Top 10 stories of 2011: Manny still Lord of the Ring (Part One)

MANILA, Philippines - The year 2011 will go down in history as a milestone for Philippine boxing as three intrepid Filipino warriors won world championships while Manny Pacquiao remained on top of the heap as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the planet.

Pacquiao, 33, fought twice this year, outpointing Sugar Shane Mosley in May and Juan Manuel Marquez in November. Both bouts were staged at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Pacquiao was guaranteed a total of $42 Million for the fights, a $10 Million increase from what he earned battling Joshua Clottey and Antonio Margarito the previous year.

It was the fourth straight year that Pacquiao generated at least a million pay-per-view hits for a match dating back to 2008 when he stopped Oscar de la Hoya to register 1.25 million cable buys. In 2009, Pacquiao stopped Miguel Cotto with the fight drawing 1.2 million pay-per-view takers. Last year, he decisioned Margarito in a brawl that drew 1.15 million pay-per-view subscriptions.

The Mosley fight accounted for 1.34 million pay-per-view buys while the third encounter with Marquez pulled in 1.4 million. It was the first year where Pacquiao batted 100 percent in registering at least a million pay-per-view hits in his assignments. Last year, Pacquiao and baseball’s Alex Rodriguez were named the world’s highest-paid athletes by ESPN The Magazine for bankrolling $32 Million apiece. This year, Pacquiao is the runaway topnotcher.

The wins kept Pacquiao on the WBO welterweight throne and prolonged his reign as the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter despite howls from unpopular claimant Floyd Mayweather Jr. Pacquiao was dominant against Mosley, scoring a knockdown in the third round and breezing to a win by unanimous decision. After the fight, referee Kenny Bayless apologized to Pacquiao for ruling a knockdown in the 10th round when the Filipino clearly slipped. Two of the judges, Dave Moretti and Duane Ford, ignored Bayless’ ruling and scored shutouts for Pacquiao while a third, Glenn Trowbridge, gave Mosley a single round.

Fans were disappointed that Pacquiao didn’t finish off Mosley who resorted to backpedalling after the knockdown in the third and survived by staying away from a direct engagement. Pacquiao appeared too gentlemanly, too compassionate in letting Mosley off the hook. They repeatedly touched gloves as if to mimic a sparring session.

Against Marquez, Pacquiao was pushed to the limit. In two previous fights, Pacquiao was never beaten. They fought to a split draw in 2004 and Pacquiao eked out a win by split decision in 2008. Once more, it was a close encounter of the fierce kind. Unlike in the previous two outings, Pacquiao failed to floor Marquez in their third meeting. Mexican fans, who thought Pacquiao was invincible, were surprised that Marquez put up a strong showing and booed when the decision was announced. Pacquiao won by a majority decision as Robert Hoyle had it even, 114-all, Moretti scored it 115-113 and Trowbridge, 116-112.

The punchstats clearly showed Pacquiao’s superiority. He landed more blows, 176-138, and his workrate was impressive, averaging 49 punches thrown to Marquez’ 36. No doubt, the fight was close. Marquez’ counterpunching style, for some reason, is difficult for Pacquiao to break down. It was the same case with Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton who also figured in a trilogy where every bout could’ve gone either way.

A headbutt in the 10th round opened a gaping wound over Pacquiao’s right eye. Las Vegas cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Roth took 28 stitches to sew up the cut. “He headbutted a lot,” said Pacquiao, quoted by Daniel Herbert in Boxing News. “I thought I won clearly. I blocked a lot of his punches. Marquez is a counterpuncher, that’s the way it is.”

Herbert wrote, “Truth be told, both men were operating above their real weight – which just underlines their exceptional qualities, Pacquiao as a whirlwind puncher, Marquez as a thinking boxer ... for a match made at a catchweight of 144 pounds, Pacquiao came in at 143 but looked much more solid than Marquez at 142.”

Marquez, 38, looked unusually buffed for the fight, the result of a two-month strengthening program supervised by known drug dealer Angel Heredia. There was speculation that Marquez took hard-to-detect performance-enhancing-drugs to withstand Pacquiao’s power but nobody could prove any illegality. “Marquez, whose only previous questionable preparation involved drinking his own urine before being totally outboxed by Mayweather up at welter two years ago, denied any wrong-doing,” reported Herbert.

Pacquiao holds only the WBO version of the 147-pound championship. Mayweather is recognized by the WBC, Andre Berto by the IBF and Ukraine’s undefeated Vyacheslav Senchenko by the WBA. The public clamor is for a unification with Pacquiao and Mayweather the protagonists in what could be the Fight of the Decade.

Pacquiao wasn’t the only Filipino fighter basking in the limelight this year. Three Filipinos – all former world titlists – went up in weight to claim championships in sensational fashion. Former WBC flyweight king Nonito Donaire, Jr. dethroned Mexican hero Fernando Montiel via a second round knockout to wrest the WBC/WBO bantamweight crowns in Las Vegas last February. A contractual dispute with Top Rank led to an unwanted eight-month vacation for Donaire. But terms were eventually ironed out as Donaire signed an extension with Top Rank. Last October, the 29-year-old Donaire returned to action and trounced previously unbeaten Omar Narvaez of Argentina on points at the Madison Square Garden theater in New York City. Narvaez went in only for a paycheck as he hardly laid a glove on the Filipino Flash. The three judges turned in identical 120-108 scorecards.

 Donnie Nietes, 29, relinquished his WBO minimumweight crown to invade the lightflyweight ranks. He fought twice this year, both in Bacolod City, close to his Negros Occidental hometown Murcia. First, Nietes pulverized Mexico’s Armando Vazquez in a single round in a tune-up for his title shot last April. And second, he outclassed another Mexican, Ramos Garcia, to take away his WBO 108-pound diadem last October. There was no doubt that Nietes earned the victory. Judge Lisa Giampa scored it 118-110, Carlos Ortiz, Jr. 117-111 and Danrex Tapdasan, 115-113, all for the Filipino.

The cast was completed by former WBC and IBF lightflyweight champion Brian Viloria who like Pacquiao, Donaire and Nietes, fought twice this year. Last July, he captured the WBO flyweight crown by defeating Mexico’s Julio Cesar Miranda via a unanimous decision in Honolulu. Miranda was decked in the first round and was never the same again. Robert Hoyle saw it 117-110, Dr. Ruben Garica 114-113 and Tamotsu Tomihara 115-113 to award the Hawaiian Punch his second title in different divisions.

Two weeks ago, Viloria retained his crown in a brutal disposal of highly-regarded Mexican Giovani Segura at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. Segura never hit the deck but the right side of his face was grotesquely disfigured from Viloria’s constant pounding with the hammer-like left hook. New York City referee Samuel Viruet stepped in at 0:29 of the eighth as Segura, his right eye almost shut, reeled from a left hook and was on rubbery legs. Segura was hospitalized for four days before doctors allowed him to leave Manila.

Pacquiao, Donaire, Nietes and Viloria are four of only seven Filipinos to win at least two world titles in different weight classes. The three others are Luisito Espinosa, Gerry Peñalosa and Dodie Boy Peñalosa. What an honor for the Philippines that 2011 is ending with four Filipinos reigning as world boxing champions.