By Ted Sares

Photo © Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com

Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao represents what is good in boxing today. Not only for his skills in the ring, but for the way he comports himself outside refusing to engage in trash talk. After a fight, he always praises his opponent in the manner of old school fighters. "Dissing"was not a word back in the day and it's not one Manny uses today.

Moreover, Pacquiao skills have increased considerably under the tutelage of Freddie Roach and he is fast closing the gap on Pretty Boy Floyd as being the best Pound for Pound fighter out there. As well, he may well be the most devastating puncher in boxing today. He has polished his jab and now includes in his impressive arsenal a sharp and crisp right hook to go with his sledgehammer left. He has incredible speed, endurance, power, solid chin......the whole package....and he enjoys doing what he does...........he is having fun and it is contagious.

A Manny Pacquiao, who is Mr. Excitement, comes along only once in a great while. Enjoy him while he is here, for he is what is good about boxing today. He is another who makes work on Friday go by faster knowing you will see him fight on Saturday.

But not everything is rosy is out there. Floyd Mayweather Jr is truly a gifted fighter, perhaps the very best. But he needs to improve his comportment. He needs to mature so fans can embrace him as they did Sugar Shane Mosley who does not engage in weeping after a fight, nor does he insult our collective intelligence by promising an early retirement. There are too many mega purses out there for him and he knows it better than anyone else. His problem seems to be one of attitude and out-of-ring demeanor.

What he need is a good Public Relations spokesperson. God knows he has few, if any, problems in the ring. Sure, if he retired now, he would end up being a slam dunk in the International Boxing Hall of Fame....but his legacy as a premature retiree would haunt him forever. His legacy needs more cement and he knows it.

One good sign is that "Pretty Boy” returned to his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 22 to host his fifth annual Thanksgiving Feast giveaway. Mayweather, who supports the giveaway through his own contributions, arrived at the Madison Family Market in his childhood southside neighborhood and distributed 500 turkeys with all of the trimmings to hundreds of selected families.

That's a damm good start. Let's hope it continues because Floyd is too great a fighter to engage in foolishness that can only tarnish rather than enhance his persona. Like a football player who hands the football to the referee after scoring a touchdown rather than doing a celebratory somersault, Floyd needs to realize that investing in a little humility might have a disproportionately positive payback.

Which brings us to the ugly. WBO belt holder Brooklyn's Shannon Briggs, sat ringside as IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko iced Calvin Brock on November 11, 2006 at Madison Square Garden. This is what he told boxing writer Ant Evans about Brock's effort:

"I told everyone that Brock-oli was green as grass," Briggs said. "He looked like a rank amateur. The guy was a total flop on the US Olympic team and he was a total flop in the Garden. Is he animal, vegetable or mineral? After this showing, I think he can be stored in the vegetable section with the rest of the Brock-oli. I knew he was a pretender contender from Jump Street. That was an embarrassment to our whole country. You can stick a fork in Brock. Hush, hush, Sweet Charlotte and like that. No heavyweight from Brooklyn would perform like that in the Garden, that is for sure, go with the best and forget the rest."

"I am the real world heavyweight champ,. Not Klitschko, not the robotic Valuev and not Oleg Maskaev. I am the whole enchilada. These other guys are, well to use a Brooklyn expression, they are chopped liver."

Briggs' manager Scott Hirsch had these "kind" words for the loser: "Brock showed he will never be a world champ," Hirsch said. "He folded up like a cheap umbrella in heavy rain. So let's compare and contrast that with the dramatic, resounding victory Shannon had against Liakhovich. You can say Brooklyn Briggs snatched victory from, the jaws of defeat but he did it with a Hollywood ending. Brock and Klitschko was dull from start to finish. I have no doubt that Shannon would crush Wladimir. I also have no doubt that Shannon is the real heavyweight champ."

Indeed!

