I WATCHED two YouTube videos yesterday.
The first was the weigh-in. Doesn’t Keith Thurman look ripped and scary? But don’t they all do? Flexing his muscles and staring at Manny Pacquiao as if to say, I want to crucify you!
And don’t all of Pacman’s opponents trash-talk? Like Trump, they boast and bully with their mouth. But the experienced Manny has witnessed this pre-fight routine on countless occasions. He’s calm.
How about Chavit Singson at the center? Talk about “positioning.”
The second YouTube video that I watched was Pacman’s fight against Lehlo Ledwaba. Who? If you don’t know Pacman’s full history, then you have to know this: Back in 2001, Manny was an unknown 22-year-old who had fought only three times outside the Philippines, including a 1999 loss against Medgoen Singsurat when he failed to make weight and was knocked out.
In June 2001, Manny happened to be in California and, with just two weeks’ notice, fought Ledwaba. Unprepared, Manny scores a TKO in the sixth round to become world champ.
That was 18 years ago.
I return to that fight because if you haven’t seen it yet (or even if you have), watch it. Quinito Henson wrote about that bout in his “Manny, Thurman ready for weigh-in” article yesterday:
“‘When I went to Freddie’s gym in 2001, I asked to have a couple of rounds with the mitts,’ Pacquiao said. “We liked each other, the way I threw punches. We weren’t looking for a fight. We just came for a vacation. We came from San Francisco and rode a Greyhound bus to L. A. Then, there was a fight between (IBF superbantamweight champion Lehlo) Ledwaba against a challenger (Enrique Sanchez). The challenger got injured and was cut in sparring so he couldn’t fight. I was already in the US so I volunteered to fight the champion with two weeks notice. They thought I might not be prepared for the fight but before I came over, I had just fought in the Philippines.”
When opportunity knocked... Pacman knocked-out the champ.
Thurman has this same opportunity today. And he likens this bout to the Pacquiao vs. Oscar de la Hoya fight when the then-30-year-old Pacquiao put to retirement the Golden Boy.
“I believe boxing is in a new era. Come (Saturday), Pacquiao will disappear,” Thurman said. “He’ll always be remembered in the sport, but I’m doing to Manny Pacquiao what he did to Oscar De La Hoya.”
Pacquiao’s response? He said Thurman is lucky because he only has one job, which is to train for the bout. While Manny has three jobs: As a boxer. As a senator. And he mentioned one more:
“I am going to be Keith Thurman’s teacher,” Pacquiao said. “I have heard everything he has said about me. I have heard everything he has said he will do to me in the fight. Those things he says about me do not make me angry. They inspire me. This has been the best training camp I have had in years. Keith Thurman thinks he is going to retire me. I am not ready to look back. I am still looking forward.”