This weekend may very well be the best this year has seen in combat sports. With some quality MMA on Friday night that got fans amped up for UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle, it’s one of those rare occasions when there’s possibly too much fighting to digest.
Following the UFC on Fox 5 card, which features a lightweight title fight between champion Benson Henderson and Nate Diaz, boxing has its own highly anticipated event between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.
It’s the fourth meeting between the two boxers, with Pacquiao holding two wins over the Mexican fighter. Their last bout was a bit controversial, as many pundits felt that Marquez did more than enough to win. Tim Smith of the New York Daily News wrote that Marquez “was robbed of a decision by judges who were either blind or corrupt.”
Following the UFC on Fox 5 pre-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White spoke with attending media about the upcoming bout. White is an avid boxing fan and has publicly supported Pacquiao in the media.
However, from the sound of it, White isn’t too confident about Pacquiao’s chances this evening.
“So you guys know I’m a huge Pacquiao fan,” White told Bleacher Report. “[The HBO series] 24/7 f*cks with your head so bad. If you look at it, it makes it seem like Pacquiao isn’t that focused. You got guys like Freddie Roach saying, ‘I used to be the boss, but I’m not the boss any more. He knows what he needs to do.’
“And then the next episode he says, ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I should be the boss.’ It just seems like there’s so much turmoil and distractions in his camp.”
There’s always distractions within a camp, but White’s comments hold a lot of truth. Pacquiao is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world, and it’s very common for the ego to take over.
It is combat sports after all.
But it may not be the actual training camp that’s causing Pacman to take control of his career. There is always a time when a fighter stops thinking about titles and instead focuses on how much money he can earn before exiting from the sport.
“The one thing I gotta be honest about cause I always am,” said White. “The one thing that I didn’t like because I hate this stuff and I’m surprised Pacquiao said this, they were asking him about the belt. You guys see what he said? They were asking him about the belt and he goes, ‘It’s all about the paycheck.’
“And Marquez looks nasty. He’s training hardcore. He’s in great shape.”
So who is the UFC president picking for tonight’s boxing main event? The answer may come as a bit of a surprise to some.
“I gotta go with Marquez.”
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes attained first hand by Bleacher Report
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