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Pacquiao Cements Best P4P Reputation At Hatton’s Expense
RingWise by Scott Yaniga
After the first minute of the recent Ricky Hatton-Manny Pacquiao tiff, it only became of matter of when ‘Pac Man’ would starch the Britisher, not IF he would. While the pre-fight odds favored Pacquiao (bettors rooting for the favorite had to lay $250 to win $100), and many fight game cognoscenti figured the Fightin’ Filipino to eventually lay waste to the pallid U.K’er, absolutely no one was prepared for the brutal and sudden demolition of the heretofore resilient Hatton.
Within the first sixty seconds of the opening bell–which saw a strangely haggard-looking Hatton go after his foe with murderous, if ineffective, intent, scintillating southpaw Pacquiao immediately countered and penetrated the Brit’s guard with a blistering assortment of punches. With less than a minute left in the first, Manny slipped a Hatton jab and sent Ricky face first into the canvas with a textbook right hook. Arising at the count of eight, Hatton looked bewildered, and unsuccessfully attempted to elude Pacquiao, who trapped Hatton in his own corner and put him down for a second time, this coming by way of a vicious straight left. After again receiving the mandatory eight from ref Kenny Bayless, who looked ready to halt the proceedings right there, Hatton arose and stubbornly traded shots with Pacquiao.
Between rounds it was obvious that Hatton was a hurt fighter, as he barely acknowledged his corner’s commands. With the start of the second stanza, Pacquiao showed steely patience as he deftly avoided a desperate, lunging attack from Hatton and sized his man up for a finishing blow. As Hatton tried grappling Pacquiao, trying to turn the fight into a brawl, Manny cooly kept his guard up and countered occasionally. Towards the end of the second Manny drilled home a punishing right jab and quickly sent a short left cross into Hatton’s mush, sending him crashing into the canvas, the back of Ricky’s head making a resounding thud. Bayless didn’t bother with a count, simply waving the fight over as medical personnel rushed into the ring to aid the stricken Hatton.
It was several minutes and much medical attention before Hatton was able to show signs of life to a now-relieved crowd at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand. A jubilant Pacquiao picked up the RING Magazine junior welterweight championship belt and cemented his current standing as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today.
Besides the shockingly-quick and easy demolition of Hatton, who managed to suffer through almost ten rounds of punishment before being TKO’d by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in their 2007 welterweight title bout, a quick rundown of Pacquiao’s ring accomplishments over the last six or seven years gives ample ammunition to those who prop him up as an all-time great; heady stuff for a 30-year old fighter.
After making his American debut as a super bantamweight (122 pounds) back in June, 2001, stopping African Lehlo Ledwaba in six rounds to lift his IBF title (Pacquiao had already held the WBC flyweight diadem), Manny gained many American fight fans for his reckless, power-packed displays, ones that usually featured blood, sometimes even his own. Such was the case when in his first bout after the Ledwaba win Manny took on seasoned Agapito Sanchez. In a super bantam match that equaled anything featherweights Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler threw at each other in their legendary, foul-filled bouts of the 1950's, the late Sanchez and Manny used an assortment of low blows, elbows and foreheads, culminating in a six round technical draw.
After that, Pacquiao made three successful defenses of his belt before meeting Marco Antonio Barrera in November, 2003. In that one Manny fairly dominated and punished Barrera, with the Mexican’s corner finally throwing in the towel in the 11th round. Manny followed that impressive win up with a May, 2004 challenge of world featherweight champ Juan Manuel Marquez. That one went the full, scintillating 12 rounds, with Marquez retaining his title with a draw. What shocked everyone watching the fight was the Mexican champ’s ability to rise from the three knockdowns that Pacquiao scored on him in the opening round, going on to give as good as get for the remainder of the bout.
Manny engaged yet another legendary Mexican, super featherweight champion Erik Morales, in a trilogy of action fights that saw Pacquiao lose the first via close 12 round decision; win the second by scoring a 10th round TKO, and finish things with a flourish in the rubber match, scoring a vicious 3rd round knockout.
He then took on Barrera again, this time taking a clear-cut decision win and effectively ending Barrera’s time as a world class fighter. Manny took a squeaker of a split 12 round duke over Juan Manuel Marquez in their March, 2008 rematch, then stepped up to the lightweight division to relieve David Diaz of his WBC belt via 9th round TKO in June of the same year. These auspicious wins set up the mega fight with ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya that December, and saw Oscar receive the most sustained and brutal beating of his long, illustrious career.
