Superfights that actually live up to the hype

Pacquiao had destroyed Barrera, one of mexico's favorite son....now he was going to fight Erik Morales probably mexico's most beloved son....both filipinos and mexicans were wet over this fight....

and i'm only talking bout the first fight...not the ones that followed.

 

Boxing is dead, I don't care how many fans it has in the Philippines, Mexico, Germany or places like that. Everyone knows that there are more people in American than those three places COMBINED!!!!:Ramonza::Ramonza:

 

I'm talking about mexicans and filipinos that live in the states....who gives a shit about mexico and the philippines were the fights are broadcast for free...

 

:Steve-Dave/MMA:

 

So you're saying that Pacquiao morales 1 was a superfihgt...like Hagler-Leonard was a superfight?

 

yeah fuck 'em....same thing w/ puerto rican, canadian, british fans....if you ain't paying for it fuck you...means fuck all if Hatton has 10 million fans in uk...unless they are paying for the ppv...

 

NO it was NOT in that level but it was still had a huge public appeal AND SIGNIFICANCE......


Was Hagler vs. Leonard a SuperFight like Ali vs. Frazier or Schimeling vs. Louis II...?? NO...but it still had public appeal and significance...

 

Yes...it can be mentioned in the same light...obviously not as big as the other two...but still it was a superfight going in according to the criteria that it had crossover appeal.

Morales vs Pacquiao was not.

 

Maybe not a superfight, but Roy-Ruiz was a super-event, and me and most of the people I watched with thought it lived up to and beyond expectations.

 

Holmes-Cooney

In retrospect many fans tend to categorize this as a lopsided Holmes beatdown. It really wasn't. Watching it live, Cooney's mythical punching power kept it very exciting to watch. Everytime he landed a left hand you had to see what the impact would be on Holmes.

Holmes superiority eventually won the day, but it was a highly hyped match that dug deeply into the White-Black angle. And, watching it as it happened, it fully lived up to the billing.

 

Pac-Morales I, II or III were not super fights. They were big fights to their countrymen and went a long way towards establishing Pac as a superstar. But they were "just" big fights at the time.

Morales lost to MAB and this fight was viewed as his last hurrah.

Pacquiao was a fight or two removed from his controversial draw to Marquez and was moving up in weight. There was nothing at stake (besides bragging rights) and the fight drew about 300,000 PPV buys.

 

Absolutely. Holmes-Cooney was a huge event for those who were fans at the time. It was all over the media. Holmes proved to be the better man that night, but Cooney was game throughout and had his moments. It was a competitve fight until after round 10 when Cooney's stamina began to fail him. And it WAS very exciting to watch live.

And yes, it was unfortunately marketed using the White-Black angle. Holmes seemed to bring up the racial angle quite often, calling Cooney "The Great White Dope", etc...while Cooney seemed uncomfortable with the "White Hope" label that was hung on him by his own management team. Holmes was also forced to deal with the indignity of being introduced before his challenger. There was bad blood between the fighters then, but it's good to hear they have become friends over the years since then.

 

yup. summed up perfectly

 

what was the supposed rationale for introducing Holmes first, and Cooney second? was there any reason offered other than the obvious?

 

Honestly I don't know the real answer. When Holmes challenged Norton for the belt, Norton was introduced first as well.

There were death threats by groups like the KKK against Holmes leading up to this fight even going so far as to threaten to shoot him during his ring entrance. My father always speculated (only half joking) that they didn't want Cooney caught in the line of fire.

I'd be curious to hear the official explanation.

 

that's strange. why in the hell would Norton, as the champion, be introduced first? that could indicate that it wasn't about race, couldn't it?

 

If I recall on the undercard they also made Wilfredo Gomez come out first and he was a champion