By Bill Velasco - I always enjoy conversations with international boxing referee Bruce McTavish. His depth and range of experience and knowledge of professional boxing is second to none. Aside from always being accurate and keeping things real, Bruce – fondly called “Tatang” by some of his close friends in Angeles – always has a sharp sense of humor about everything, and is always ready to extend a helping hand.I recently asked Bruce about the accomplishments of Manny Pacquiao, from the view of someone as deeply involved in boxing who can still be objective about what the Filipino champion has done, particularly over the last few years.
“Inside the ring, he’s phenomenal,” Bruce begins. “Somebody asked me if he’s the greatest I’ve ever seen. I said you’d have to put him in the same category as Ali. Muhammad Ali. Those types of boxers come along once every couple of decades. We had Ali, now we have Pacquiao.”
Looking at the scale of what Pacquiao has done, fighting to get a world record, I asked Bruce if he thought Pacquiao was just fighting for the most number of titles and the recognition, and not really for the love of the sport.
“Wrong on both counts,” McTavish was quick to respond. “He doesn’t decide who fights. Bob Arum does. He always listens to his coach, Freddie Roach, and he fights anyone and enjoys what he does. So on both counts, that is incorrect.”
Even though the plans for a supposed megabuck fight between the Pacman and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. seem to have hit a wall, I asked Bruce if, without all the peripheral issues, Mayweather would have really gotten into the ring with Pacquiao in the first place.
“Yes. Forget the percentages. Even if you offered Mayweather 10 percent, if he’s going to get $59 million, it doesn’t matter what the percentages are. As for the fight itself, before Manny thought of running for politics: even fight. He has to concentrate 1,000 percent to fight Mayweather.”
On a larger issue, I picked Bruce’s brains about the disturbing trend of catchweights in boxing. Did this mean that there was a lack of quality boxers, and the sport was in dire straits.
“Boxing is not a sport, boxing is a profession,” he answered bluntly.
The catchweight is necessary. And it was at Pacquiao’s advantage, for example to fight at 145. To Miguel Cotto, it was a business proposition. He’s prepared to do it, so both parties were happy. At that level, yes, there aren’t that many quality boxers and, as I mentioned, Pacquiao is phenomenal.”
Then our conversation takes a leap outside the squared circle, looking at the status of boxing in the modern age, with the explosion of media and other sports that challenge its primacy in the minds of fans. Over two decades ago, promoters opted to not spend money on venue rental, and instead charged site fees to hold big bouts at hotel and casino chains, bringing the sport closer to big-time gambling, and farther away from true fans, who found it difficult not only to travel to Las Vegas, for example, but could no longer afford the tickets. So instead of purely understanding sympathetic fight fans at ringside, we often have high rollers who are screaming for blood, and celebrities who just want to be seen.
“Boxing is in serious trouble,” McTavish admits. “Mixed martial arts is getting the blue collar fans. They really have gotten behind it, because now, they get 30,000 to 50,000 fans at a fight, while some boxing matches get 4,000 to 5,000. It’s an unknown quantity.”
Lately, though, there has been a surge of world champions unseen in previous generations.
“We have four world champions, and would have had five with (Marvin) Sonsona.
Seventy percent of that is attributed to Pacquiao. I think the scientific approach is also making a difference in the training. Manny is no easy-going guy, so he is an exception. The Philippines has nothing but a good future. There is so much talent out there right now. They just need to get 20 to 25 fights locally, then go overseas, and not rush things.” Wise words, as always.
Source: philstar.com
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