“Make Moves, Stack Chips, Get Dough…its The G Manifesto”
Props to Nico B and Dj Noble.
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA The International Playboy’s International Playboy
AKA Lo Mas Frio
The Guide to Getting More out of Life http://www.thegmanifesto.com
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA The International Playboy’s International Playboy
AKA Lo Mas Frio
The Guide to Getting More out of Life http://www.thegmanifesto.com
This Saturday Miguel Cotto VS Antonio Margarito will be the latest installment of the Puerto Rico VS Mexico Boxing Rivalry. Not only that, it should be Fight of The Year.
Miguel Cotto is the latest in a long line of wonderful prizefighters from Puerto Rico. Like the best of his compatriots, he is highly diverse; when facing a puncher, he can move and box with the best of them. When he’s the puncher, there may not be a more dangerous young guy at 140 pounds. He’s young still and growing, but shows poise beyond his years and has consistently faced stiff competition. Will he be remembered among the great Puerto Rican fighters when he’s done? Only time will tell, of course, and he’s got a very tough act to follow. Here’s one man’s list, presented in alphabetical order, of the best fighters Puerto Rico has produced.
Wilfred Benitez
Benitez was the best defensive fighter of his era, and not by a little. You just had to see him fight once to know it. If you saw him boxing rings around the great Antonio Cervantes, at 17 years old for cripes’ sake, or Carlos Palomino or Roberto Duran, you knew how special he was. He hated to train and loved to party but if you want to see one of the smoothest defensive fighters of the last 50 years, get a tape of prime Benitez. He was pure magic.
Hector Camacho
There are those who still don’t take Camacho seriously because of his persona and ring style, but the Camacho who tore through a pair of divisions in the early 1980s was a very good fighter. He beat Rafael Limon, Rafael Solis, Jose Luis Ramirez, Freddie Roach and others. Even later on he was still too good for Ray Mancini, Vinny Pazienza, Howard Davis and Greg Haugen (he also lost to Haugen). And he proved his heart once and for all when he lasted the distance with Julio Cesar Chavez, despite taking a terrific beating.
Esteban DeJesus
DeJesus wasn’t only the first guy to beat Roberto Duran. He beat a lot of talented fighters, such as Ray Lampkin and Johnny Gant and Alfonso Frazier. Duran will forever overshadow him, but what’s terrible about being second best to maybe the greatest lightweight ever? Of DeJesus’ five career losses, two were to Duran, one was to Antonio Cervantes, and another was in his very last fight, to Saoul Mamby. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.
1. Julio Cesar Chavez – Widely regarded as the greatest Mexican fighter of all-time, although old timers will debate you on that. They favor Olivares, Miguel Canto or maybe even Sanchez. Whatever they think, Chavez won world titles at 130, 135 and three times at 140 and retired with a record of 108-6-2 with 87 KOs. He was unbeaten in his first 91 fights (although a draw to Pernell Whitaker was a gift) before Frankie Randall beat him by well deserved split decision. One of his greatest performances was his last-second stoppage of Meldrick Taylor on March 17, 1990, a brilliant and brutal night in which Taylor administered a boxing lesson but took a beating from which he never fully recovered. Chavez used suffocating pressure, body punching and crushing right hands to wear men down and beat them up. He was 88-0 when he and Whitaker fought in San Antonio. He was a lesser fighter after that but he was also 31 and a veteran of an inordinate amount of ring wars. It will take a lot for someone to remove him out of this No. 1 ranking.
2. Ruben Olivares – One of the two or three best bantamweights ever to fight, Olivares held that title through two reigns between 1969-72 before moving up to twice win the WBC featherweight title. A powerful puncher, Olivares won his first 60 fights, 55 by knockout on the way to posting a record of 88-13-3 (78 KO). Perhaps no 118 pounder ever punched harder than Olivares. He could box but most often chose not to, relying instead on a shot to the liver and a menacing style that was all about coming forward. Classic Mexican brawler, Olivares was loved by Mexican fight fans. His three wars with Bobby Chacon are typical of why.
3. Salvador Sanchez – Sanchez (44-1-1) never lost a title fight and defeated a roster of top opponents like Danny Lopez (twice), Azumah Nelson, Wilfredo Gomez, Juan LaPorte and Ruben Castillo before dying at 23 in a car wreck. He had made nine successful defenses of the featherweight title at the time of his death. Sanchez was not the typical Mexican brawler but rather a defensive expert and sharp counter puncher. His greatest night was when he destroyed Gomez, who was 32-0-1 at the time, in eight technically perfect rounds.