Moving back down to the 140-pound limit in taking on Hatton, there were many who felt that Pacquiao had fattened his record at the expense of old and/or war-worn battlers such as Oscar, Marquez and Morales. They could make no such argument for Hatton, whose only loss came against Mayweather in their 2007 bout. Prior to that Hatton had been the long time ruler of the junior welters, even ending the great Kostya Tszyu’s career back in 2005 via a brutal 11th round stoppage win. It was argued that Hatton was the naturally stronger, bigger guy, more used to fighting at the 140-pound limit. That was hardly the case in this one as Pacquiao easily mauled and clutched with Hatton when the Britisher attempted to go phone-booth style on him. Manny also looked like the ‘After’ picture in a Charles Atlas muscle-building ad, whereas poor, pale and drawn Hatton resembled the guy getting sand kicked in his face by the bully.
After viewing this particular fight, it can be safely said that there is currently no one in this weight class that will offer a serious challenge to Pacquiao. And while former undefeated welterweight boss Floyd Mayweather, Jr. announced his comeback with a July, 2009 bout against Juan Manuel Marquez in a catchweight bout around the 140-pound mark, he is a fair distance away from being ready to take on Pacquiao, assuming, that is, that he gets past Marquez with no great difficulty. If he does score big over the popular Mexican action fighter, look for a Pacquiao-Mayweather, Jr. championship bout to be the biggest event of the summer of 2010.
Ring Wise Trivia Question: Even though there have been a few sons who followed their fathers’ footsteps into the squared circle, one duo shares the unfortunate distinction of both being knocked out by the same man, many years apart. Can you name the father, son and opponent? Hint: The victor has a “Jersey” connection.
When we think of the world of boxing and its inhabitants, probably the last thing we consider is the intellect of the persons wearing the gloves and trunks. Yet, by virtue of writing two of the best books on two of boxing’s most compelling figures; writing a regular city side column for The New York POST; being a political activist and campaigner for Bobby Kennedy, as well as being a regular at legendary literary boite, Elaine’s, former world light heavyweight champion Jose “Chequi” Torres transcended the sport and became a man of letters.
Torres, also the New York State Athletic Commissioner for several years in the 1980’s, passed away in his home in Ponce, Puerto Rico on January 19th, leaving behind a legacy of not only fistic, but intellectual talent seldom seen in this, or any other sport. He was the author of ‘Sting Like A Butterfly’, one of the best biographies about Muhammad Ali, as well as ‘Fire and Fear’, a fine study of a young, troubled Mike Tyson.
Always a popular figure on the New York boxing scene after retiring from the ring wars, one was guaranteed to witness a loud, boisterous ovation any time Torres was introduced in the ring at Madison Square Garden, it’s little brother in the basement–The Felt Forum, or at Sunnyside Gardens in Queens. He was part of the great New York City triumvirate of champions that included world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson and world lightweight champion Carlos Ortiz, all of whom received heroes’ welcomes when attending the fights.
It was a love affair that never really ended for Jose Torres.
Around ten years ago, the champ came to the place of business where I toiled in mid-Manhattan, expecting to have lunch with my boss, fight manager and boxing film magnate, Bill Cayton. Cayton had gotten delayed at another meeting uptown and had to beg off his luncheon date, leaving Torres sitting in our waiting area. I had a passing acquaintance with him, having made several video reels of his fights for him to show to friends and family, but was unprepared when he entered my work area and said, “My friend, have you had lunch?” Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity.
Walking the several blocks distance to the unassuming spot Torres picked in the Garment District for our meal, our journey was stopped at least half a dozen times by an assortment of New York’s working class. A doorman here, a bicycle messenger there, a man pushing a rack of dresses, a UPS man waving and shouting from his truck, and one older gent who stopped in front of ‘Chequi’ and then squared off with him in pantomine, smiling all the while. Mostly all were of Latino extraction, and all looked thrilled to see and speak to him. Torres’ gracious demeanor towards his street-side fans never wavered, his broad, flat-nosed face creased deeply with a smile as he chatted easily in Spanish and signed a couple of autographs. The adulation continued at the restaurant as one of the busboys–a guy at least as old as the Champ–and one of the cooks, a guy younger than the sports coat Torres was wearing–came over to our side of the counter to talk to him in rapid-fire Spanish.
It was remarkable to me that he would still be enjoying the kind of attention after all the years of being out of the spotlight, but then I realized that Torres, long an advocate for the working class Hispanics in New York, had never really been out of the consciousness of “his” people. He wrote, broadcast and made personal appearances on behalf of many social causes within the Latino community, and was as revered in 1999 as he was in 1969.
Lunch didn’t allow for many discoveries about Torres the man or Torres the boxing champion, with the conversation being dominated by the subject of Mike Tyson, who back then was serving a second stint in prison, this one for beating up two motorists after a traffic altercation. Torres was one of the inner circle around a young, pre-championship Tyson, when his awesome talents were still being honed in the incubator known as Catskill, New York, by his old trainer and Svengali, Cus D’Amato.. He had great insight into what made Tyson work, as exhibited by some of the recollections contained within ‘Fire and Fear’.
Torres was not angry at Tyson for flushing away one of the most promising legacies in boxing history; he was more disappointed and sad at what could have been. He was saddened that the life plan as laid out by the late D’Amato was now trashed, along with Tyson’s career.
Jose Torres was born in Playa Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1936, represented the United States in the 1956 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, where he settled for a silver medal, losing to the legendary Lazlo Papp in the finals of the light middleweight division. After the Olympics, he was trained by the eccentric genius Cus D’Amato and worked out of the Grammercy Gym that D’Amato owned on 14th Street in New York City. Torres continued to excel in the amateur ranks, winning both a National AAU title, as well as the 1958 New York City Golden Gloves Open title in the 160-lb. division. Torres, fighting at the middleweight limit, turned pro in May of that year, knocking out Gene Hamilton in the first round at the old Eastern Parkway Arena in Brooklyn.
After reeling off twenty-seven straight wins with 20 knockouts, Torres hit a brief roadblock in his career when he was dispatched in five rounds against the lethal-punching Florentino Fernandez in Puerto Rico on May 25, 1963. It would be the only stoppage suffered in his career, and Torres–who was smartly outboxing Fernandez until getting caught–learned from his loss, vowing never to get too cocky in the ring after that. He rebounded well, taking a hard-earned decision from the underrated Don (brother of middleweight great Gene) Fullmer in October of the same year. Torres, now fighting in the light heavyweight division, ran up seven more wins after that, including a first round blowout of former middleweight champion Carl ‘Bobo’ Olson, who by that time was a shot fighter.
The impressive win streak resulted in a title shot against smooth-boxing world light heavyweight champion Willie Pastrano in Madison Square Garden in March, 1965. The younger, better-conditioned Torres outwitted, outhit and finally stopped Pastrano via technical knockout after nine rounds of one-sided action. In an odd move, considering he had just won the world light heavyweight crown, Cus D’Amato had his man fight a non-title tenner against tough journeyman heavyweight Tom McNeeley in Puerto Rico in July, 1965. Outweighed by 25 pounds on fight night, Torres labored in the hot, humid confines of Hiram Bithorn Stadium to maneuver away and box McNeeley from a distance. McNeeley had no fear of Torres knocking him out, so he took the fight to Jose, mauling him on the inside and using a variety of elbows, shoulders, kidney punches and other assorted, mischievous fistic moves to make Torres’ night a long one. While he won the decision, many felt that it was this fight that had ruined Torres in some ways, taking away his formidable sense of self-confidence and pride. In winning a meaningless, non-title bout against a fringe heavyweight contender, Torres and his psyche had been mugged by the rough house tactics of the bigger, stronger McNeeley.
It was thought that D’Amato had designs on Torres eventually fighting Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight title, an obsession he suffered with since another of his fighters, Floyd Patterson, had lost the title to Sonny Liston in 1963. But the foray against McNeeley–no Ali he–cured him of any such fantasies. Torres then defended his title successfully three times before losing to fellow Hall of Famer Dick Tiger in December, 1966 at Madison Square Garden. The aggressive Tiger tamed his prey, as a reluctant Torres allowed the talented Nigerian to dictate the pace and intensity of the fight, losing the decision by three wide votes. Their rematch in May, 1967, again at the Garden, was a complete turnaround as a well-conditioned and hungry Torres, his pride stung by losing championship gold the last time out, met Tiger head on and gave a great account of himself.
The resulting split decision loss to champion Tiger resulted in a near-riot, with folding chairs, bottles and trash of all kinds being tossed into the ring. Fistfights broke out around the arena and the NYPD had to call in reserves to bring the arena under control. Torres took almost a year off, coming back in April, 1968 to stop the unheralded Australian Bob Dunlop in six rounds in Sydney.
On July 14, 1969, Torres was scheduled to fight Buffalo’s Fightin’ Jimmy Ralston at Madison Square Garden. Ralston injured his elbow right before the fight and had to check into a hospital, leaving Torres with no opponent for the night. Charlie ‘Devil’ Green, a sparring partner for Torres, was convinced to substitute for Ralston, assuaged somewhat by the promise of some quick cash and Torres’ assurance that he would take it easy on him.
Near the end of the first round, following some routine jabs, body shots and blocked punches, Torres went heavy into Green’s body, causing the unpredictable (Green would eventually be convicted of murdering three people in a drug-fueled rampage) club fighter to lose his temper and flail out at Torres with a quick combination, putting the ex-champ on the canvas. He was revived enough to come out for the second round and quickly found himself confronted with a Green who was seeking the biggest win of his mediocre career. Torres summoned up the champion’s reserve he still had inside him, landing a beautiful and devastating five-punch combination that put Green down and out on his face.
