FORMER AUSTRALIAN AND COMMONWEALTH BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPION AND WORLD TITLE CHALLENGER BELIEVES PACQUIAO IS THE BEST FIGHTER AROUND
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 29 Jul 2010
Paul Ferreri.
One of the classiest boxers produced by Australia, Paul Ferreri, who reigned as Australian bantamweight champion for almost 16 years and was also the Commonwealth 118 pound champion besides winning the Australian featherweight title and gave undefeated Mexican KO specialist Carlos Zarate the fight of his life, believes Manny Pacquiao ?pound for pound is the best fighter there is around today and the most popular too.?
In an interview with Viva Sports for the boxing show ?The Main Event? Ferreri who was born on the island of Sicily in 1948 and migrated to Australia in 1952 and made his pro debut in 1968 said ?they are going to find it very hard to pick a fighter that would beat Manny Pacquiao at this stage. I can?t see anybody coming up at the moment that will beat him.?
Ferreri who is visiting the Philippines on holiday with top Australian promoter and TV host Peter Maniatis told us ?I don?t know whether Floyd Mayweather Jr may have a chance but I don?t think so. My opinion is that Pacquiao will knock Mayweather out and maybe that?s one of the reasons why Mayweather doesn?t want to fight him at this stage and I don?t think he?ll ever fight hm.?
Ferreri recalled that he had ?quite a few fights against Filipinos and its good to be back here because there are good memories.?
His biggest win in the Philippines was against Rolando Navarette on June 26, 1976 when Ferreri scored a ten round decision over the hard-hitting Filipino at the Cebu Coliseum.
He said Navarette was ?a very renowned fighter , a KO boxer and I had to be aware of it. It?s a little vague at this time because it was a long time ago but I did win the fight. I out-boxed him because I had to do that cause you never know, although I?ve been with a lot of big punchers. But they are the ones I like fighting because I think I handle them quite well.?
He recalled that it was the same when he fought Mexico?s renowned KO artist Carlos Zarate for the WBC bantamweight title in Los Angeles and lost in a classic battle while it lasted before he suffered a TKO in the 12th round of the 15 round bout. Richard Steele, who was officiating in his first world title bout, was the referee.
Ferreri said at that time Zarate had won 41 fights with 40 knockouts but said ?he didn?t really hurt me at any time so I don?t know the reason how he knocks out people.? He said that ? unfortunately I ran into a straight left and was cut rather badly. He must have connected perfectly because it cut the eye and I had problems and couldn?t do what I wanted to. I tried to prolong the fight as long as I could but unfortunately it didn?t go my way and the referee stopped the fight in the 12th round. At that time I was the only fighter to go that distance with Zarate. It was quite an achievement.?
Looking back on his career in which he faced a number of Filipinos aside from Navarrette, Ferreri said ?of course fighting Zarate was the ultimate for me and fighting for the Commonwealth title and also the Australian bantamweight title which I held for 18 years which may be a world record since I don?t know of any other fighter who has been a national champion for 18 years. I had a lovely time in those 20 years, retired when I was 39 because my boxing license was going to expire at 40 anyway. I had a lovely time over the years travelling around the world and I really loved boxing and all the attributes that come along with it.?
Ferreri who was inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006 said he loves traveling to the Philippines ?because the people are very nice and very hospitable and I am glad to be back here again. Things haven?t changed much but the people are so lovely.?
Ferreri's first fight against a Filipino was against Isidro Vicera who was disqualified in the tenth round on May 11, 1970 at the Festival Hall in Melbourne. He then beat Floro Ybanez over 10 rounds at the same venue on November 16, 1970 before being held to a ten round draw by Willie Cordova on March 22, 1971.
Ferreri lost to Cordova who had a record of 18-8-4 with 8 knockouts in a rematch on June 7, 1971 before scoring a 10 round decision over Neptali Alamag on June 30, 1978.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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