Hello boxing fans and dedicated haters. Here’s another week’s worth of my bulbous sack, bulging with gooey, salty truth, in your face. Enjoy. This week, we have comments/questions regarding the return of Manny Pacquiao, Jermell Charlo-Tim Tszyu, and Ryan Garcia-Javier Fortuna.
Pacquiao: The Comeback
Hi Magno.
First, thanks for the years and years of great work. I don’t always agree with you, but I always trust that what you say is agenda-free. I also appreciate that you don’t insult the readers’ intelligence by sugar coating things. I wish there were more boxing writers like you who had even a fifth of your guts.
Anyway, Manny Pacquiao. You just know that the man is going to come back and I don’t mean in the BS exhibition he’s going to have with that Korean YouTuber. Being that he was slaughtered in the election for President of the Philippines, I think he’ll turn back to boxing, where he knows he’s got star power and icon status, to boost his ego. Plus, I don’t think he’d want to retire on a pretty lackluster, zero spirit loss.
The question is when and against who does he come back. I think he’s smart enough not to mess with Spence or Crawford, so that rules them out. What do you see in the future of Manny? If he comes back, who does he fight?
– Sal from Reno
Hey Sal.
Thanks for the kind words. They really are appreciated.
Well, Pacquiao WAS going to mess with Spence before Spence had his eye injury. If that fight had gone through, I think there’d be zero talk of a comeback because Spence would’ve beat him down. It would’ve been ugly.
I agree with you, though. Pacquiao will be back. And I also agree that he’d probably not like to let that Ugas loss be his career-closer. It was a tepid, half-hearted performance against a fighter (no offense to Ugas) that he should’ve handled fairly easily.
But if he isn’t fighting Spence or Crawford (I also agree with you that he does NOT want to deal with either at this point), then, who will he fight?
I wouldn’t rule out a rematch with Ugas, to be honest. Beyond Ugas, I’m thinking that his comeback would be his last fight, so he’d want to find an opponent with name value (or an upward career trajectory) who could put up a fight, but not have any real chance of winning. Just off the top of my head, Cody Crowley, Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz, or Sandor Martin (who beat Mikey Garcia) might fit that bill. If Omar Figueroa Jr. beats Adrien Broner in August, he could easily step into that spot as well.
I don’t think we see much beyond that. Just exhibitions and rumors of real fights after that. But at least Manny will be able to leave the sport after one more showcase victory.
Charlo-Tszyu
Hi Paul.
What’s going on with Jermell Charlo vs. Tim Tszyu? First, Charlo strongly hinted at fighting him January 28 of next year, then he edited out the date. I know Tszyu is a mandatory, but that doesn’t always mean that he’ll get next crack.
Also, when/if they do meet one another, who wins and how?
– David
Hey David.
If I were Team Charlo, I’d jump (leap, bound, fly) at the opportunity to fight Tszyu right now. I don’t think Tszyu is ready for a fight like this and it would be smart business to take him out now, while he’s still got name value and marketability and before he gets more seasoning against high-end opposition. A fight like this is a gift dumped in Jermell’s lap. Just judging from how green he looked against Terrell Gausha in March, Tszyu shouldn’t be able to compete with Charlo. His resume before Gausha is full of one-dimensional opposition and there’s nothing, before or after Gausha, that suggests he’s got the skills or disposition-- yet-- to beat Jermell.
I’m not sure what the editing of the fight date means. I’m just saying that Team Charlo should snatch this fight up and make it happen ASAP. I think Jermell beats him decisively and probably stops him in the mid-to-late rounds.
King Ry vs. Fortuna
Hey Magno.
Any thoughts on Ryan Garcia vs. Javier Fortuna this weekend? What’s next for Garcia if/when he beats Fortuna?
– Simon
Hey Simon.
Honestly, I’m super, mega, ultra bored with Ryan Garcia’s shtick. I didn’t even know that his fight was scheduled for this weekend until I read your email. If I see “Ryan Garcia” in a headline, I just assume it’s bullshit clickbait and move on.
Fortuna’s got high-end skills and ability, but he doesn’t always perform up to the level of his potential and often fights without urgency. Garcia looked like utter crap in his last bout against Emmanuel Tagoe, winging arm punches and doing nothing to cut off the ring or force a defense-minded opponent to actually fight.
I’m just fatigued from hearing the kid call everyone out, promise big things, and perpetually deliver so little. Yawn. He’ll probably win because it’s HIS show and Fortuna is prone to disappoint. And from there, who knows? More BS clickbait and general nonsense is my guess. Get back to me when “King Ry” actually DOES something interesting.
Got a question (or hate mail) for Magno’s Bulging Mail Sack? The best of the best gets included in the weekly mailbag segment right here at FightHype. Send your stuff here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com.