Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Sosa used steroids and Pacquiao-Cotto


Big news day required me to do a second post today as we found out that Sammy Sosa's name was on the list of 104 who failed the drug test of performance-enhancing drugs from 2003 and that instead of Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao looks like he will fight Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas on November 14th.



First, this is actually the first time that Sammy Sosa was tied to steroids except for his performance during the Senate hearing when he forgot how to speak English. However, he has been assumed as a juicer by most people for years, even in this blog. It doesn't matter if he did because we have become too immune to steroid revelations. The PTI guys made an interesting point today; almost all the home run hitters of the 1990s and the early 2000s have been implicated one way or another with PED's. They mentioned Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr.; I will add Jeff Bagwell, Mike Piazza, Jim Thome, and even Chipper Jones (who quietly have hit 416 homers and probably will reach 500) to the list of players who aren't associated with steroids. Not to harp on that earlier article, but who will be voted into the Hall of Fame in the 2010s? It's become clear that the current crop of sportswriters better put aside their steroid prejudices and vote for guys like Bonds and Clemens.



Now to the relevant story (though if you don't follow boxing, you would disagree), it looks like we are going to have to wait on a much hyped Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao match until 2010. Now that Floyd's injury is pushing back his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao appears to have decided to fight with Miguel Cotto, who just won disputed decision against Joshua Clottey during his annual pre-Puerto Rican Day fight. As Dan Rafael said when asked on ESPNEWS, and I'm paraphrasing, Pacquiao sees Cotto as vulnerable though still a big enough draw to make money. I agree with that because I'm sure I would try to watch this, plus since both guys are under Bob Arum's Top Rank Promotions, this should be an easy fight to book.



Mayweather and Pacquiao will eventually fight because the money to be made is too great (plenty for Money Mayweather), and this actually should make a fight between these two take place during the biggest non-football sports weekend of the year, Kentucky Derby weekend. All of a sudden, there is always a big fight on the same day as the Derby ('05: Castillo-Corrales I, '06: De La Hoya-Mayorga, '07: Mayweather-De La Hoya, '08: De La Hoya-Forbes, '09: Pacquiao-Hatton). Add NHL and NBA Playoffs (usually a Game 7 in Round 1) and the Derby; plus the fact that it's my birthday weekend (built-in excuse to watch at a bar and/or with a group of people). Perhaps this is the goal for me to do for the readers of The Cycle; plan a trip to Vegas for the weekend of May 1 next year and give out an article from the fight.

3 comments:

  1. Your grammar is bad.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HOw do you know unless you dated she?

    ReplyDelete
  3. If Pacquiao keeps rolling over fighters, there will be no pacquiao-Mayweather fight in 2010, unless Pacquiao sleeps with Mayweather's grammar

    ReplyDelete