they might have appeared otherwise. HBO, for example, is a big beneficiary. After a somewhat lackluster year thus far, and with what appears to be a substandard fall schedule, Oscar and Manny will make it all better and they will be able to close out their year in a blaze of glory.

Pacquiao-De La Hoya, no matter your point of view, is still a better attraction than a second fight with Oscar and Floyd Mayweather Jr., and given that you have boxing’s pound for pound best and this generation’s most popular fighter on the marquee, it may well rival the astronomical numbers of De La Hoya-Mayweather I.

That could never happen with either Margarito or Williams.

So, it’s a business for everybody, even for 15 Rounds.com, that TMZ look alike. The truth is that our traffic soars every time we write anything at all about Manny Pacquiao. More traffic means more advertising, and more revenue. Who knows, even the writers may benefit.

Now for over two months, we have a green light to write about Manny as much as we like. After all, he’s fighting Oscar! Ka-ching!

According to the most recent demographics available from Quantcast.com, a site that offers the most complete audience profiles on the net, 33% of our visitors are Asian, 30% Caucasian, and 26% Hispanic.

Actually, I’m embarrassed to report that only 5% of out visitors are African-American. I have no idea why. Send me your thoughts, please.

Still, with 89% of our demographic likely to have some interest in what we have to offer for the rest of the year, you would think that we should benefit. But you never know about demographics. Ours say that 50% of our readers are college educated, with 10% having been to grad school.

Yet 69% of our readers earn $60,000 or less annually. Maybe they should spend less time on the internet.

I’m still sticking with my pick of Oscar for all of the reasons that we previously covered. But I have a feeling that by December I might be in the minority. The opening betting line was a mere 8-5 in favor of the “Golden Boy.”

Many knowledgeable boxing people see Manny as more than just a very live dog, including ESPN’s Teddy Atlas, who picked Pacquiao to win, saying that he would box circles around Oscar. And Atlas is one of the more perceptive minds in the sport.

Atlas said, “Oscar’s lost all of his big fights and people still buy him. I don’t get it.”

Oscar has lost all of his big fights–Trinidad, Mosley (twice), Hopkins, and Mayweather. The questions I pose is if a victory over such a smaller opponent qualifies him for redemption, and what will a loss mean to his legacy?

Send your comments and questions to mswann4@aol.com.