by David P. Greisman
We are a society obsessed with celebrity. Talent and accomplishment are generally not enough to attain publicity. True stardom often requires an outsized personality.
Look to the headlines. Look to Terrell Owens and Manny Ramirez. Look to their multimillion-dollar contracts – controversy, as always, creates cash.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. had pound-for-pound talent for years before he saw pay-per-view paychecks. Only after he began to play the villain did he get the attention he long deserved. “Pretty Boy Floyd” became “Money Mayweather,” and for good reason.
“You need people like me,” Tony Montana, the classic character played by Al Pacino, said in the movie Scarface. “You need people like me so you can point your … fingers and say, ‘That’s the bad guy.’ ”
Every hero has his foil, an antagonist whom the audience wants to see get his comeuppance. In professional wrestling, a good bad guy sells tickets. But a great good guy will bring in the fans no matter whom he faces.
Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton are two fighters with celebrity and personality, two hometown heroes who inspire loyalty. When they face each other May 2 in Las Vegas, they will bring thousands of supporters that will fill the MGM Grand with dueling chants in boxing’s version of the Clash of the Titans, Hulk Hogan versus The Ultimate Warrior on a smaller scale, in a squared circle, without the steroids.
Each inspires fanatical followings. Pacquiao is a national hero in the Philippines; crime stops when he fights. He has acted in movies, sang on albums and run for office. Hatton is the third franchise in Manchester, England, joining the city’s two soccer teams as the object of raucous support. His countrymen have flocked in droves, filling arenas near and far, bringing planeloads to the United States. Their singing of “Hatton Wonderland” is repeated to the point of either infectiousness or annoyance.
Each has faced distractions between fights, Pacquiao shooting pool, Hatton throwing darts, both going out and living it up.
For all their fame and fortune, they are seen as men who have risen meteorically yet remain down to earth.
“As a little boy, I ate one meal a day and sometimes slept in the street,” Pacquiao said recently. “I will never forget that, and it inspires me to fight hard, stay strong and remember all of the people in my country trying to achieve better for themselves.”
Pacquiao’s rise from the lower weight classes saw him take America and boxing by storm, taking on those entrenched as boxing’s best: Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales. He went from division to division, growing from a one-dimensional powerhouse into a multifaceted claimant to the pound-for-pound throne. And by stopping Oscar De La Hoya in December, he supplanted the Golden Boy as the proverbial straw who stirs the drink.
Hatton is the junior-welterweight champion, a position he attained through blue-collar work ethic and toughness. He has bled and bruised and walked through a barrage just to land a shot.
As important, he is the king of the box office.
They are two whose stardom nearly kept them from sharing the same stage. The bout was an on-again, off-again affair until the negotiations finally produced an agreement.
“Manny’s the pound-for-pound fighter, and I respect that,” Hatton said on a recent conference call. “But Ricky Hatton brings all of those fans coming over to Las Vegas, the most popular fighter in the world. You’ve got to give a bit to take a bit, and sometimes when you look at it from that point of view, I’m bringing a lot of revenue to the fight, and Manny brings the best title in boxing to the fight.”
Pacquiao’s popularity has somehow grown even more of late. In the Philippines and in places with large Filipino contingents, he is John, Paul, George and Ringo combined into one. His faithful follow.
They came out in Los Angeles to see him honored by the city’s mayor on a day when “Manny Being Manny“ had nothing to do with a certain Dodgers baseball player.
And they came out in London and Manchester during a media tour promoting the fight.
“I am very surprised and overwhelmed by the turnout of all the Filipino people,” Pacquiao said during that tour. “I am amazed by the support I have been shown. I did not expect it in Manchester because this is Ricky’s hometown, where I know he is loved. I was surprised to see so many of my people in Manchester. I think Ricky Hatton was surprised to see them, too. Although it is Hatton’s place, I think Manchester is now ‘Mannychester!’ ”
Their home countries are half a world apart, and yet they are so alike. In two months they will be even closer, inside 400 square feet of canvas and ropes, in front of thousands and thousands of their respective supporters, watched on television by millions more.
“We both have great fans,” Hatton said. “And we will be fighting our hearts out for them that night.”
The 10 Count
1. Interesting note: In James Kirkland, Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero, the “Boxing After Dark” broadcast on HBO this past Saturday featured three fighters whose signings with Golden Boy Promotions caused or came after talk of litigation (or actual legal wrangling) from their respective former promoters.
2. Kirkland, formerly of Gary Shaw Productions, steamrolled through yet another opponent, punishing Joel Julio over six rounds. Kirkland took the occasional bomb along the way, showing himself little the worse for it, and his pressure and power proved too much for a Julio who was far more used to being the leading man in a beatdown.
Julio tasted Kirkland’s power early. With that and Kirkland’s unceasing pressure, Julio spent the remainder of the bout moving around the ring, throwing out shots in an attempt to keep Kirkland off but rarely planting his feet long enough to punch with enough emphasis.
What some expected to be a war ended up far more one-sided, and the bout was stopped before Julio could come out of his corner for round seven.
I’ll say the same thing I’ve said about Alfredo Angulo: I’d rather see Kirkland against various other prospects than in title bouts against any of the 154-pound beltholders. Though most of these bouts are highly unlikely, it’d be fun to see Kirkland against Angulo, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., John Duddy, Ronald Hearns and Jamie Moore.
