THE latest in boxing is not Manny Pacquiao reportedly fighting again this year, nor Eumir Felix Marcial deciding to turn professional after getting lured, allegedly, to a P10-million signing fee. Snaring Marcial is Pacquiao himself through his MP Promotions.
But to be sure, Pacquiao had done boxing wrong.
In fact, history’s only eight-time world division champion made Marcial an instant millionaire without Marcial throwing a punch. And here’s the catch: Despite turning professional, Marcial can continue chasing his Olympic boxing gold since rules now allow professionals to compete in the quadrennial Games. And Marcial has said it so with conviction.
In short, what Pacquiao had actually done was give Marcial one million reasons to be the happiest Filipino athlete this year and, in the process, also award Philippine boxing with a gift that more than inspired one of its own to triple, even quadruple, his efforts to snag that elusive first Olympic gold for the country.
Raise a glass, again, to Pacquiao, please?
Next, what’s this talk about Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. slugging it out in an eight-round exhibition match?
The two former world heavyweight champions are set to meet on September 12 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
If true, it will be fun, nothing more.
Showbiz, what else?
It’d be slow-mo all the way.
What can we expect from oldies in a sport as brutal as boxing?
A knockout happening is pure bonus, if not illusion.
Tyson is 54, Jones 51.
OK, they’ve got credentials.
At 20, Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986, becoming the most feared fighter of his era. But his career took a nosedive with the death of Cus D’ Amato, his mentor. After losing second straight amid a litter-strewn life that included a rape conviction, Tyson quit in 2005.
When Jones won the heavyweight crown in 2003, he became the first former middleweight champion to do so in 106 years.
Expect a bit of a joke, if not an outright comedy, here. But in a pandemic-struck setting, it might as well help soothe our frayed nerves—at least. Bring it on!