Well, for some reasons, the winners Pacquiao and Mayweather did not come to terms for their much anticipated showdown. Who’s to blame? I don’t know. Just blame it on the rain.

Now, Manny is locked to face Joshua Clottey on March 13 while ‘lil’ Floyd will face Shane Mosley by May 1. I hope we’ll see to end going back to final four after May 1.

1. Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez III

Manny Pacquiao has been on a roll since escaping a narrow split decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in March 2008. Both have given boxing fans their money’s worth in two exciting bouts in 2004 and 2008. And there’s only one reason why I’d like to see this fight happening. I want to see Marquez brutally KOed by Pacquiao to stop his loud mouth from talking.

2. Paul Williams and Kelly Pavlik

In 2009, the proposed fight for these two was nearly sealed. In 2010, I hope to see them face to face to determine who’s the real king in the 154-160 weight categories.

3. Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Angel Cotto II

Antonio Margarito hopes to have his license back this year after he was suspended for the ‘loaded gloves’ he had for the Mosley fight last year. Miguel Cotto, on the other hand hopes for redemption after a devastating defeat to Manny Pacquiao last November. The two have a ‘not so good past’ as Margarito pounded Miguel Cotto en route to a 11^th round TKO victory in July 2008. But Margarito’s win has become questionable because of the ‘loaded gloves’ incident. Now, I’d like to see if Margarito can do the same thing in a level playing field.

4. Shane Mosley vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Shane Mosley vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight talks has been around for almost a decade. I think it’s time to make it a reality. Mosley says that it’s Mayweather who doesn’t want to fight him. Mayweather says otherwise. Now, I want to see their fists do the talking in the ring. I would rather see a Mosley-Mayweather clash than Pacquiao taking on Mayweather. It’s because a Mayweather fight for Pacquiao might be too risky for the phenomenal Filipino.

5. Carl Froch vs. Bernard Hopkins

The first time I saw Bernard Hopkins in the ring was when he fought Felix Trinidad of Puerto Rico. At that time, I was a die hard Trinidad fan because of his boxing skills and ring generalship. To my dismay, Hopkins gave Trinidad a brutal beating. Since then, I have been rooting for every opponent Hopkins is facing. I think Carl Froch has more than enough to knock Hopkins out.

PHOTO COURTESY: YAHOO.COM

Now that the Juan Manuel Marquez – Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fight is over, it seems that there are more questions raised than answered. Yes, we’ve seen how Floyd Jr. fared excellently against Juan Manuel, outboxing the Mexican warrior in every angle and showing his impenetrable defense, but we have also seen the size difference between the two. 

On paper, it’s obvious that Marquez has no chance of beating Mayweather. Floyd Jr. is a natural 147 pounder who fought once at 154 lbs. with Dela Hoya on May 2007. In contrast, Marquez is a natural lightweight who has never gone beyond his limit prior to the fight. That fight was a product of poor ‘matching’. Though the contract was signed at a catch weight of 144 pounds, Floyd came to the weigh-in at 146 lbs.  He preferred to pay the $300,000 per pound excess penalty than to risk his name. What if Mayweather played fair at the weigh in? Do you think he had enough time to rehydrate himself on the fight night?  What if he chose to face a quality opponent of his size? Does Mayweather vs. Pacquiao make sense?

The only time in my life that I’ll be convinced that Mayweather can unseat Pacquiao as the number one pound for pound in boxing is when he takes on guys with the likes of Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Paul Williams and beats them badly. Taking on guys of his size, that is. Floyd’s victory over Juan Manuel doesn’t make sense. He just lived up to his name ‘Money’.

Photo Courtesy: Ringtv.com

So far, so good. We are now in the second half of the year. There are big fights coming up and deals that are about to be sealed.  But let’s take a look of what went through with boxing in the 1st half of the year. I’ve found out however, that this would be quite long. So, I have decided to have two parts. My list is not in accordance with excitement, or PPV buys or whatsoever. I have arranged this based on chronological order.

1. Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito (January 24)

After an impressive KO victory over Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito was beaten black and blue. Thanks to an even more impressive performance by Shane Mosley.  Margarito was brutally TKOed in the 9^th.  Another highlight in this fight was, actually prior to the fight, Margarito was caught having a plaster of paris substance-like in his handwraps that led to his suspension.

2. Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz (February 28)

I was quite disappointed to find out that this fight was not shown on Solar Sports or ABS-CBN Sports. Nonetheless, I watched this in YouTube. It was one of the greatest comebacks in recent history of boxing.  Juan Diaz was landing crisp and powerful shots on Marquez in the earlier rounds.  As the fight progressed, Marquez was able to adjust to Diaz style and eventually caught him in the 9^th round en route to a TKO victory.

3. Nonito Donaire vs. Raul Martinez (April 18)

Fighting on the same card with Viloria, it was like hitting two birds with one stone.  Time and again, Nonito has proven that his KO victory over Vic Darchinyan in 2007 was no fluke.  He did enough damage to Martinez that led to the stoppage in the fourth round.

To be continued……