By Jake Donovan (photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank)
Are you embarrassed of the team that occupies the field of your $1.2 billion stadium every Sunday these days?
Are you tired of holding out hope that things will somehow turn around, and not result in your worst football season in more than two decades?
Are you sick of the running joke that is your storied franchise’s inability to win the big game, with only one playoff win in the past 14 years, and no hopes of playing beyond January 2?
Fear not, Dallas Cowboys fans. A winning franchise is back in town, ready to satisfy your thirst and longing to rally around a winner.
For the second time this year, pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38KO) prepares to serve as the main attraction in the revamped, state-of the art Cowboys Stadium. His latest trek to the Lone Star State and home of the five-time Super Bowl champions comes this weekend, when he squares off against Antonio Margarito in what easily serves as the biggest remaining fight of the year.
Given recent circumstances, his arrival could not have come at a better time for sports fans in the Dallas area.
Not since Jimmy Johnson’s first season with the storied franchise has so much emphasis been placed on any sport other than football this early into the NFL season. The Dallas Mavericks appear to have hit their stride early in the NBA season, giving local fans hope that there is success to be found in the area.
Pacquiao may not be a Dallas native, but he’s managed to accomplish something the Cowboys have yet to do in 2010 – win at Cowboys Stadium.
If the odds hold true, he’s about to go two up on the stadium’s chief residents at the conclusion of this weekend’s event, which airs live on HBO PPV (first televised bout at 9PM ET/8PM local time).
The previous trip to town came earlier this year, when he pitched a virtual shutout against Joshua Clottey in the first fight to take place in the remodeled Cowboys Stadium. The event also served as Pacquiao’s first fight of 2010, after coming off of yet another Fighter of the Year campaign, his third in a span of four years.
Chances are that his streak ends at two straight, as this is a rare year in which there are more deserving candidates, even if a win this weekend gives the Filipino southpaw an alphabet title in an unprecedented eighth weight class. But it doesn’t mean Pacquiao’s status has diminished any as the sport’s biggest draw and its best active fighter.
The reaction by sports fans in the Dallas area echo such sentiments as Pac-Man fever has hit the town, even before his private plane filled with an entourage 200 deep touched ground over the weekend.
Pacquiao’s arrival couldn’t have come at a better time, at least for the city’s frustrated football fans. With Dallas’ worst start in years came the shocking news on Monday of owner Jerry Jones – a huge fan of Pacquiao and the sport of boxing itself – relieving a coach of his duties during midseason for the first time since purchasing the team over 20 years ago.
The firing of Wade Phillips after more than three seasons with the squad came two weeks after the Cowboys watched All-Pro quarterback Tony Romo knocked out of commission for 6-8 weeks stemming from injuries sustained against divisional rival New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
The last straw for Jones came after the Cowboys season-worst loss in this past Sunday evening’s showcase game, a 45-7 shellacking at the hands of the Green Bay Packers.
Needless to say, it’s been a while since Cowboys fans have had reason to cheer - at least until this Saturday.
Pacquiao’s previous visit to Cowboys Stadium drew a crowd of 41,841, the best-attended boxing event in the United States in more than a decade. Preliminary – albeit unconfirmed – reports suggest an even larger crowd for this weekend, which makes sense considering that the sport’s most beloved fighter takes on a modern-day villain in Margarito.
Saturday night will mark Margarito’s first high-profile event since the handwrap scandal that preceded the ass-whipping he caught at the hands of Shane Mosley in January 2009.
There are many who remain disgusted that the disgraced former welterweight champion is being rewarded with a major payday and his name in lights without having truly earned the right to fight at the sport’s highest level. His lone fight since the Mosley debacle came earlier this year, his first fight in 16 months though not particularly impressive in outpointing journeyman Robert Garcia.
Those who take no issue with this weekend’s biggest fight justify their stance with the belief that Margarito is in for a career-worst beating. Their hope is that Pacquiao treats the Mexican brawler in the same fashion that he handled the likes of Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton and Oscar de la Hoya in recent bouts.
So strong is the desire for Pacquiao to rid the sport of Margarito – at least at the championship level – that they are willing to forgive the fact that this weekend’s bout takes place at a catchweight of 151 lb., despite the fact that a vacant junior middleweight belt is at stake.
It’s a minute detail in the grand scheme of things, a small price to pay for the greater reward of watching our sport’s greatest action hero ply his trade.
The same holds true for local sports fans, who willingly embrace Manny Pacquiao as he storms through town, making headlines for all of the fight reasons after a sea of bad news plaguing the region. Even if only for a weekend, football fans in the Dallas area can embrace a new house franchise.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .
