Sunday, November 21, 2010

Bill Simmons Doubles Down and Sundry Boxing Comments

First, fresh off of calling for the scalp of one of boxing's faves, Bill Simmons doubles down on last week's boxing silliness and demands the fight that no one is asking for, Pacquiao vs. Pavlik:
Although an HGH/blood-doping scandal with Kobe remains my No. 1 pick in any "Non-Boston Sports Wish" fantasy draft, narrowly edging a Manny Pacquiao-Kelly Pavlik fight and Donald Sterling selling the Clippers.
And:
The only name 168-pounder Manny could beat! RT @TerronJ Pacquiao-Pavlik? Either Pavlik owes you money or you havent watched boxing lately.
Hmmm, where to start...perhaps with the fact that Pavlik is a career middleweight and has never won a significant fight at 168? Or that he's rumored to have a drinking problem that caused him to pull out of a Brian Vera fight on Saturday? Or that Pavlik is ten inches taller, and it would be just a freak show of a fight?

While we're complaining, why are there so many people calling Sergio Martínez's knockout shot last night a left hook? We have AP, Maxboxing, and Yahoo! all calling it a left hook. He's a southpaw. Southpaws, unless they switch up, throw right hooks, and either overhand lefts or straight lefts or left crosses. The Martínez punch was either an overhand left or a left cross, but it was not a left hook.

Lastly, I think that this column discussing Manny Pacquiao as being among the very best ever is a bit premature, though you could make a case for him being among the twenty best of all time already, even higher if he beats Mayweather. That's in one sense pretty odd, because Pacquiao is certainly not the best of all time in any of the individual divisions where he's competed, and he's way down the list in the divisions that have been around for many decades (126, 135, and 147). Yet he's been consistent and powerful despite the gain in weight, to a degree that has no precedent.

2 comments:

jd said...

I summoned indignation on your behalf when I saw that Pavlik tweet.

Curious: Where do you stand on Pacman-Mayweather? Seems to me that to the very limited degree I take notice of such things, many fight fans seem surprisingly confident that Floyd would win. Somehow I doubt you agree. You might've covered this already, apologies if so...

pc said...

Thanks for the vicarious indignation.

I could see Pacquiao-Mayweather going either way. I think one thing people understate with Mayweather is how slow the pace of his fights usually is. He doesn't like to fight at a fast pace, and he's good enough and athletic enough that he can always dictate the rhythm. I don't think that would be the case Pacman because he's more athletic and more relentless than anyone Mayweather has ever squared off with. Mayweather's also much more selective on offense than he used to be, mostly just on or two punches, and guys who have fought Pacquiao well tend to answer his combos with their own, while guys who try and wait and hit him with one good shot just get outgunned. I wouldn't be shocked if that was just way too much for Mayweather, if at this point in his career he can't handle such volume and athleticism.

But Mayweather also presents a challenge for Pacquiao that he's never seen, and I could see Mayweather moving circles around him and hitting him from distance in a boring win. But the more I think about it, I just don't think so. Mayweather's great on d, but his turtle shell and shoulder roll d won't work against a guy who throws as many punches and from as many angles as Pacquiao, and he'll have to find away to answer Pacquio's offense. I think Mayweather would have to land a huge shot to beat Pacquiao, and I'd bet against that.