By Lee Groves

Boxing’s first big weekend of 2010 has now passed into the cosmos and, improbably, Manny Pacquiao’s star has gotten even brighter.

His comprehensive decision victory over Joshua Clottey – as well as other action throughout the weekend – inspired plenty of thoughts from the Home Office and this time I’m going to work my way back in time. So without further delay, here is this week’s collection of synaptic soliloquies.

Every sports fan wants to feel as if he is bearing witness to history. With Manny Pacquiao we are doing just that.

Will boxing fans – or sports enthusiasts in general – ever again see the likes of the “Pac Man?” Perhaps, but we will have to wait a generation or two before we encounter someone with his mix of physical gifts and fiery mindset and we’ll probably have to wait forever before we come across another onetime flyweight champion capable of running through the divisions the way Pacquiao has done.

The physical and stylistic transformation Pacquiao has achieved over the past few years has been nothing short of phenomenal and until there is definitive proof otherwise, we must believe that his achievements are the product of God-given gifts amplified by a prodigious work ethic.

In this age of limited fight action, division-hopping and over-cautious matchmaking, fighters of the modern era must do what Pacquiao has in order to get into the all-time pound-for-pound conversation. Pacquiao has conquered an unprecedented number of weight classes while defeating an endless assembly line of challenging, if not outright dangerous, opponents. In doing so, Pacquiao has achieved worldwide acclaim that rivals the biggest stars in any endeavor, much less sports.

He possesses the kind of universal fame usually reserved for the Pope and the President of the United States. Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson had – and still have – an aura whose glow will transcend time and circumstance. Should Pacquiao polish off his career with a victory over the winner of Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley, he will secure that everlasting fame for himself – as well as a spot on my top 20 all-time pound-for-pound list.

It is one thing for a dominant and charismatic heavyweight champion to achieve this mainstream status, but quite another for an Asian athlete who once ruled over one of boxing’s smallest weight classes. Talk about mind-boggling upsets.

With Pacquiao-Clottey taking place in a football stadium, the “Pac Man’s” victory can be explained in gridiron terms.

For opponents, fighting Pacquiao must be similar to the dynamic that exists between wide receivers and defensive backs. The receiver knows where he’s going and when he will make his breaks while the DB is forced to hold back and react. That vital split-second advantage – as well as NFL rules that ban contact after five yards – allows the receiver the edge he needs to improve his odds of success.

The unique issue for Pacquiao’s opponents is that the Filipino’s punches are so fast and are thrown from such weird angles that they have no time to react, much less impose their own strengths on him.

In preparing for fights, trainer Freddie Roach has Pacquiao execute a series of carefully choreographed moves with his hands and feet to seize upon his opponents’ weaknesses, much like football coaches do with their receiver corps to exploit gaps in the rival’s defensive schemes. Coach Roach drills these moves into Pacquiao until they become second nature. Pacquiao greatly helps the process not only with his immense physical gifts but also by being intelligent enough to process and execute. Not only that, his acumen is such that he can persuasively suggest cogent alternatives should something not feel right.

Preparation is one thing, but applying the game plan in the heat of battle is another. Roach and Pacquiao knew that the likelihood of scoring a knockout was low given Clottey’s size, strength and durability. Instead of foolishly pressing the issue, Team Pacquiao adjusted accordingly.

Pacquiao approached Clottey like a high-flying offensive juggernaut would against a robust defensive team. Instead of going for the bomb early, Pacquiao took whatever Clottey’s defense gave him and racked up the yards. Like a quarterback dinking and dunking his way down the field, Pacquiao worked up and down Clottey’s anatomy with speedy blows that hit the few openings Clottey’s shell exposed. Many of Pacquiao’s shots targeted Clottey’s body, either to the flanks or straight shots to the stomach. Then, when it came time to air it out, Pacquiao pulled the trigger and scored enough points to win the game – and secure his berth in his sport’s version of the Super Bowl.

Pacquiao-Clottey could be a preview of what Pacquiao-Mayweather might look like, at least strategically.

Mayweather and Clottey are similar in that they use their airtight defense to set up their offense, though Mayweather’s accuracy – especially in terms of power punches – is far superior.

Pacquiao showed that he has the stamina to throw all night long if he’s not given any reason to stop. To do that, Mayweather must punch and make each blow count, something Clottey was unable – or perhaps unwilling – to do.