4. Miguel Canto – A defensive master, he’s the Mexican version of Willie Pep. He successfully defended the flyweight title a record 14 times, winning all but one of those fights by 15-round decision, a record that will never be approached for dominance by virtue of pure boxing skill.
Canto finished 61-9-4 with only 15 knockouts with four of those losses coming at the end of his career and most of the rest in the first two years of it. He was more difficult to hit than Sandy Koufax.
(although Erik Morales need to be added to the Top Ten)
Depending on who’s doing the counting, there have been nearly five dozen world title fights between boxers from Mexico and Puerto Rico and most have been classic brawls.
“In other countries people go crazy to see a soccer game between Spain and Italy, Italy and England,” said boxing writer Gerardo Fernandez of the Puerto Rican daily Primera Hora. “Well, it’s the same ambience for a boxing match between Mexico and Puerto Rico.”
It’s not hard to figure out why. They are Latin American lands with similar backgrounds and cultures. And in both lands, boxing is revered.
“They’re two countries in which boxing is the national sport,” said Jose Sulaiman, president of the World Boxing Council. “It’s the sport that’s in their hearts. There’s a special rivalry over which Latin country has the best boxers.”
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA The International Playboy’s International Playboy
AKA Lo Mas Frio
The Guide to Getting More out of Life http://www.thegmanifesto.com
For those who come to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
If you come to San Francisco
Summertime will be a love-in there
I rep my city, nobody flyer
Say something different, you a goddamn liar
Block on fire, streets stay cookin
Girl, you lookin for a boyfriend, keep on looking
Downtown, Filmore, something like brooklyn
Uptown Harlem, yea we ballin
Frisco, Frisco home of the brave
I don’t know about ya’ll, but we gettin paid
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA The International Playboy’s International Playboy
AKA Lo Mas Frio
The Guide to Getting More out of Life http://www.thegmanifesto.com
The Girl is dressed ok. Guy is low-end. Not getting in The Turf Club dressed like this.
Dope Style:
Former Lightweight champ Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, presents the winning connections with flowers and champagne in the Del Mar Winner’s Circle. Mancini dressed dope even though he is not in a suit. And notice he has some decent girls around him too.
Wack Style:
The cast of HBO’s hit show Entourage find their way to the cheap seats at the Del Mar Racetrack. This is how to dress if you don’t want girls. Doesn’t matter how much CASH you have, you can never get into The Turf Club dressed like buffoons. Show some class. I actually saw this episode, and if you recall they got no girls. It’s pretty sad when you can’t swoop girls on your own TV show.
Jimmy Durante enjoying a laugh with fellow entertainer George Jessel.
Dope Style:
Tennis champ Martina Hingis poses in the Winner’s Circle with jockey Alex Solis. And is dressed classy.
Wack Style:
Not even sure who this guy is, but I guess his name is “Shawn Merriman”. All I know is he is coming Wack, like Vanilla Ice on a Freestyle.
Dope Style:
Racing enthusiast and owner Rick Pitino celebrates in the Winner’s Circle with the winning connections and a bottle of champagne. Pitino is also a Turf Club Regular. Cool cat.
Wack Style:
Rafael Bejarano and Luke Walton in the Winners Circle after the 1st Division of the Oceanside Stakes. Horrid style.
Dope Style:
Pat O’Brien and Don Ameche chat between races. Style all the way.
Dope Style:
I remember this cat when I was a kid. Warren Moon poses with fashionably dressed fans as he awaits the awards presentation in the Winner’s Circle. Shirt is a little 2005 “Gaslamp” but all in all a good job.
Dope Style:
Del Mar regular Jerry Tarkanian poses with the winning connections for a picture in the Winner’s Circle. I often chop it up with Tark in The Turf Club.
NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson in the Winner’s Circle as he prepares to present the winning trophys. Not bad.
Dope Style:
Actress and newly appointed member of the CHRB Bo Derek enjoys opening day with President and GM of Del Mar, Joe Harper.
This all being said, no one dresses more fresh than your humble author.
The Rest is Up to You……
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA The Avalanche
AKA The Glacier
AKA Michael Dynamite
The Guide to Getting More out of Life http://www.thegmanifesto.com
