Pacquiao-Mayweather 2 won’t rewrite history

By Norm Frauenheim

Only boxing is killing boxing. It’s an old line, yet

relevant as ever this week with news of talk about a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao rematch.

It’s been a decade since the first one, which has been hard to forget for all the wrong reasons. It was a dud, memorable only for all the money that was made. Pacquiao got rich. Mayweather got richer. Everybody else got robbed.

Many in a record pay-per-view audience of 4.6 million for the May 2015 fight grumbled at what they paid for and walked away, never to pay again.

For ten long years, the business has worked through futility and frustration, attempting to bring back old fans while trying to create a few new ones. The jury is out. So are the fans.

Yet, younger faces and new money, Saudi money, are creating newfound possibilities.

The business is also coming off a notable triumph in Terence Crawford’s scorecard upset of Canelo Alvarez in mid-September in front of a crowd of more than 70,000 at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium and a reported audience of more than 42 million on Netflix.

The numbers add up to a reason for cautious optimism, emphasis on the caution. Crawford’s masterful performance reminded an eroding and increasingly exasperated fan base of why boxing was once called The Sweet Science.

It still can be.

But Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 might make a returning crowd wary of getting fooled all over again. Caveat emptor is attached to any prizefighting venture, of course. But Mayweather-Pacquiao almost stands alone for what went wrong and what not to do all over again.

It’s no surprise that Pacquiao and Mayweather would want to, of course. Another chance at even a fraction of the money earned a decade ago is motivation enough to try once more. Pacquiao confirmed there have been negotiations.

“Right now, we have a lot of negotiations about my next fight; there’s a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather,” Pacquiao said Wednesday during a news conference in Manila. “…”I’d love to have another fight, a rematch with Floyd Mayweather.”

Of course, he would.

However, there was no immediate confirmation from Mayweather, who reportedly has an agreement for an exhibition with Mike Tyson, also next year.

Pacquiao, however, made it sound as if a rematch — perhaps next spring — would be a genuine bout, one for the books.

“A real fight,” he said.

That, of course, would be a risk to Mayweather’s unbeaten, 50-0 record, a cornerstone to his claim on being the best ever. Unbeaten might be an issue, a legacy Mayweather does not want to jeopardize  

Pacquiao is 46 and coming off an entertaining draw with Mario Barrios in a July comeback. Against Barrios, he proved he can still fight. But for how much longer? The former Filipino Senator will be 47 in December.

Meanwhile, Mayweather, who has been on the exhibition tour for years, is 48. He’ll be 49 in late February.

Even a decade ago, both were late in their primes, yet fought with the hesitance of older men. Mayweather won a decision. After the scores were announced and the boos subsided, Pacquiao said he fought with a shoulder injury.

Even then, the fight was said to be a couple of years past its due date. Ten years later, it’s just ancient history. It’s time to move on, both for them and a game fighting to separate itself from their past.

David Benavidez on the move

David Benavidez, a Phoenix-born fighter now living in Miami, has already moved his training camp to the Middle East for his looming light-heavyweight title fight against 175-pound veteran Anthony Yarde in Riyadh Nov. 22.

With the move, he hopes to adjust to new surroundings and time zone. Benavidez will be fighting in Saudi Arabia for the first time. All of his fights have been in the U.S. and Mexico. 



Pacquiao beats Broner easily and then calls for a Mayweather rematch

LAS VEGAS – Let the rumors begin.

Manny Pacquiao’s career after 40 moved from the scorecards to speculation about a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The guessing game was well underway at the very moment Pacquiao’s unanimous decision over Adrien Broner was announced Saturday night to a crowd of 13,025 at the MGM’s Grand Garden Arena and pay-per-view audience for the Showtime telecast.

Truth is, talk about the rematch began to buzz in the later rounds of the bout for Pacquiao’s WBA title. By the 10th Broner was already About Back-pedaling. After sustaining a huge left midway through the ninth, Broner maintained a safe distance, moving away from a pursuing Pacquiao and moving right into a defeat on the cards – 116-112, 117-111, 116-112 all for Pacquiao. According to punch stats, he landed only one punch in the 12th.

Meanwhile, the crowd cheered for Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs). The “Manny, Manny” chants left echoes of a bygone era, days when he was a young man instead of middle-aged Filipino Senator. But the politician can still punch with power and energy that Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) couldn’t match. At pivotal moments, it looked as if he didn’t even try to.

At ringside, Mayweather watched. After it was over, he became an audience of one for what Pacquiao hopes to do.

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“Tell him to come back to the ring and we will fight,’’ he said as looked toward the seat where Mayweather had been sitting.  I’m willing to fight Floyd Mayweather again, if he’s willing to come back to boxing.’’