3. Victor Ortiz, formerly of Top Rank, barely broke a sweat while taking out former 140-pound title challenger Mike Arnaoutis, earning the technical-knockout victory halfway into the second round.
What seemed, at first, to be an early stoppage actually came at the appropriate moment. Ortiz countered over a right jab from the southpaw Arnaoutis with his own southpaw left cross. That punch landed on Arnaoutis’ temple and sent him retreating to the corner. Ortiz closed in with a flurry, and quite quickly referee Ray Balewicz stepped in.
Replays showed why. Ortiz had landed an uppercut that made Arnaoutis drop his gloves involuntarily, leaving him momentarily out on his feet, defenseless.
Ortiz seems poised to become a star in the not-too-distant future. Let’s see how he handles adversity before we anoint him. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy watching him in the meantime.
4. If Ortiz’s post-fight interview doesn’t land him an endorsement deal with a certain fast-food joint, I’ll be shocked.
HBO analyst Max Kellerman had asked Ortiz about where he would be going with his career.
Ortiz deferred to his team, then offered up this gem: “As of right now I can go and eat some Taco Bell in a little bit.”
To each their own. Me, I wind down after finishing a good column by drinking a beer over at Vendetta.
Let’s see if that little bit of product placement will earn me a free pint or two. I’m not holding my breath…
5. I’m not one to question a boxer’s guts from the comfort of my keyboard. That said, Robert Guerrero didn’t win over potential fans with the way he seemed to ask out of his bout against Daud Yordan after a clash of heads opened a nasty cut over his right eye.
Guerrero, formerly of Goossen-Tutor promotions, had landed some good shots against Yordan, but the awkward Indonesian had also landed some good, fast punches himself, and was frustrating Guerrero with his incessant holding on the inside.
Their heads collided in the second round. Soon thereafter referee Jon Shorle brought in a ringside physician to inspect the southwest-to-northeast gash in the middle of Guerrero’s right eyebrow. Guerrero, seemingly unprompted, told the physician, “I can’t see,” saying the blood was flowing down into his eye.
However true, Guerrero may have left the impression in some that he was begging off. The native of Gilroy, Calif. had what was essentially a hometown crowd in San Jose, and those who came to support the junior lightweight might think twice about forking over their money the next time “The Ghost” makes an appearance.
6. Though all three “Boxing After Dark” bouts concluded abruptly, without exclamation point endings, it was a good card from the matchmaking end, the fifth such broadcast in a row for HBO in 2009. And while I’m handing out compliments, was it just me, or did Lennox Lewis actually do a decent job on commentary Saturday night?
7. Boxers Behaving Badly, part one: A touted amateur quite early into his professional career was arrested late last month and charged with having 332 grams of cocaine, according to the New York Daily News.
Christian Martinez was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance after police found the drugs, a .32 caliber pistol, marijuana, small Ziploc bags and a set of scales at an apartment in East New York. Two other people in the apartment were arrested.
Police say Martinez admitted to living inside the apartment. Martinez’s father, however, said his son didn’t have the money to rent a room.
“He’s flat broke,” Martinez’s father told the newspaper. “There’s no way he could be selling drugs and be flat broke. He lives with me in the Bronx.”
Martinez, 21, was released after appearing last week in front of a grand jury. He is due back in court on May 4.
Martinez, a local Golden Gloves champion, turned pro in December, needing 134 seconds to stop some dude named Murray Cunningham.
8. Boxers Behaving Badly, part two: A retired boxer who holds an amateur win over Jermain Taylor was arrested last week and accused of being part of a cocaine ring, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Julian Burford, 40, is in the Cleveland City Jail, though he has not yet been charged with a crime. He and another man were arrested following a three-month investigation that turned up 70 pounds of cocaine worth $5 million.
Burford’s no stranger to the drug trade, police say. He was accused in 2001 of being part of cocaine trafficking between Cleveland and Detroit, and in 1992 he was sentenced to two years in prison for drug trafficking.
His pro career lasted from 1996 to 2005, 14 bouts that included 12 victories and two defeats. Those losses came in his final two appearances, when he was stopped by Miguel Figueroa and Andrey Tsurkan.
9. Boxers Behaving Badly update: Johnny Tapia is scheduled to appear in court this morning (March 9) to hear whether his latest arrest will put him in jail for a year under New Mexico’s habitual-offender law, according to television station KRQE.
Tapia, who has a history of cocaine use, relapsed last month and was arrested for violating probation.
Tapia overdosed on cocaine in 2007, ending up in a hospital for several days. He pleaded guilty in May of that year to a felony drug possession charge and was sentenced to no prison time and 18 months of probation, a ruling contingent upon his completion of a substance abuse program.
Tapia was given a conditional release from a drug rehabilitation center in August 2007, provided he wear an ankle monitor and be tested for drugs. He had returned to rehab, however, after testing positive for cocaine at that treatment center. That relapse earned him 14-and-a-half months of supervised probation.
Tapia was also convicted in the 90s of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“I’ve left it in their hands,” the television station quoted Tapia as saying recently. “Whatever they do with me, I’m ready for it.”
10. Martinez, Burford and Tapia – Why trade blows when you can trade in blow…
David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. His weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com
