Nonetheless, slowly but surely the boxing fans and the media cooled their jets, and began to get progressively interested in the outcome. Brandon Rios is a good, strong, young, and hungry for respect fighter, and we have seen him take a punch. With the fight getting closer, there is talk that it is not all that crazy, to think that Rios will end Pacquiao’s career come November 23, 2013.
By suggesting that he is the only one out there who can potentially hand Mayweather Jr. his first loss, Bernard Hopkins initiated a huge wave of discussions, arguments and predictions. The idea itself had never entered anyone’s mind, until at the Mayweather Jr. vs. Canelo post fight press conference Hopkins decided to bring the subject to the microphones and video cameras being shoved in his face.
Whether or not the fight is a viable option for either of the fighters, it seems nothing more but an illusion, a fantasy that feeds the boxing fans and the media ideas that are simply unrealistic.
The Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios bout is fast-approaching, and boxing fans have focused their crosshairs on the topic at hand. While this fight is starting to gain more momentum in a snowball effect type of fashion, still there is much talk of the improbable bout between Mayweather Jr. vs. Bernard Hopkins.
It seems as though a shot at Mayweather Jr. is the only way to succeed in boxing, and every fighter that can see and feel the throne is aggressively attempting at securing that high profile fight.
Bernard Hopkins had suggested that he is the only one with enough ring experience and ring I.Q. to beat Mayweather Jr. His old school boxing knowledge would supposedly provide enough tricks and narrow down the learning curve to where Hopkins would be able to adjust and effectively deal with Floyd’s style.
It took Alexander Povetkin many years to finally earn and secure a bout against Wladimir Klitschko. The hype as well as the amount of money spent on marketing was colossal, and Moscow was breaking at the seams with enthusiasm of what the fight could have brought. As a matter of fact, there hasn’t been a thrilling heavyweight boxing match in an extensive period of time, and this one, Klitschko vs. Povetkin, was supposed to be it.
Unfortunately the fight turned out the same as all other Klitschko fights: Wladimir dominating the match with his size and slow paced tactical approach. Wladimir Klitschko gets the job done, but most of the time, the boxing fans as well as the ticket-holders voice their dislike for his slow and “boring” style.
With the Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios fight approaching, boxing fans are starting to tune themselves to the topic of discussing whether Manny is still capable of performing on a similar level as he did a few years back. We all know that time happens to be one of the main enemies of athletes, but some are able to avoid its effects for longer than others.
The question that the boxing fans expect to have answered in the Rios fight, is how big of a chunk did time and the knockout loss to Marquez took out of Pacquiao?
According to Pacquiao’s mentor and head trainer Freddie Roach, these speculations and hypothesized scenarios about Pacquiao’s decline in the sport of boxing are unnecessary, and all that needs to happen is for Manny to put on an impressive performance:
Boxing has a very diverse collection of characters willing to speak their mind, letting the boxing fans as well as the media know exactly what they think about the state of affairs around them. Brandon Rios has dedicated his time and efforts to progress in the sport of boxing, and he sure has gone far. With an impressive record of (31-1-1) with a 70% knockout rate, his only loss came in March of this year, when Rios had lost a close unanimous decision to Mike Alvarado.
Rios has a big heart and his commitment inside the ring is unquestioned. Still, most of the boxing community has already decided that Rios will add yet another loss to his record when he faces Manny Pacquiao on November 23, 2013.
The giant Ukrainian boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko has taken the heavyweight division hostage. His smart and well seasoned approach to using his size as an advantage, popping his thundering long-reaching jab, he seems to be able to overcome his competition with certain ease and comfort in the ring. He is effective, there is no argument there. He is exceptionally smart and careful in the ring, at least ever since his losses to Sanders and Brewster. His 1-2 combination, if lands clean, has a devastating outcome for his rival. There is one thing missing from Wladimir’s arsenal of skills: the ability of making the fights exciting.
For years now, boxing fans as well as the media have given the younger Klitschko a hard time about his lackluster action in the ring. Whether it’s throwing jabs the entire fight, or leaning on his opponents tying them up, the audience is rarely pleased with his effort to please them.
Alexander Povetkin’s trainer Alexandr Zimin has recently suggested that he doesn’t like the idea of having international boxing trainers helping out.
“Overall I think that that future training camp will not change much, but the help of American specialists will be slimmed down; there is no effect from it. They ruined our entire effort. Trainers along with Stacey McKinley arrived three weeks prior to the fight against Klitschko and started assigning exercises, that should be done three months before a fight,” said Zimin to gorodokboxing.com.
As expected, the blame game starts to formulate. Losing such a high profile fight is not easy for anyone. It’s hard for the fighter, and is also unpleasant for the entire team. But who is responsible? Did the fighter not follow the plan? Or was the trainer formulated plan simply the wrong one?
Before facing Alexander Povetkin, it was quite a while since Wladimir Klitschko was placed against a formidable opponent with the promise of an exciting match. Most of Wladimir’s opponents were written off by the boxing community before the first bell ever rang, similar to how Mike Tyson used to tune the boxing public to believe that the fight was never going to be competitive.
That was until one of the biggest and most important challenges to Wladimir Klitschko was signed as his competitor. Alexander Povetkin was supposed to be the fighter to give Klitschko trouble, and possibly expose his so called glass chin once again. Not only did people show interest in that fight, but the event itself yielded record profits. Moscow was buzzing with excitement during the build-up, and even more so during fight night.
Degrading physical attributes due to inevitable aging, is generally the main reason for fighters losing their fights and being forced into retirement. Some believe that it’s the boxing abilities that abandon a fighter first, but in reality, technical ability is more than just muscle memory, over time it gets hardwired into one’s brain and forgetting it requires a very long period of inactivity.
Juan Manuel Marquez hasn’t displayed a decline of either physical or technical aptitude yet. Every one of his fights is not only competitive, but also consistently crown pleasing. His ability to box as well as brawl makes him a very unpredictable challenger. At the age of 40, his experience and participation in the fight game is legendary. As far as his late career goes, his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the only one that cannot be disputed or questions by the fans.