I am pretty used to fighters criticizing potential opponents after a win, but this is one of the first times I have heard one go after a loser in another fight. What possibly can be accomplished by pouring salt into the wounds of a fighter who has just been knocked out? Briggs mentions his Brooklyn heritage. Swell, but my knowledge of Brooklyn tells me that he's been away from the home boys too long and has lost touch with the gritty reality of that turf.

Now hopefully Briggs and Hirsch, who are nobody's fools, really didn't mean this and it was all part of promoting a big fight and a bigger purse, as that seems to be the modus operandi these days. But why is it that Rocky Marciano and Joe Louis were as humble, down-to-earth and polite as any high profile champions we have ever seen? Both were understated and unassuming, though once they entered the ring, they became violent practioners of their craft. Floyd Patterson was another whose conduct was always beyond reproach and fans came to love him for it. Even Sonny Liston went about his business quietly though with a menacing persona of malice aforethought.

"I'm a baaaadd man!" exclaimed Muhammad Ali after the first Liston fight. I wonder, did it all start then? Did Ali leave behind the unfortunate legacy of trash-talking. Clearly, he was the first athlete to verbally assault an opponent, often referring to them as “chumps” or “bums.“ And he strengthened the legitimacy and acceptance of this noxious behavior by connecting it to his successes in the ring, including the accurate predictions of when he would knock out opponents. For all the good things he is perceived to have done, this is something that has created a line of demarcation between old school and modern, and I believe the dignity of the sport has suffered mightily as a result.

And why is it that the Eastern European fighters don't engage in the Briggs style of hyperbole and trash talk? They also stand to gain from a mega promotion. Just what is it that keeps them from insulting our intelligence by announcing early retirements from the ring, weeping for no apparent reason, or showing utter disrespect to another, albeit fallen warrior?

What is it that allows an Oleg Maskaev to come across as a decent and humble person happy to be living on Staten Island with his family, while Hasim Rahman has a special and highly repulsive cheerleader accompany him into the ring? Why does Wladimir Klitchko never show disrespect to an opponent he has just dispatched.

And why has the giant, Valuev, begun to come across an intelligent and sensitive type? Heck, these fighters don't have any PR spokespersons so it must be something else. Maybe, just maybe, these guys are trained to speak respectfully of their opponents before and after the fights, letting their performances speak for themselves. Maybe they are trained to do their talking in the ring. Whatever it is, it has caused crowds in Madison Square Garden and other arenas to embrace them.

And then there is the downright ugly which involves pre fight shenanigans and fake hyperbole. James Toney is predictably notorious for this and his “act” is wearing thin.

In December 2006, Danny Williams' rematch with Audley Harrison kicked off early with the Brixton bomber taking a swing at the Olympic gold medalist at the weigh in ahead of their fight the following night. Before the “mayhem,” when the two boxers were called together for a head-to-head conference, Danny “lost his temper.” Sure he did. As the flash bulbs began popping, Williams put his face close to Harrison's, prompting the 2000 Olympic star to push him away.

 Williams responded by seeming to aim a punch at Harrison which, of course, missed (don’t they always), and the resulting scuffle drew in members of both boxers camps and security guards. The pair were warned by General Secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control about their future conduct. Uh huh.

While Tomasz Adamek was in his dressing room being consoled after his stunning defeat to Chad Dawson on February 3, the new champion suddenly entered the room. He seemed humbled and honored by Team Adamek that he was given the opportunity to fight the tough Pole.

Chad shook hands with each member of Team Adamek and called Tomasz a great champion and thanked them for the opportunity. Chad Dawson show brilliance in the ring and class outside it.

Shannon are you listening?

Staged and phony press conference brawls to stoke up interest and gate figures are getting old and are becoming downright ugly. Can you imagine Jerry Quarry, Earnie Shavers or Floyd Patterson engaging in one of these?

"Let the other guy have whatever he wants before the fight. Once the bell rings he's gonna be disappointed anyway." George Foreman relating boxing advice he received from Archie Moore on posturing before a fight.