By Lyle Fitzsimmons
This wasn’t at all what I’d planned for the week.
As I enjoyed a flex-time Monday off from the real-life day job, my intent for this very column was to do a West Coast interview with a budding filmmaker in the evening, assemble a few other notes and put together 1,000 or so words of ersatz brilliance as I revved up for Jets-Patriots on ESPN.
But some weeks – as Rex Ryan can now surely attest – are better than others.
As I waited for a few pre-interview logistics to work themselves out, I tooled over to check the latest goings-on at Facebook, where several of my colleagues periodically coagulate for discussions of all things boxing – be they historic, futuristic or controversial in nature.
In fact, my most stimulating Internet stays of late have been in the cyber company of Buffalo-area guru Rick Glaser, who doles out a series of rapid-fire trivia questions each day to test the short-term recall of the 2,800 or so users whom he claims as “friends.”
When it comes to Rick’s contests… sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, sometimes it rains.
I’m actually still smarting about not being first to chime in with Bells Supermarkets as the answer to a recent query: “When Boom Boom Mancini fought Livingstone Bramble in Buffalo on June 1, 1984, what very different sponsor was used that night, never used before, and never since, for a major fight?”
It was my first pro fight and I’m a Buffalo-area guy, too, so I figured I should have had it.
Problem is… someone else beat me to the punch.
But as it turns out, none of all that actually pertains to what became my substitute topic.
Instead, while meandering elsewhere on Facebook, I stumbled across a discussion thread in which the argument was being foisted that Manny Pacquiao was again worthy of recognition as Fighter of the Year in 2010 – for a would-be record-setting fourth time.
I paused, reread the premise and immediately scanned the context to see if it author was serious.
Upon comprehending within a few moments that he was… voila!
I had a brand-new rant to go with.
And as I sit here 24 or so hours later, I still can’t believe someone actually suggested it in the first place.
I mean, c’mon folks… the guy’s undeniably great. I know he’s a congressman. I know he smiles a lot. And I know he’s pounded the gumption out of some pretty fair fighters while skipping through the rungs on the weight-class ladder in the last couple years.
But when, I ask… is enough, enough?
When does personality blur performance? When does reputation trump record?
If my colleagues at the Boxing Writers Association of America do vote his way again, I’ll have my answer.
If they pick Pac over someone far more deserving – Sergio Martinez, for example –it’ll be confirmed for me that the power of the Filipino rock star has officially crossed the boundaries of reason.
While I concede Pacquiao’s routs of former 147-pound belt-holders Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito were indeed noteworthy for a guy who started out among flyweights, the fact remains that the jewel of the Top Rank stable was a prohibitive favorite to whip both men… which he did.
Going in, it would have been far bigger news if he’d lost than won. And coming out, the wins are really no more noteworthy than the ho-hum beatdowns by the Klitschko boys 100 pounds north.
Last I heard, no one was claiming Vitali or Wlad were worthy of special commendation.
Meanwhile, Argentine stylist Martinez began 2010 on the heels of a close December loss to Paul Williams, for which he was rewarded with a shot at Kelly Pavlik – the Ohio hero who’d been prepping for a big run of his own after two middling defenses of the middleweight domain in 2009.
Lest we forget, the sturdy Pavlik was a 2-to-1 favorite of Las Vegas bettors going in and the choice of nearly 44 percent of message-board respondents to win by stoppage against a foe who’d been KO’d by Margarito in 2000 and had carried 159 pounds just once before in a 48-bout career.
Twelve rounds later, perceptions had changed.
Still, champion or not, when Martinez climbed into the ring for a Williams redux in Atlantic City in November, he was no better than an iffy proposition to reverse the previous result against a freakish foil long deemed worthy of the media title “world’s most avoided” fighter.
The confident Williams claimed a full training camp would make all the difference in a second go-round, as opposed to the abbreviated prep time he’d had after his own 2009 match with Pavlik fell through.
As it turned out, the encore barely lasted 4 minutes.
With one jolting left hand, Martinez not only dispatched his overblown challenger and cemented a place in every reputable P4P top 10, but he also placed himself at the front of the legitimate – and Mayweather-free – line to stand in against Pacquiao in the New Year’s biggest event.
While the wiser heads in the Arum posse will likely steer clear for already-tilled welterweight ground, their bald-faced boardroom snub shouldn’t be joined in the voting booth by objective and grounded BWAA members who really ought to know better.
When ballot time comes up soon, I’m confident they’ll choose accomplishment over adoration.
And if not, at least the idea of a Sven Ottke/Canastota premise will no longer be a bloggable offense.
