Uncle, can a mismatch be far behind?
You’ve also started to believe Manny Pacquiao’s world welterweight boxing title defense against New Yorker Chris Algieri has the makings of a budding classic?
Hold it, and listen, please.
“A feather-fisted stringbean is not exactly synonymous with the hard-hitting Rocky character emblazoned across the world’s imagination by the movie series, but the (Bob) Arum machine keeps throwing slop against the wall in the hope that something will stick before fight night.”
Yeah man, but that’s not the great Jimmy Cannon or the immortal Red Smith. It’s the famous novelist Ivan G. Goldman from the pulpit.
He did not put it frankly, but it’s his way of warning that there’s no great bout waiting to play out at the Venetian in Macau next Sunday. Instead, it’s the glaring promise of a mismatch, if not a tasteless tuneup, that lurks a full week before the over-hyped bout.
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Continued Mr. Goldman: “It’s disingenious to put this bout on pay-per-view and pretend there’s suspense involved. Pacquiao is faster, stronger, more skilled and, yes, bigger… Trying to sell this event has placed Arum in a protracted lying mode. These days deception drips off his tongue at the speed of sound, pounding the listener’s ears with thundering fabrications.”
Can Arum, 81, himself listen and hear?
Jerry Izenberg, columnist emeritus, fuels the displeasure by drawing a stern quote from trainer Freddie Roach who went on to detail how terribly ill-equipped Algieri is for the world championship.
Roach: “I give Algieri 100 percent off guts. But on the other hand he is not much of a puncher. Don’t think he could break an egg and he’s hittable. His trainer Tim Lane says he will hurt Manny—hurt him bad. But I don’t see how or with what. He just doesn’t have any tools for that.”
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Himself speaking, Algieri said he would like to dominate Pacquiao with pressure, jab and high volume activity.
Trainer Lane also suggested Algieri, supposedly improving with each fight, could just unlock his full potential on fight night.
Roach, calling Lane a nice guy who tried to help him with his Parkinson’s problem, said Algieri’s trainer also believes in voodoo and magic.
