Manny Pacquiao looking to recapture his Texas magic

By Chris Robinson - The news of the day has been the recent reports that the March 13th Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey WBO Welterweight title bout will be taking place at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Veteran boxing scribe Michael Marley, always one to break a scoop, recently got off the phone with Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones, who did indeed confirm that he had a deal ironed out with Top Rank boss Bob Arum to stage the event.

Pacquiao vs. Clottey will be distributed as a Pay Per view event with three featured undercard bouts. While many had assumed that the fight would be taking place in Las Vegas, as have 7 of Pacquiao’s last 8 fights, holding the contest in the Cowboys Stadium will add a new element to the mix. Jones has been pushing hard and in constant talks with Arum to have an event in his playground and it looks like he now has his wish.

When thinking of the event further a few things come to mind.

Pacquiao’s breakthrough performance

Pacquiao is no stranger to delivering electrifying performances on Texas soil, as he thoroughly battered Marco Antonio Barrera in November of 2003 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, roughly 280 miles South of Cowboys Stadium. A look back at that fight shows just how shocking Manny’s victory really was.

Despite breaking out on the scene in June of 2001 with a 6th round stoppage over Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, Pacquiao was still relatively new to many observes leading into the Barrera contest. Barrera himself had rejuvenated his career with a pair of battles against rival Erik Morales as well as a thorough schooling of Prince Naseem Hamed and many figured his seasoned attack and championship experience would be too much for Pacquiao to cope with. The Filipino was also moving up in weight to the Featherweight division against a Hall of fame opponent and nobody expected him to control the contest the way he did.

From the immediate outset of the bout Pacquiao shattered those notions by applying patient aggression while landing pinpoint punches. Barrera was confused early on and after suffering a knockdown in the third round the ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ was all out of answers. Pacquiao would end up seizing full control of the fight thereafter, never letting up his attack or letting go of his momentum. Helpless against the ropes in the 11th round, Barrera saw the bout waived off by referee Laurence Cole with just seconds remaining.

When looking back at Pacquiao’s career his first match with Barrera is considered by many to be his breakout performance. After taking the showdown in it became very clear just how deadly and potent Pacquiao’s blend of power and speed could be against a world class opponent. If Manny can produce even half of the performance against Clottey that he did against Barrera it will be a night worth remembering.

The place to be

Completed on May 27, 2009, Cowboys stadium is definitely a sight to see. Through the use of standing areas the stadium is capable of holding up to 110,000 people, the most in the NFL. But what has put the stadium on the map even more has been the recent turnaround of the Dallas Cowboys, who are coming off of a dominant 34-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend in their NFC wildcard matchup.

In recent years the Cowboys had become the butt of many jokes for not producing the results that their owner Jerry Jones would have expected but a December win over the previously unbeaten New Orleans Saints seemed to be the exact jumpstart that they needed. The Cowboys are seen world round on a weekly basis and the appeal of the stadium itself has been on display for everyone to see.

It was reported in a recent Boxing Scene article that Arum and Top Rank president Todd DuBoef were in attendance in the stadium this weekend during the Cowboys-Eagles game and the promoter came away with a great impression of everything the facility encompassed. Reportedly Arum is planning on setting the arena up to hold 50,000 people for the event. By the time the bell rings for Pacquiao-Clottey, things should be electric.

Margarito returns to the mix

Word has also been spread that former Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito will be making his return to the ring on the evening’s undercard proceedings, against an opponent to be named. Caught with elements of plaster of paris in his gloves before his January 2009 loss to Shane Mosley, Margarito was suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission on February 10th.

Following the fallout, Margarito was chastised by many and went from a respected and determined champion to an athlete under extreme scrutiny. Margarito has taken a beating from the media and fans alike and its unknown if he will ever recover from this controversy. His appearance on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard will surely attract several of Dallas’ Latino fans and perhaps it’s a good start for his comeback since he will be out of the spotlight slightly due to Pacquiao’s recent impact in the sport.

Source: examiner.com