Native Irish, and Irish-Americans alike, have always prided themselves on their inherent toughness and heart.  Therefore, it should come as little surprise to many that the Irish have enjoyed a long and stored history of success inside the brutal sport of boxing. 

In contemporary times, Irish boxing had experienced a bit of resurgence when middleweight contenders John Duddy and Andy Lee were having once created a rabid fan base out in the Northeast United States, as well as back in Ireland.  Though both Duddy and Lee haven fallen considerably out of the limelight they once enjoyed, they follow in a tradition of Irish pugilists who have left a lasting mark on the sport of boxing. 

With St. Patrick’s Day upon us I thought it fitting to take a look back at some of the greatest fighters to represent the Green, White and, Gold. 

For the sake of argument, my list of the ten greatest Irish boxers encompasses fighters who have hailed directly from Ireland and those of Irish decent.

So read on, enjoy, and pour a pint of Guinness for me. 

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh (Happy St. Patrick’s Day)!

Yesterday we took a look back at who the real winners of this past Satruday's mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey.  In case you missed it, you can check out the piece here.  Today, we will take a look at the true losers of "The Event".

The Losers

Joshua Clottey – When casual fans scoffed at the notion of Pacquiao fighting Clottey, insisting that the fight was nothing more than an exhibition bout, diehard fans and the media quickly jumped to the Ghanaian’s defense.  Clottey, it was thought, was a legitimate welterweight, a strong chinned, powerfully built welterweight who posed the real danger of knocking out Pacquiao with his hands.  Funny how foolish we all look following Pacquiao’s undressing of the tough-willed fighter.  Clottey appeared to be gun-shy through most of the fight, and Pacquiao’s speed and punch output did more than enough to keep him at bay.  The most irritating part was that on the rare occasions that Clottey offered up any semblance of offensive pressure, he often found a home for a straight right hand to the head of Pacquiao.  Sitting near ringside, I can attest that there were a couple of moments in the fight when a right hand would land flush and Pacquiao gave off the impression that he truly felt the punch.  Imagine how much more competitive this fight would have been had Clottey not been content to perform his impression of a heavy bag. 
Clottey is no stranger to coming up short in his biggest fights, but unlike his close and controversial losses to Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto, this loss was as one-sided as you could get.  Make no mistake about it; this loss is going to haunt Clottey until the end of his career. 

50,994. That was the official attendance inside the monolith that is the $1.2 billion dollar Cowboys Stadium for this past Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey title fight.  While boxing promotions such as this typically push the fighters themselves, this promotion had the unique storyline of the venue in which the fight would be taking place in as the unabashed star in this production.  Pacquiao-Clottey by most accounts when compared to the blinding glow of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones crown jewel.  But while the stadium may have stolen the show, let us not discount the importance of Manny Pacquiao’s immense global popularity. Arguably, no other fighter in modern history, save for maybe a prime Mike Tyson or Oscar De La Hoya, could have sold, or carried such a grand promotion.  Top Rank may have come up with the idea to label this promotion “The Event”, but without the influence of Jerry Jones, this promotion would have been another case of boxing hyperbole. 

If you were fortunate enough to be in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex this past week, then you would be hard-pressed not to concede that “The Event” was a more than suitable moniker for a fight of this proportion.  The week leading up to Saturday’s fight was filled with press conferences, public workouts, and every other promotional trick in the book.  This was a fight sold to the public on the idea of privilege, and not on the idea of witnessing two warriors battle.  By marketing this fight as the place to be, a refuge for only the coolest, hippest of people, Top Rank and Jones created a demand that paid off in spades as witnessed by the gate receipts and the unprecedented media coverage.  While Pacquiao clearly did his part in bringing a throng of curious onlookers, this promotion will not go down in the annuals on history for its beautiful savagery, but more for the spectacle of the event.  Which is a shame, as boxing, now more than ever, could have benefited greatly if both the fights, and the actual event, enjoyed the same level of success. 

With an event of this magnitude, there are bound to be parties who came out winners, and parties that came up short.  Today, we will tackle the winners of “The Event”, with the losers getting their shine tomorrow. 

Exclusive video from the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey post-fight press conference. Video after the jump.

