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Oct 21^st, 1995. A gym in Puerto Princesca City, the Philippines. Maybe a few dozen people gather to watch what appears to be a hopeless mismatch. A veteran fighter, Renato Mendones, months removed from a title shot, faces an 18 year old 7-0 novice flyweight.  Mendones is an excellent boxer with a tight and refined style. The novice is wild, pitching roundhouse hooks and screaming overhand rights. Mendones advances confidently and, after taking the first round, appears on his way to a stoppage win. Then, like a lightning bolt, the novice sinks a left hook into Mendones chin. It’s a death blow. Mendones staggers back to the ropes and the novices unleashes a maelstrom of blows. The referee stops the fight. The announcer exclaims, the winners a good boy, he’s a good boy, he can really fight. Observers take note of the name. Manny Pacquiao.

June 28^th, 2001. Hundreds are crammed into an arena in Quezon City, the Philippines. Former flyweight champion Manny Pacquiao continues an improbable and questionable leap to the junior featherweight division. Defending a regional belt, Pacquiao looks diminished beside the bigger Seung-Kon Chae. The fight begins and Chae moves to press his advantage. A minute and 42 seconds later, the Korean has only the vaguest sense of who and where he is. Pacquiao beams as the crowd erupts into joyful celebration. The future cracks wide open…

Dec 6^th, 2008. Thousands fill the opulent MGM Grand for the Fight of the Year, a welterweight contest between superstar Oscar De La Hoya and an improbable challenger, the current lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Tension absorbs the onlookers as De la Hoya shuffles forward, his left hook taut and sinister, eager to dissemble the audacious usurper. The smaller man suddenly slams a straight right through the Golden Boy’s guard, then another, and another. At the bell De La Hoya looks aged and shaken. As the fight continues ring announcer Emmanuel Steward is transfixed. The Filipino is no longer crazy and out of control. Instead he’s measured and intelligent. He’s outboxing De La Hoya. “I can’t believe his footwork” Steward cries. By the seventh De La Hoya is bleeding and battered, a dead man walking. When the referee stops the fight, Pacquiao falls to his knees in prayer. The journey continues…

COTTO-PACQUIAO..James Lawton, one of England’s best fight writers, has thrown his support behind Pacquiao, predicting a fifth round stoppage win. Lawton, in a mesmerizing piece, raises the spectre of another Hagler-Hearns type encounter on Saturday night…the boxing world is shimmering with excitement as we approach zero hour. This is as close to a genuine “pick ‘em” fight as you will ever encounter. I’ve spent recent days holed up in front of my computer poring over the recent fights of Pacquiao and Cotto (and please note, the info at the beginning of the piece was gleaned from the live telecast of the fights. Box Rec is wrong concerning the records of certain Pac Man opponents because of their inability to properly verify details of certain bouts in the Far East. A certain standard cannot be met to their satisfaction from fights often cobbled together and staged in gyms. Mendones had over twenty professional fights by the time he faced Pacquiao in 1995, not the five listed on the famous site). Watching Pacquiao struggle in two fights with Juan Manuel Marquez (at featherweight and junior lightweight) one cannot but help but think that Cotto does everything Marquez does, but at a larger size and with more power. That does not bode well for Manny. However, watching a series of Pacquiao’s fights, there is a magic and delight in his performances - an otherworldly ability to step up his game in the face of any obstacle. He’s demonstrated this capacity repeatedly. It is a moxy and ballsiness that transcends the average “champion” and points to Pacquiao, instead, being a legendary practitioner of the sport. The fight is a collision of two of the finest fighters of our generation. No hidden secrets, no dark caveats. No Kelly Pavliks drunkenly falling off a stage or washed up Golden Boys wistfully attempting to recreate past glory. Two primed and ready boxers at the peak of their talents both emphatically determined to proclaim their time is at hand…

GRID IRON..very interesting Bears at 49ers showdown tonight. It’s all about the sports clichés, the “no tomorrow”, “do or die” kind of stuff.  Neither team can afford a loss and both perceive the game tonight as winnable. The Bears were atrocious in their loss at home to Arizona last week and I’m sceptical of their ability to turn it around on the road. While they don’t face a high octane offence, their inability to put pressure on the quarterback is going to consistently cause them problems. Give the three and take the home team..I love the Scout column in The Sporting News and couldn’t help but laugh as their usual sure footedness evaporated when considering the exasperating Buffalo Bills. The Bills peel off a pair of surprising road wins against the Jets and Panthers and then offer an abhorrent effort to the home fans  last week against the Texans. The Scouts throw their hands up and mutter, hey, some teams are just there to break your heart…I can explain the mysteriously short spread in the Broncos (-3.5) - Redskins match, I’m just not sure I agree with it. Denver is going on the road off a short week with a crucial division game against San Diego on tap. It’s a classic fade proposition. But, folks, it’s the bloody Redskins! With yet another new offensive line arrangement we can expect Jason Campbell to be absolutely clueless in the face of the Bronco rush. They still have to account for Elvis Dumervil, even if he is loping along on heavy legs. Let’s see if we can outsmart the sharp guys here and offer the paltry “three and a hay” points…biggest disappointment to these jaded eyes thus far is the inability of Dom Capers to fashion the Green Bay Packer defence into a punishing unit…