If, if, if. There will be a lot of those for the next several months.

“The Manny Pacquiao journey continues,’’ said Pacquiao, who collected a $10-million guarantee that could grow to as much as $20 million.

And the Mayweather journey could be resuming. More, too much more, on that later.

The more immediate question was Broner. He behaved as though he had won before the one-sided scores were announced. He stood on the ropes near a ring post and held his hands over his head in triumph. The crowd booed. The fans knew better. The judges knew better.

“I beat him and everybody out there knows I beat him,’’ said Broner, who collected a $2.5 million guarantee that could double once the pay-per-view receipts are counted. “They’re trying to make their money again with Pacquiao and Floyd again. That’s OK.’’

 

It was bloody. It was unpredictable. There was a head-butt, a power blowout and, in the end, Marcus Browne.

Browne (23-0, 16 KOs) , a New York light-heavyweight, took a unanimous decision over former super-middleweight champion Badou Jack (22-2-3, 13 KO ) in a Showtime pay-per-view bout before the Manny-Adrien Broner main event.
From the seventh round on, blood poured from long, vertical gash on Jack’s forehead from a butt with Browne. It left Jack’s face looking like something out of Nightmare On Elm Street. It left referee Tony Week’s blue work shirt looking like stained butcher’s cloth.
Then, the lights went out momentarily in 12th round. TV screens in the arena went dark. The internet went down. And Browne celebrated

Oubaali beats Warren for WBC title

Add a world title to a Nordine Oubaali family that includes 17 brother and sisters. Oubaali put the WBC’s bantamweight belt into the family wardrobe with a consistent right hand and tireless pursuit for unanimous decision over an old Olympic rival, Rau’shee Warren, in the second bout on the Showtime pay-per-view telecast of a card featuring Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner.

Oubaali (15-0, 11 KOs), of France, rocked Warren (16-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh with three quick rights that staggered the three-time Olympian, a Cincinnati fighter who lost a 19-18 decision to Qubaali at the 2012 London Games.

Hugo Ruiz wins one-sided decision over a late substitute

He was a sub. A survivor, too. But Mexican featherweight Albert Guevara was not a winner, at least not against Hugo Ruiz (38-4, 31 KOs), who dropped him in the first round and dominated throughout the next nine for a unanimous decision in Showtime’s first pay-per-view bout on a card featuring Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner.

Guevara (27-4, 12 KOs), of Mazatlan, was a late Friday for Filipino Jhack Tepora, who was pulled off the card for being 5 1/2 pounds heavier than the 126-pound mandatory.

Dallas welterweight Jonathan Steele upsets Jayar Inson

Dallas welterweight Jonathan Steele (9-2-1, 6 KOs) scored one knockdown and repeatedly rocked Filipino Jayar Inson (18-2, 12 KOs), scoring a split decision in what was an upset in the final bout before the first of four fights on a Showtime pay-per-view telecast of the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner card.

Pacquiao sparring partner wins unanimous decision

For weeks, Australian lightweight George Kambosos Jr. worked to get Manny Pacquiao ready in sparring. For eight rounds Saturday, Kambosos began what Pacquiao has promised to finish in the card’s finale against Adrien Broner. Kambosos (16-0, 9 KOs), Pacquiao’s sparring partner since 2017,  controlled the ring while landing solid shots, backing up Filipino Rey Perez (24-11, 8 KOs) throughout a lightweight bout that ended with Kambosos winning a unanimous decision.

Broner-promoted Desmond Jarmon wins decision

Cincinnati super-featherweight Desmond Jarmon, an Adrien Broner-promoted fighter, wore the AB logo and did what his boss has vowed to do in the main event against Manny Pacquiao. Jarmon (8-0, 4 KOs) won, surviving a rocky sixth round for a majority decision over Canton Miller (3-2-1, 1 KO) of St. Louis.

 
Chicago welterweight Destyne Butler wins one-sided decision

Chicago welterweight Destyne Butler (5-0, 3 KOs) mixed speed and aggressiveness, turning them into a dynamic combo for which David Payne (3-2-1, 1 KO) of Los Angeles had no counter over four one-sided rounds that ended in Butler winning a unanimous decision.

First Bell: Pacquiao-Broner card opens with sudden KO
It was an early start and a quick finish.
First bell for the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner card was still echoing through an empty Grand Garden Arena at the MGM when London cruiserweight Viddal Riley (2-0, 2 KOs) finished the matinee within seconds. Thirty-three seconds, to be exact. Riley rushed Mitchell Spangler of Sacramento with a blinding blur of punches and — just like that — Spangler was down and done, a knockout victim in his pro debut.