When Manny Pacquiao fights, people come, and nothing illustrates this point more spectacularly than the 51,000 people who showed up to watch Pacquiao fight Joshua Clottey at Cowboys Stadium Saturday night.  By all account the promotion was a resounding success and talks are already underway to bring another major fight to the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) UD 12 Joshua Clottey (35-4, 21 KOs)
WBO Welterweight Title Fight
Scores:  120-108, 119-109, 119-109

Don’t be fooled by the lopsided scoring, this was no walk in the park for Manny Pacquiao.  In fact, you would have to go back two years ago, to Pacquiao’s rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez to find “Pacman” in such a grueling fight.  Clottey, a native of Ghana, refused to let Pacquiao run rough shot over him, challenging the Filipino superstar to try and crack the code of his airtight defense.  Behind a high and tight, peek-a-boo guard, Clottey was able to deflect Pacquiao’s more punishing salvos and straight lefts. It was a lesson in frustration for Pacquiao, but what makes Manny so special is his ability to formulate game plans on the fly.  Seeing that it would it futile to continue targeting Clottey’s head, Pacquiao opened up a can of punishment on the only exposed part of Clottey, his ribs. 

But Clottey is the epitome of tough, and though he was peppered at all angles by Pacquiao, he never gave in to the thought he was outmatched.  In fact, Clottey would have moments of success throughout the fight as his hard right hand and uppercut found their home on Pacquiao’s head.  Clottey seemed to be the stronger fighter, and his shots took a visible toll on Pacquiao.  But despite Clottey’s hard shots and granite chin, Pacquiao’s speed was the most impressive element on display Saturday night.  Pacquiao is a phenomenon of athletic prowess and his speed and angles allowed him to throw and land his shot without rest for the entirety of the fight.

It was a solid win for Pacquiao who should receive some serious props for handling Clottey with flair and pizzazz.  Pacquiao will go down in history as an all time great, and his performance Saturday night part of the reason why. 

With the eyes of the boxing public having been affixed to Dallas in what was anticipation toward the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey mega fight that took place in Cowboys Stadium, Top Rank seized on an opportunity to showcase some of the up-and-comers, along side some vets.  This was done through Friday night’s Top Rank Live card which took place at the Gaylord Texan Convention Center the night prior to Pacquiao and Clottey’s showdown. 

Though the actual promoting of the Top Rank Live card was all but non-existent, the Friday night festivities provided some great action, which served as an appetizer to wet the palettes of the North Texas fight fans.

Richie Mepranum (13-2-1, 3 KOs) 10 UD Hernan “Tyson” Marquez (25-1, 18 KOs)
Scores: 99-91, 96-94, 98-92

Prior to this fight, Marquez was one of Top Rank’s highly touted young prospects.  Having an undefeated record and a penchant for knocking out your opponent, and hailing from Mexico to boot meant that Marquez potentially could be a star in the Latino community.  Not to say that this could not be the case, but Friday night Filipino Richie Mepranum successfully took a large amount of luster off of Marquez’s shine with his dominant performance. 

Marquez came out the aggressor in the fight, and continued that trend throughout the fight.  However, it was Mepranum’s speed and courage that enabled him to beat Marquez to the punch, and dominate the fight over the whole ten rounds.  It was a great scrap; one that saw ebbs and flows in action, but in the end it was Mepranum’s will to win that proved too great.

Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KOs) TKO 2 Nagy Aguilera (15-3, 10 KOs)
IBF Heavyweight Title Eliminator
Official time of stoppage: 2:24 in round two.

Nigerian heavyweight, Samuel Peter was once considered the heir apparent to the heavyweight throw, and the only heavyweight with a shot at dethroning the two-headed king of the heavies that are the Klitschko brothers.  Unfortunately, after both brothers dominated Peter, the “Nigerian Nightmare” has been on the comeback trail in hopes of landing another title shot.  Friday night presented another opportunity for Peter to recapture the buzz he once enjoyed.  In his way stood Aguilera, but as we would soon find out, Aguilera would not be standing for long. 

This fight was as one sided as you can get without tying Aguilera’s hands behind hid back.  Peter jumped on his outmatched foe with the ferocity of a lion on a wondered gazelle.  A barrage of vicious hooks put Aguilera down and out in the second.  Aguilera is by no means a world beater, but Peter looked good.      

Anthony Peterson (30-0, 20 KOs) TKO 3 Juan Ramon Cruz (16-8-1, 12 KOs)
Official time of stoppage: 1:11 in round three.

Peterson has steadily, and quietly worked to rise up the ranks of the lightweight division.  Friday night, Peterson did what he was supposed to do: blast out an outgunned foe in easy fashion.  In many ways, this was nothing more than a showcase bout, and in that aspect, Peterson looked impressive in peppering Cruz with a blistering array of jabs, hooks, and uppercuts.  Cruz never had a chance, and Peterson exploited this to the fullest.  It should be noted that Peterson injured his right hand in the first round, yet still went on to thrash Cruz.

