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Concerns have been raised over the probability that Filipino
slugger Manny Pacquiao will be wearing bigger (10 ounces) gloves
when he moves up in weight on June 28 to challenge World Boxing
Council (WBC) lightweight (135 pounds) champion David Diaz.
In three world title reigns spread in as many
weight divisions (flyweight, junior featherweight and junior
lightweight), Pacquiao had toppled foes using the smaller 8-ounce
gloves. Smaller mitts naturally carry with them lighter padding,
making a knockout puncher like Pacquiao doubly dangerous. In stark
contrast, bigger gloves offer thicker padding and tend to diminish a
fighter’s punching power.
Pacquiao is taking on a bigger adversary in Diaz
and local fight fans share in the apprehension that PacMan could end
up in trouble if he slugs it out with the Chicago native using
10-ounce gloves. It will be recalled that after Pacquiao lost to
Erik Morales in March 2005, PacMan admitted he felt uncomfortable
using the thickly padded Winning gloves. When Pacquiao used his
favorite gloves—the lightly padded Cleto-Reyes mitts—for his
rematch with Morales in January 2006, the Filipino wound up knocking
out the Mexican in 10 rounds.
If you guys still can’t understand the benefit
of a lightly padded glove to a boxer, simply recall the June 16,
1983 welterweight fight between Luis Resto and Billy Collins Jr. A
powder-puff hitter, Resto ended up battering the highly regarded
Collins with impunity over 10 rounds. A post-fight investigation
revealed that Resto bamboozled Collins with tampered gloves that
each had two inches of padding removed. In between rounds, Collins
reportedly told his handlers that he felt like he was being hit with
rocks.
Collins suffered from blurred vision and
depression after the fight. He died in a car accident about nine
months later. Resto and his trainer, Panama Lewis, were convicted of
assault and conspiracy and served jail time after a jury found they
had tampered with the gloves.
For the record, there was a time when the use of
6-ounce gloves was permitted in bouts involving boxers that weigh
between 105 pounds (minimumweight or strawweight, the lowest weight
class in boxing) and 115 pounds (junior bantamweight). After
challenger Kid Akeem died of head injuries in an IBF junior bantam
fight with Robert Quiroga in 1991, the rules were amended and
8-ounce gloves became the standard size of gloves for fights up to
the welterweight division (147 pounds). Ten-ounce gloves are used in
fights beyond the welterweight class.
It thus appears that there is no reason to be
alarmed—at least as far as the size of the gloves that Pacquiao
and Diaz will use in June. Pacquiao is moving up to the lightweight
division, a weight class where the fighters therein are still
allowed to use 8-ounce gloves.
Incidentally, the Pacquiao-Diaz showdown will be
held in Las Vegas, Nevada. A week ago, the Nevada State Athletic
Commission voted 4-0 to allow lightweight and welterweight fighters
the option to use 8-or 10-ounce gloves. If the fighters cannot agree
on the size, the default size will be 10 ounces.
Verily, Pacquiao and Diaz can agree on the size
of the gloves that will be used for their 12-round title bout.
Here’s the catch: Diaz stands to earn a career-high purse against
Pacquiao. The champion is not expected to insist on the 10-ounce
gloves as he runs the risk of ruffling Pacquiao’s feathers and
losing the mega payday. All point to Pacquiao demanding the use of
8-ounce gloves and Diaz agreeing to it without a whimper.
The size of the gloves settled, the only
remaining cause of concern is whether or not Pacquiao can motivate
himself against an opponent like Diaz, who is considered way too
inferior compared to the likes of Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez and
Marco Antonio Barrera.
Last we checked, PacMan was doing his best
imitation of Lapu-Lapu while Diaz was already knee-deep in his
workouts.
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For comments, the writer can be reached at
atty_eduardo@ yahoo.com
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