Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner | Scott Heritage
Manny Pacquiao has been the consensus number one pound for pound fighter in the world for the past couple of years now and has few rivals. When he either retires or gets beaten though, there will no doubt be new names vying for the top position in the sport.
In the immediate future, the only real contender there appears to be if Floyd Mayweather Jr. who has been at the top of the rankings before. His only path back to the top would probably be to get through Pacquiao though which could be problematic given the result of the last time the pair tried to put a fight together.
Should they come to terms in the future though, and should Mayweather win, which he was an early favorite to do, then he would once again top the list. Someone like Mosley or even Josh Clottey might beat Pacquiao, but have too many losses on their records for much to be made of it outside the welterweight division. Not to mention they have size and strength advantages against Pacquiao anyway.
Bernie Walker, Pittsburgh PA: "Pacquiao's fans will all be crying when their little roid monster gets picked apart by a real boxer like Floyd Mayweather. He might have balut (aka drug) power but he won't catch Mayweather all night long, if he don't back out of the fight again"
(Scott: Bernie, I would advise you not say any of that stuff out loud if you find yourself in the Philippines anytime soon.)
Fellow Freddie Roach disciple and now latest Golden Boy signing Amir Khan is a fighter tipped for great things by many. Coming from an Olympic silver medal and now boasting a record of 22-1 and the WBA light welterweight title, Khan looks to be going places. Reportedly he even gets the better of Pacquiao sometimes in training when the pair are sparring, although of course this isn't much of an indication of how a real fight would go.
Khan is unquestionably still a work in progress at the moment, and although he has almost every tool he needs for greatness, he has yet to face any top fighters. This might change in May when he fights in America for the first time, as he will look to quickly build up his name with a marquee opponent, and that means a big step up in skill as well.
Amir and Manny are said to be friends, and coming from the same gym are very unlikely to fight each other. By the time Khan is ready for someone of Pacquiao's caliber, not to mention weight class, Manny will probably have retired anyway. Someday though, so long as Khan continues to progress under Freddie Roach as much as he has already, he might make it to the top.
Eric Waters, Pittsburgh PA: "Khan isn't the best out there, but he does have al the makings of a great champion in the future. He works with Freddie Roach, spars with Manny Pacquiao and has a great background from his amateur days"
Edwin Valero is another exciting fighter who many have pegged as an eventual successor to Manny Pacquiao, although the Venezuelan would prefer to fight him instead. Holding a slightly padded record of 27 wins and 27 KO's, Valero nevertheless proved there is some substance to his hype with a one sided crushing of Antonio DeMarco last time out.
So Valero has the desire to keep climbing the divisions and taking belts from whoever he comes across, but does he have the skill?
Not so very long ago I would have said definitely not, but it seems there is a lot more to Valero than meets the eye. In his next few fights when he will again take on bigger, stronger opponents we will see just how good his skills are if his power doesn't do the job for him. But it's a case of so far so good from Valero overall.
Suntok, via email:"Valero’s record is impressive, but I don’t know if he really fought skilled fighters. Also can Valero move to the Welterweight division? If ever Pacquiao wins over Clottey I think the next step of Pacquiao is to fight the winner of the Mosley-Mayweather bout. If Valero will get lucky he would be getting a fight with Pacquiao in 2011. Nevertheless, we really can’t say who will win but it would all defend on skills in the welterweight division. Regards to all."
At the moment then, outside of Floyd Mayweather, all Pacquiao's other challengers look to be a couple of years away from being ready at the least. The chances are pretty good that Pacquiao will retire as the pound for pound champion. But who will take the reigns from him when he's gone is an interesting thought.
Source: Examiner.com
Pacquiao vs Marquez Online Live Streaming Coverage
Friday, February 12, 2010
Highest paid international athletes
International Sports Examiner | Marv Dumon
Within the past 25 years, athletic competition at the highest levels have grown to become immensely lucrative as a profession. Thousands of hours spent in extremely rigorous training yield peak results in games, which in turn yield high dollars.
This modern reality stands in contrast to simpler days of antiquity, when many of the first Greek competitors secured sports performance relying on more natural prowess and ability. They would marvel at the daily, professionalized regimen of today's marketplace athletes.
The modern sports competitor not only exacts superior results on the field, he must maintain a regulated routine: supervised intake of vitamins, oxygen treatment, legal (and sometimes banned) performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), special diets and treatments. On and on. Then you have the product endorsements, interviews, family functions, awards dinners . . .
A Global Entity >
Today's athlete is not merely "just an individual," per se. He has transformed into a monarchical organization, attended to by security personnel, butlers, personal assistants, legal counsel, nutritionists, doctors, trainers, strength coaches, managers, and publicists. Gone are the human generalists. The specialists who "tunes up" the athlete reflect modern society's segmentation of the populace into thousands of categorized vocations. Ever heard of a zoo dentist? That's an actual job.
