Real. And Real Good
It's hard to imagine what more you could want from a fight. Once again Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez produced 12 rounds of riveting action and drama and all those other words HBO loves to trumpet. It's humbling to see that level of skill and commitment and courage—of true professionalism. Humbling, and immensely entertaining. Again Pacquiao brought that thrilling strength and speed (when he really throws that straight left, it seems somehow to be suddenly on a speeded-up film) as well as that exuberance that registers almost like joy (even if he was not quite the dervish of past fights); and again Marquez brought that discipline and craft and amazing resilience. Both were in great shape and both withstood terrible, bloody damage. Scoring off the TV, I had it 114-113 for Marquez, but I can't complain (except about Harold Lederman's whiny-voiced scoring interpretations. Jim!!). How did others see it?
posted by Richard O'Brien @ 10:30 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Rich, I missed the fight, due to my uncles retirement party last night. I'm not surprised by what you say about both fighters. I expected that from these two. Apparently there isn't much separating Pacquiao and Marquez. I just wonder if Marquez could get a decision over Pacquiao without taking his head off over 12-rounds?
Pacquiao is a difficult match-up for anybody. He's left-handed, comes from every angle, has fast hands and can really punch. He's shown me that he has the heart you'd expect in a champion and he's tough. To beat him, it'll take a structured guy like Alexis Arguello who can punch. The guy who takes his title will be a fighter who can beat him outside, making him pay and possibly hurt him as he trys to jump in and do damage. I say that based on what I've seen of him before last night. Based on Rich's write up, I believe I'd still endorse that.
Rich, I just watched the fight. I agree: It's another magnificent contest between two all-timers. Without scoring, my general impression was that Marquez got marginally the better of it. He's so fluid and, unlike Pacquiao, is comfortable either coming forward or backing up. If
you back Manny up, he's not nearly as effective. Marquez is clearly the better two-handed fighter.
I'd give the recent Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez bout the nod as fight of the year, but that's not meant as a slight to this great war. This is a strong contender.
I did notice that one thing about Pacquiao has changed (and this isn't meant as a criticism.) He's now an older fighter and he's a wealthy fighter. This means that, if he's been hurt, he very occasionally hesitates before deciding to engage. Sooner or later this happens to every fighter who has something to lose (in terms of material possessions.) Again, I don't mean this as a knock against Pacquiao, and it's a decidedly subtle change of emphasis on his part. He's still a very determined, dangerous champion.
I'd love to see a third fight, preferably on the same card as Vazquez-Marquez 4.
My plan had been to tape this fight and watch it later, since I was covering the James Moore-J.C. Candelo card at the Garden. However, once again the useless Time Warner Cable system made it impossible to preorder the fight through the cable box. That ordering process simply didn’t work this time. It’s your fifty bucks, assholes. And these jokers want you to become dependent on them for phone and Internet service, too!
I ended up finding the fight online in a few places, including YouTube. I also found at least three different feeds. So I watched most of it on YouTube on the HBO feed. Check it out before it is pulled.
I had Marquez winning at least seven or eight rounds, enough to win the fight, even with the 10-8 third round for Pacquiao with the knockdown. Marquez outboxed him, circling to his left to neutralize Pacquiao’s lethal left hand, and landing rights of his own while keeping a safe distance. There were several close rounds, but this was Marquez’s fight.
I also have no regrets watching it online on some pirate video. If the networks and promoters are so cheap that they cannot provide a feed or screening for the media, then screw them.
More importantly, the pay-per-view business model has been outstripped by the growth of technology. It is based on a closed architecture which is hard to penetrate. Now all you have to do is know how to use YouTube, Sopcast, or any number of other services.
The music industry tried for years to fight this trend, and lost untold millions by resisting the transition to digital distribution. The boxing industry is so backwards that they seem largely unaware of this trend. When the video quality of these services improves, as is virtually inevitable, why should anyone pay 50 bucks anymore? And if you think this is a stretch, just pass by the old Tower Records store in Manhattan at 66th and Broadway, which is still vacant since they shut down.
I just tried to find it, Eddie. It's already been taken off.
Eddie, you're so right---$50 times the number of fans who'll find other ways of getting their fix will soon talk volumes to the cable giants.
It's all bound to improve---call it faith, I guess. In the meantime, I have the whole cable package, but I use it against itself to satisfy my ring requirements!
I bet there are still videos of the fight somewhere else. It took them over 12 hours to get this taken down. Now they even enrage fans more by having these removed.
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