This wasn’t at all what I’d planned for the week.
As I enjoyed a flex-time Monday off from the real-life day job, my intent for this very column was to do a West Coast interview with a budding filmmaker in the evening, assemble a few other notes and put together 1,000 or so words of ersatz brilliance as I revved up for Jets-Patriots on ESPN.
But some weeks – as Rex Ryan can now surely attest – are better than others.
As I waited for a few pre-interview logistics to work themselves out, I tooled over to check the latest goings-on at Facebook, where several of my colleagues periodically coagulate for discussions of all things boxing – be they historic, futuristic or controversial in nature.
In fact, my most stimulating Internet stays of late have been in the cyber company of Buffalo-area guru Rick Glaser, who doles out a series of rapid-fire trivia questions each day to test the short-term recall of the 2,800 or so users whom he claims as “friends.”
When it comes to Rick’s contests… sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, sometimes it rains.
I’m actually still smarting about not being first to chime in with Bells Supermarkets as the answer to a recent query: “When Boom Boom Mancini fought Livingstone Bramble in Buffalo on June 1, 1984, what very different sponsor was used that night, never used before, and never since, for a major fight?”
It was my first pro fight and I’m a Buffalo-area guy, too, so I figured I should have had it.
Problem is… someone else beat me to the punch.
But as it turns out, none of all that actually pertains to what became my substitute topic.
Instead, while meandering elsewhere on Facebook, I stumbled across a discussion thread in which the argument was being foisted that Manny Pacquiao was again worthy of recognition as Fighter of the Year in 2010 – for a would-be record-setting fourth time.
I paused, reread the premise and immediately scanned the context to see if it author was serious.
Upon comprehending within a few moments that he was… voila!
I had a brand-new rant to go with.
And as I sit here 24 or so hours later, I still can’t believe someone actually suggested it in the first place.
I mean, c’mon folks… the guy’s undeniably great. I know he’s a congressman. I know he smiles a lot. And I know he’s pounded the gumption out of some pretty fair fighters while skipping through the rungs on the weight-class ladder in the last couple years.
But when, I ask… is enough, enough?
When does personality blur performance? When does reputation trump record?
If my colleagues at the Boxing Writers Association of America do vote his way again, I’ll have my answer.
If they pick Pac over someone far more deserving – Sergio Martinez, for example –it’ll be confirmed for me that the power of the Filipino rock star has officially crossed the boundaries of reason.
While I concede Pacquiao’s routs of former 147-pound belt-holders Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito were indeed noteworthy for a guy who started out among flyweights, the fact remains that the jewel of the Top Rank stable was a prohibitive favorite to whip both men… which he did.
Going in, it would have been far bigger news if he’d lost than won. And coming out, the wins are really no more noteworthy than the ho-hum beatdowns by the Klitschko boys 100 pounds north.
Last I heard, no one was claiming Vitali or Wlad were worthy of special commendation.
Meanwhile, Argentine stylist Martinez began 2010 on the heels of a close December loss to Paul Williams, for which he was rewarded with a shot at Kelly Pavlik – the Ohio hero who’d been prepping for a big run of his own after two middling defenses of the middleweight domain in 2009.
Lest we forget, the sturdy Pavlik was a 2-to-1 favorite of Las Vegas bettors going in and the choice of nearly 44 percent of message-board respondents to win by stoppage against a foe who’d been KO’d by Margarito in 2000 and had carried 159 pounds just once before in a 48-bout career.
Twelve rounds later, perceptions had changed.
Still, champion or not, when Martinez climbed into the ring for a Williams redux in Atlantic City in November, he was no better than an iffy proposition to reverse the previous result against a freakish foil long deemed worthy of the media title “world’s most avoided” fighter.
The confident Williams claimed a full training camp would make all the difference in a second go-round, as opposed to the abbreviated prep time he’d had after his own 2009 match with Pavlik fell through.
As it turned out, the encore barely lasted 4 minutes.
With one jolting left hand, Martinez not only dispatched his overblown challenger and cemented a place in every reputable P4P top 10, but he also placed himself at the front of the legitimate – and Mayweather-free – line to stand in against Pacquiao in the New Year’s biggest event.
While the wiser heads in the Arum posse will likely steer clear for already-tilled welterweight ground, their bald-faced boardroom snub shouldn’t be joined in the voting booth by objective and grounded BWAA members who really ought to know better.
When ballot time comes up soon, I’m confident they’ll choose accomplishment over adoration.
And if not, at least the idea of a Sven Ottke/Canastota premise will no longer be a bloggable offense.