The peak-performing sports uber man is a brand. For some, he is a god. That is not a statement of sacrilege. In some ways, sports icons have positioned out religious figures for man's share of the mind and heart. Can you name a basketball player or boxer more popular than the Pope? I can. Several of them.
Sports, in a collective sense, has replaced something else. War. The battle is in the tennis and volleyball courts of the world. Not in Waterloo or Pearl Harbor or Gettysburg.
What's your point Dumon?
Nothing.
What made the exponential jump in earnings from the past 25 years is globalization and the awesome emergence of the conglomerate media.
Before, the nexus of power resided in:
1. the Church
2. the State
3. and the Immediate Rulers of your particular kingdom
4. Those who possessed indespensible goods (water, hunting tools, etc.)
Now, the nexus of power resides in:
1. the Media
2. the State
3. the Employer
4. the Spouse - maybe
ESPN, and its multitudes of affiliates and partnerships, as well as, its smaller competitors, have pried open previously localized markets. They have this capability - to just open up entire nations - to the ways of MTV. Imagine Iran's leaders, a generation from now, speaking in this tongue: "Dude, I gotta work today? Screw that." The media brainwashes. It may not intend to all the time, but its grip on the mind took over what was previously held by the Church. (See list.)
Brazil, India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, these markets (and their best athletes) are thrown into the mix. That hodge podge lies in the center of a digital planetary arena. A virtual bowl where the absolute best from each region compete. The best of the best. The elite of the elite. The world's cream of the crop. Sounds like a stolen thought from Top Gun.
A population of six billion people can now access the top 30 most popular sports virtually 24 hours a day. Television conveys the prioritized coverage. The internet disseminates information from a democratized media web. Sports becomes the conduit from which multi-billion dollar products and services companies extend their offerings in a hyper-competitive marketplace. Back to the purpose of the article.
Source: Examiner.com
Within the past 25 years, athletic competition at the highest levels have grown to become immensely lucrative as a profession. Thousands of hours spent in extremely rigorous training yield peak results in games, which in turn yield high dollars.
This modern reality stands in contrast to simpler days of antiquity, when many of the first Greek competitors secured sports performance relying on more natural prowess and ability. They would marvel at the daily, professionalized regimen of today's marketplace athletes.
The modern sports competitor not only exacts superior results on the field, he must maintain a regulated routine: supervised intake of vitamins, oxygen treatment, legal (and sometimes banned) performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), special diets and treatments. On and on. Then you have the product endorsements, interviews, family functions, awards dinners . . .
A Global Entity >
Today's athlete is not merely "just an individual," per se. He has transformed into a monarchical organization, attended to by security personnel, butlers, personal assistants, legal counsel, nutritionists, doctors, trainers, strength coaches, managers, and publicists. Gone are the human generalists. The specialists who "tunes up" the athlete reflect modern society's segmentation of the populace into thousands of categorized vocations. Ever heard of a zoo dentist? That's an actual job.
The peak-performing sports uber man is a brand. For some, he is a god. That is not a statement of sacrilege. In some ways, sports icons have positioned out religious figures for man's share of the mind and heart. Can you name a basketball player or boxer more popular than the Pope? I can. Several of them.
Sports, in a collective sense, has replaced something else. War. The battle is in the tennis and volleyball courts of the world. Not in Waterloo or Pearl Harbor or Gettysburg.
What's your point Dumon?
Nothing.
What made the exponential jump in earnings from the past 25 years is globalization and the awesome emergence of the conglomerate media.
Before, the nexus of power resided in:
1. the Church
2. the State
3. and the Immediate Rulers of your particular kingdom
4. Those who possessed indespensible goods (water, hunting tools, etc.)
Now, the nexus of power resides in:
1. the Media
2. the State
3. the Employer
4. the Spouse - maybe
ESPN, and its multitudes of affiliates and partnerships, as well as, its smaller competitors, have pried open previously localized markets. They have this capability - to just open up entire nations - to the ways of MTV. Imagine Iran's leaders, a generation from now, speaking in this tongue: "Dude, I gotta work today? Screw that." The media brainwashes. It may not intend to all the time, but its grip on the mind took over what was previously held by the Church. (See list.)
Brazil, India, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, these markets (and their best athletes) are thrown into the mix. That hodge podge lies in the center of a digital planetary arena. A virtual bowl where the absolute best from each region compete. The best of the best. The elite of the elite. The world's cream of the crop. Sounds like a stolen thought from Top Gun.
A population of six billion people can now access the top 30 most popular sports virtually 24 hours a day. Television conveys the prioritized coverage. The internet disseminates information from a democratized media web. Sports becomes the conduit from which multi-billion dollar products and services companies extend their offerings in a hyper-competitive marketplace. Back to the purpose of the article.
Source: Examiner.com
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