As press conferences go, Thursday afternoon’s event was pretty run of the mill. Inside one of the many ballrooms in the sprawling Gaylord Texan, Top Rank held a press conference for the fighters battling on the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard. Though pretty tame by boxing press conference standards (no manufactured animosity was present), there were some interesting observations noted.

The press was out in full force this afternoon. I’ve been fortunate enough to cover some pretty big fights, but I have never seen the press turnout like we have here in North Texas for this fight. Of course, anytime you have the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet fighting, you just know the press will come in heard. Coincidently, the media food spread looked like a plague of locust hit it. One thing about boxing scribes, eating and drinking to excess seems like a byproduct of the job.

The undercard features a cadre of tough, fan friendly fighters, but most of them clearly do not have the intangible star quality of a Pacquiao, or Ricky Hatton. Though, I though that Dallas native Robert Marroquin came across really well at the presser. Dressed in a suit, Marroquin commanded the room when he spoke at the podium and you could see the wheels turning in Bob Arum’s head as he surmised what a hot commodity he will soon have in Marroquin.

Boxing has taken center stage here in Dallas with the arrival of Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey and their impending mega-fight taking place in the billion dollar Cowboys Stadium this Saturday.  But while the majority of the hoopla has been centered on the main event fighters, Saturday night may mean the anticipated break out of one of North Texas’ most talented pugs. 

Oak Cliff’s Robert Marroquin has held the distinction of being one of the most ballyhooed young prospects to emerge from Dallas.  Marroquin seemed destined for the fame and bright lights of championship boxing rattling off win after win, all while carefully being nurtured by promotional giant, Top Rank Inc.  While Marroquin steamrolled over opponents designed to get him accustomed to the nuances of the professional fight game, in recent months it appears that Top Rank has begun to feed the young fighter marginally stiffer competition.  But in spite of Marroquin’s fighting career taking place outside of the familiar confines of the DFW Metroplex, he has managed to create a very large fan base locally.

Part of the reason attributed to Marroquin’s immense popularity here in North Texas lies in his humble demeanor and laid back persona.  While a fighter of Marroquin’s pedigree may feel entitled to boast and brag, Marroquin finds a way to maintain an aura of humility.  This trait was on full display this past August as Marroquin was mobbed by a throng of fans following his stoppage victory over Steven Johnson at Quick Trip Park in Grand Prairie.  Despite having just finished a fight, Marroquin took the time to sign countless autographs and pose for numerous photos.  This is the reason why his popularity continues to rise on what seems like a daily basis. 

Here in Dallas, nothing is held in higher reverence than our beloved Dallas Cowboys.  But this week, even the Cowboys are forced to take a backseat to the sensation that is Manny Pacquiao.  Pacquiao Fever has officially taken over North Texas as the pound-for-pound king prepares to do battle with the tough-as-hell Joshua Clottey in the billion dollar Cowboys Stadium this Saturday night.  In the context of boxing, Manny Pacquiao could very well be considered a global icon.  No other fighter, save for maybe Floyd Mayweather Jr., is as wildly known, or lauded for their pugilistic talent quite like the diminutive Pinoy with the engaging smile.  Seeing the overwhelming outpouring of fan support from fight fans here in North Texas as they clamored for the briefest of glimpses of the Filipino sensation that is Pacquiao, it’s hard not to consider him the most transcendent fighter of our generation. 

Iconic fighters like John L. Sullivan, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson have all enjoyed a level of popularity that not only transcended the sport of boxing, but permanently ingrained them into the consciousness of pop culture.  What makes Manny Pacquiao’s ascension to his status as a globally recognized fighter is that unlike the afore mentioned fighters, Pacquiao fights at a weight less than that of the average American middle school aged child.  Yet his slight frame, and ever present smile, Pacquiao has managed to capture the hearts and imaginations of fights fans the world over. 

I had the unique opportunity to witness the aura of Pacquiao in person this past Tuesday as the Pinoy pug held an open workout to help promote his fight with Clottey this Saturday.  There must have been roughly close to two hundred Pacquiao fight fans eagerly waiting to get into the exhibit hall inside the opulent Gaylord Texan just to get a glimpse of the star fighter.  The word, “pandemonium” came to mind as the crushing wave of humanity stampeded to the roped off section, desperate to get a spot that offered a unobstructed view of the ring and bag stand.  Having covered the fight scene for over three years, I have never seen such a sight, such an incredible turnout for one fighter.  Even as Pacquiao’s tardiness delayed the festivities of over an hour, his fans continued to smile, they continued to exhibit the sort of nervous giddiness you might witness a child demonstrating Christmas morning.  It was unreal, and judging by the look of satisfaction on the faces of this event’s promoters, Top Rank’s Bob Arum, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the look of amused amazement spoke volumes.