Mayweather has to do better than the 41 punches per round he amassed against Marquez if he wants to keep Pacquiao off him. While Mayweather will never be able to equal Pacquiao’s output, he can use his ring science to somewhat neutralize the Filipino’s effectiveness. Mayweather’s power punch connect percentages are off the charts and he will need that accuracy – as well as his height and reach advantages – to keep Typhoon Manny from drowning him.

The Pacquiao-Clottey undercard, while it looked decent on paper, failed to properly set the table for the main course.

Ideally, the fights that precede a PPV main event must build the telecast toward a crescendo, although fans wouldn’t argue too strenuously if the understudies manage to usurp the stars.

Although John Duddy won a split decision over Michael Medina, the action was hardly inspiring and the win did nothing to persuade those who believe Duddy is more hype than hope.

Alfonso Gomez did what he was supposed to do against 36-year-old Jose Luis Castillo, who looked slow, shopworn and every inch the 20-year, 71-fight veteran he was. The ending was anti-climactic to say the least but for Castillo’s sake it was probably for the best. Why should he absorb even more punishment. If he wants to take a farewell fight in his hometown he has earned that right, but other than that he and his family should discuss seriously whether he should continue to soldier on.

The Humberto Soto-David Diaz bout for the vacant WBC lightweight title was the best of the bunch only because Diaz mounted a good late-fight charge after being dominated over the first half. Diaz has always been a determined sort who fights better as the fight goes longer and such was the case Saturday night.

Is it just me, or will Soto be fated to be one of history’s most overlooked three-division champs? I hope not, because he’s the kind of solid professional that should be appreciated.

It was great to see an additional 90 minutes of coverage before the Pacquiao-Clottey pay-per-view on DirecTV, but there is room for improvement.

To those responsible for televising the extra fight action there was both good and bad.

First the good: Last year I suggested that PPV telecasts would benefit from showing more undercard fights because true boxing fans just love to see fights, no matter how obscure the combatants. I am happy to see that my call to action has been heeded and for that I say “thank you.”

To see these fights separate from the PPV portion is a great bonus, plus it makes good business sense. First, it serves as a tasty incentive for those on the fence to take the plunge and buy the rest of the card. And second, fans get a ground-floor opportunity to see a potential future star.

That was the good. Now here’s the bad.

Four interview segments bled more than a minute into the subsequent round and the one involving Dallas Cowboys’ owner (and event host) Jerry Jones sliced off nearly two minutes. Is it really necessary to have the people involved on camera every single second, especially if the content is star-driven fluff? Really, must we hear the interviewers talk about the 1,600 toilets in Cowboys Stadium while there is unseen action going on in the ring?

The producers were lucky that Roberto Marroquin’s second round knockout of Samuel Sanchez came in the second minute instead of the first, which well could have happened given Marroquin’s late-round knockdown in the first. They dodged another big bullet with Rodrigo Garcia’s second round knockout of Calvin Pitts, which occurred just seconds after the cameras returned to the ring following the Jones interview.

If an interview is definitely going to flow into the next round, why not have the video cut back to the ring with the discussion continuing on the audio side? It’s a pretty simple technique that is commonly used on other telecasts, so why wasn’t that used here? It provides a perfect balance; the “talent” gets one uninterrupted minute on camera and the fans get the benefit of seeing three minutes of every round.

If there are celebrity interviews that must last several minutes, save those for between fights. To be fair, some of my suggestions were applied in spots, but I believe executing these techniques every time would make for a much better presentation. I look forward to seeing the next effort.

While the ESPN family of networks in the United States were focused on college basketball’s championship week, ESPN Deportes had its priorities straight Friday night by airing a live boxing card from the Dominican Republic.

Most of the time ESPN Deportes shows the same fights as the “Friday Night Fights” series in the U.S. that I usually end up recording, so this week’s circumstances gave me a chance to sample the fare on the Spanish language side. Once one got past the audio and lighting issues at the top of the show, it proved to be an interesting night at the fights.

The first thing I noticed was that instead of icons to denote trunk colors the fighters were identified by national flags, which indicates just how deeply the geographical rivalries must run. For example, the opening bout between junior welterweights Kenny Galarza and Martin Casillas was another installment in the rivalry between Puerto Rico (Galarza) and Mexico (Casillas), one the most prideful and fiercest contested regional pairings the sport has ever known.

Galarza entered the contest with 12 wins and 12 knockouts and the fight with Casillas was the third in a series of “step-up” fights for the prospect. For the 27-6-1 (18 KO) Casillas, it was his third fight back following a five-year layoff that has proceeded at a glacier pace, for his most recent contest was an 11th round TKO loss to JoJo Dan in Romania in December 2008.

