Pacquiao Yearender
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 30 Dec 2011
Year 2011 saw eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao celebrate his 16th year as a prizefighter with contrasting victories over separate opponents.
As his projected multi-million dollar mega-showdown with undefeated American Floyd Mayweather remained hanging in the air, Pacquiao, who turned 33 last Dec. 11, had to settle for three-division champion Sugar Shane Mosley and Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez in a pair of bouts both held at the MGM Grand in the gambling city of Las Vegas.
The twin confrontations were the 58th and 59th for the Filipino since Pacquiao started his professional career on Jan. Jan. 22, 1995 with a four-round unanimous decision victory over Enting Ignacio in Mindoro Occidental.
The fighting congressman from Sarangani marched triumphantly over Mosley via a unanimous decision last May but was forced to the limit by Marquez by a majority verdict last November that left even his rabid fans unhappy. Up to this day, many still believed the fight could have been a draw or Marquez, the world lightweight titleholder, should have dethroned Pacquiao as the World Boxing Organization welterweight kingpin.
The double kill raised the Filipino icon?s win-loss-draw record to 54-3-2 with 38 knockouts. Two of his three losses came via knockouts ? against Rustico Torrecampo a year after he debuted as a pro in 1996 and against Thai Medgoen Singsurat, who took his World Boxing Council flyweight crown in 1999.
His only other defeat came in hands of Mexican Erik Morales in 2005. Pacquiao more than made up for this by stopping his tormentor twice the next two times they squared off in 2006.
That 2005 drawback to Morales was his last as he followed that up with 15 straight victories, including eight KOs on the way to becoming the only man on earth to hold eight belts in as many weight divisions.
Victories over Mosley and Marquez, earned for Pacquiao a total guaranteed purse of $42 million, making him the highest paid athlete in 2011, a distinction he shared with Major League Baseball campaigner Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees a year before.
The fight with Mosley generated 1.34 million pay-per-view buys. A slight increase to 1.4 in his third encounter with Marquez marked the fourth straight year that a Pacquiao fight pulled at least a million ppv hits since 2008 when he stopped Oscar de la Hoya to register 1.25 million cable buys.
It was the first year that Pacquiao batted 100 percent in accounting at least a million pay-per-view hits in his outings.
Besides extending his hold of the 147-pound belt, Pacquiao, likewise, kept his no. 1 spot in the Ring Magazine?s best pound-for-pound fighters list despite howl of protests from some sectors including that of Mayweather.
Mayweather toppled him though from that position in several sites on the strength of his unimpressive showing against Marquez.
Such unimpressive performance, in fact, led the ever boastful 42-fight winner Mayweather to announce he?s willing to fight Pacquiao, whom he had been continuously ducking for three years.
At a time though when it looked clear that the super-fight, which the whole of boxing world craves and could guarantee both at least $50 million each, would finally be realized came a court?s decision jailing the unbeaten American for no more than 90 days for assaulting his ex-girlfriend in front of their children.
The verdict, handed down by Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa further sent into thin air what has been perceived as boxing?s ?fight of the century,? that had been aborted twice already due to misunderstanding on several issues submitted by both camps. Judge Saragosa?s verdict, which takes effect Jan. 6 next year will have American behind bars until April 2 and, if his lawyers decide to make an appeal can delayed the realization of the fight the entire boxing universe has been wanting.
With Mayweather in hiatus, the Filipino ring sensation might instead opt to face Marquez for the fourth time or Tim Bradley or other challengers in May.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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