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 On a day for leftovers, there are reasons to be grateful amid all of the usual turkeys, but a chance to say thanks, or maybe no thanks, is waiting on one of those fights that includes all of the trimmings, yet questions about whether it can live up to plate full of hype.
There is as much skepticism as there is intrigue about the Oscar De La Hoya-Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6 at Las Vegas MGM Grand. The only one who really doesn’t have much to lose is Pacquiao, the compelling little guy, the David, in this fight to take down boxing’s Golden Boy Goliath.
The skeptics, many of them friends, dismiss this fight as just a money grab, although there just isn’t as much to grab as there was before Wall Street turned into a tomato can. Above all, it is a dangerous for De La Hoya and the sport itself.
There might not be as many pay-per-view customers as hoped because of the lousy economy. A colleague suggests 750,000 buys, which would fall short of modest expectations. Anything less than one million will disappoint. But the guess is that a lot of people will be watching, many of them jammed into living rooms and sharing the pay-per-view cost with neighbors.
The size of that audience will be hard to estimate, but the guess is that it will be big enough to make a difference in better times. If fans like what they see, they will pay for another view the next time there’s some disposable income. If not, boxing moves a little closer to being a Lehman Brother. Yep, the stakes are high.
In ten days, the hope in this corner is that there can be a celebration, a delayed Thanksgiving, of a fight that fulfilled all those promises.
I couldn’t help being struck last Monday during another conference call that Pacquiao is playing the most understated role of all. Other than repeated and cliched assurances that he is only doing “a job,” Pacquiao just didn’t provide much of a hint at what he was thinking. Still, reporters did tried to get him to react, tried to elicit some anger.
There was a question, a suggestion perhaps, that De La Hoys felt cheated a few years ago in his futile attempt to sign Pacquiao with a bag full of a reported $250,000, presumably in small bills.
“I don’t think I cheated him,’’ Pacquiao said in a quiet, almost deliberate tone.
The comment seems to reflect the nice-guy in Pacquiao, who in HBO’s 24/7 series often appears to be too generous for his own good. The Filipino is a compelling fighter and personality, yet he remains mostly unknown in the United Sates. I say this because the other day I asked a couple of friends, casual fans, about Pacquiao. They looked at me almost as if I was talking about a drink at Trader Vic’s.
In a good fight – even in a gritty loss, Pacquiao could emerge with the kind of stardom that in the U.S, at least, seems to have eluded him. Only an early knockout from De La Hoya’s feared left hand could send him back to the Philippines and some lightweight anonymity.
Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach is convinced that won’t happen. Roach says he saw too much — make that too little – of De La Hoya in the Puerto Rico training camp for his loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
In a lot of ways, Roach has taken on the speaking role for Pacuqiao in the rhetorical build-up for the fight. In some ways, Roach is speaking for Pacquiao the way Floyd Mayweather Sr. used to talk for De La Hoya. Mayweather Sr,, the mouthpiece, worked for De La Hoya, especially before his victory over Fernando Vargas.
Maybe, Roach’s role as the point man in the rhetorical attack will work for Pacquiao, who doesn’t need to listen to De La Hoya as much as he needs to watch out for that big left. There is a difference, however, in tone. Mayweather Sr.’s rhymes just got old. But people listen to the insightful Roach, who has planted lots of doubt about whether De La Hoya can beat anybody anymore.
For now, it is hard to determine whether Roach is saying this, saying that, as part of the well-rehearsed theater in the promotional buildup before any big opening bell. If he is, it’s out of character. Nobody will ever confuse Roach with Mayweather, Sr.
Then again, Pacquiao-De La Hoya is an unconventional fight. There already have been a few surprises and there are bound to be many more, enough of them perhaps for a Happy Thanksgiving. - Norm Frauenheim, 15rounds.com
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