Is God trying to tell Manny Pacquiao something?
On Saturday night in Las Vegas, the politician and newly re-energized Christian from the Philippines was a hitting machine, pounding his American opponent, Timothy Bradley, 28, into confusion and almost overt fear. Pacquiao, 33, might not have had the same electrifying foot speed he had in his best bouts and might not have thrown his combinations with the same intensity, but in Round 2, Pacquiao swung one of his red-gloved hands and hit Bradley so hard that the Filipino twisted one of the American’s ankles and fractured the other. When he returned to his corner, Bradley told his trainer about the injury but soldiered on. He took 253 Pacquiao punches in all, connecting with only 159. He would enter the postfight press conference in a wheelchair.
So Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley, huh? Sitting ringside, I scored the fight 10-2, Pacquiao. Didn’t even look close to me.
Here is what I wrote about the fight and how religion played a role in TIME. And my take for The Atlantic. Here is a color piece I wrote for Esquire Philippines.
What does this mean for Pacquiao-Mayweather? It’s too bad the two men haven’t figured out how to meet in the ring. My take on that, and the fight. Here. In Esquire.
Keep punchin’.
This entry was written by , posted on June 11, 2012 at 10:13 am, filed under Bad Decisions, Boxing, PacMan. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
My biography of Manny Pacquiao’s calves. In Grantland. Read it–here–then–stretch!
This entry was written by , posted on June 5, 2012 at 1:26 pm, filed under Boxing, Grapefruit-sized Muscles, PacMan. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
My article, in TIME, about the fight of the century not happening. Again. Makes you wonder about these two guys, doesn’t it?
This entry was written by , posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:41 pm, filed under Boxing, PacMan. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Some of my bodacious post-fight articles from Pacquiao-Marquez III.
I wrote four separate pieces (Sponsored by Bud Light and chocolate covered pretzels, baby) about the fight, and I talked about the UFC on Fox (to the “consternation” of many) in my much loathed (by the superduper touchie MMA crowd) Esquire U.S. piece…Yes, yes, my Pacquiao-Marquez pre-fight prediction was dead wrong but please realize it was written before knowing about the pre-fight cell phone throwing incident and the pre-fight all nighter and some other stuff (some of you know what I am talking about, right?). Annnnnnyways. Enjoy some boxing writing. There isn’t much of it out there anymore. I work hard, I write hard, for you, the fans. You’re welcome.
Esquire U.S.: “Fight Night in America”
Esquire Philippines: “A Night In Las Vegas”
The Atlantic: “Manny Pacquiao Has A Bad Night, Wins Anyway”
TIME: “No More Mr. Nice Boxer: Pacquiao’s Aura and Allure Take a Battering”
This entry was written by , posted on November 28, 2011 at 3:00 pm, filed under PacMan, Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
My Pacquiao-Marquez pre-fight story, in TIME. Click here.
This entry was written by , posted on November 11, 2011 at 12:56 am, filed under Boxing, PacMan, Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Another cover story. Esquire Malaysia is running my Pacquiao profile in its latest issue.
This entry was written by , posted on October 27, 2011 at 5:43 pm, filed under PacMan, Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Manny Pacquiao fought Shane Mosley on May 7. I covered it (“When Will Manny Pacquiao Fight the Right American?”) for TIME and I also wrote an article about the bout for The Atlantic.
Leading up to the fight, I was interviewed on several radio programs, including the BBC and the nationally syndicated (250 affiliates) JT The Brick show, and on the national news in the Philippines. The Atlantic also included me in a piece about the current state of boxing.
Pacquiao will fight again in November. He will probably face Juan Manuel Marquez.
This entry was written by , posted on May 16, 2011 at 12:11 pm, filed under Boxing, PacMan. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I gave a reading recently in New York about PacMan: Behind The Scenes with Manny Pacquiao (Da Capo). Here is the interview with me. Here is the link to my book on Amazon.
This entry was written by , posted on April 22, 2011 at 2:08 pm, filed under PacMan. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
PacMan: Behind the Scenes With Manny Pacquiao (Da Capo) has been included in the Los Angeles Times Book Review section’s 2010 Books Gift Guide. It is a great honor to be on this elite list, which includes books like Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom, Keith Richard’s Life, and some good sports books like Jane Leavy’s The Last Boy. PacMan was one of only nine sports books on the list in 2010.
Also, The Guardian has recommended the PacMan as a top sports book. “Gary Andrew Poole’s PacMan has something of both the breathless urgency of Pacquiao in the ring and the extraordinary chaos that accompanies him outside,” says Huw Richards of The Guardian.
This entry was written by , posted on December 5, 2010 at 3:20 pm, filed under Boxing, PacMan, Sports, Uncategorized. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Manny Pacquiao takes on Antonio Margarito tonight at Cowboys Stadium. Follow the fight, at ringside, through my Tweets.
This entry was written by , posted on November 13, 2010 at 5:00 am, filed under Boxing, PacMan, Sports and tagged boxing, manny pacquiao, sports. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.