The fight itself unfolded as expected as Galarza scored a second round TKO behind a series of power shots highlighted by two hammering rights to the side of the head. Once Galarza sensed Casillas was hurt he polished him off with proper dispatch, a good sign for the future.

I liked what I saw skill-wise from Dominican junior welterweight Felix Diaz, who advanced his record to 5-0 (3 KO) with a six round decision over 11-13-1 (10 KO) trialhorse Orlando Membreno, who ran his losing streak to four fights. The 26-year-old southpaw unleashed quick compact punches, tight defense and a good variety of tools. Although he leans too far forward for my taste and he wasn’t able to follow up on a somewhat questionable first round knockdown, it was a good learning experience.

In the main event highly rated super middleweight Giovanni Lorenzo flattened Wilmer Gonzalez with a right hand that landed a split second before the bell – a determination I made only after a video review.

At the time my mind instantly drifted back to Tomas Molinares’ bizarre after-the-bell knockout punch he landed on Marlon Starling to capture the WBA belt. Although video replays clearly showed that the Colombian launched the blow a split second after the sixth round gong, Molinares’ victory was allowed to stand – at least for a while. Boxrec now shows the fight as a no-contest, but unfortunately for Starling that came too late to preserve his championship.

I observed at the top of the show that the ring ropes were dangerously loose and that obvious safety oversight nearly resulted in disaster during the walkout fight between super middleweights Julius Jackson (son of former two-division champion Julian Jackson) and Frank Mola.

With 28 seconds remaining in the second round Mola bulled Jackson toward the strands. The top rope only came up to the small of Jackson’s back, and the force of Mola’s bull-rush sent both men flipping over the top and onto the cement floor 10 feet below – with Mola going head first.

The two fighters fell right into the lap of a ringsider while narrowly missing one of the ring card girls. Jackson appeared OK as he bounded into the ring while Mola appeared more shaken. The ringside physician examined the spectator for what looked like a small abrasion around the left eye.

Technically, Jackson could have been declared the winner then and there. Fighters who fall out of the ring have 20 seconds to re-enter the ring unassisted and while Jackson barely beat that standard it took Mola nearly twice as long. The chaos and concern that accompanied the episode obviously superseded an insistence on applying the rules, and Jackson went on to score a fourth round TKO.

While the Dominican Republic is among the poorer countries in the Western Hemisphere, that is no excuse to skimp on ring safety. The local commission should never have allowed the matches to proceed with ropes that loose and they should consider themselves lucky that the final result of the Jackson-Mola incident wasn’t worse.

Boxing is a dangerous enough sport as it is, so why make it worse by having the athletes fight on a substandard playing field? Safety is what separates “The Sweet Science” from street fighting, and those in charge must do all it can to minimize the inherent risks.

Will Samuel Peter become boxing’s latest tale of redemption? If so, it would be great for heavyweight boxing.

The last time many of us saw “The Nigerian Nightmare” he was in the midst of a career free-fall. In losing his WBC heavyweight title to “champion in recess” Vitali Klitschko, Peter looked bloated, unmotivated and dispirited before surrendering the title on the stool following round eight.

He followed that dismal performance with another one five months later against Eddie Chambers, losing a majority decision and weighing a career-high 265 pounds. Peter appeared to be a spent force less than five years after vaulting into world prominence with his smashing two-round knockout of Jeremy Williams.

Fast forward to this past Friday night when Peter met Nagy Aguilera in Gaylord, Texas. With the world boxing press in Texas to witness Pacquiao-Clottey, Peter looked and performed like a changed man. At 237 ½, Peter was at his lowest weight since November 2001 when he was 235 for Curtis Taylor. Better yet, Peter showed patience and power in disposing of Aguilera in two rounds.

With a new trainer in the veteran Abel Sanchez, a new promoter in Top Rank and a renewed commitment to excellence, Peter is tantalyzingly close to coming full circle. His victory over Aguilera was billed as an IBF eliminator and Wladimir Klitschko – to whom Peter lost an exciting 12 round decision in September 2005 after scoring three knockdowns of Klitschko – is the man who holds that belt.

To many observers, Peter’s story has always been one of potential. His size, power and improving technique sparked excitement and intrigue while his lax conditioning caused frustration and angst. With the heavyweight division still in flux eight years after Lennox Lewis’ retirement, Peter is still young enough – and perhaps still talented enough – to make a positive impact. If Peter can maintain this positive trend who knows what can be achieved? Given his past, however, that remains a big “if.”

That’s all I’ve got for this week. What thoughts will the next seven days bring? Until then, happy trails.