WATCHING MAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO IN CHINA
Floyd Mayweather 2001
Beijing, China– April of 2001 and I was a pencil-necked 15 year old high school freshman, I walked into World Gym in the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco with my brothers and father as was our daily post-school ritual at the time.
MANNY PACQUIAO A “BLEACHED BLOND”
On this day however, something was different. Training in the ring was a young unknown 22 year old Filipino fighter with dyed blond hair by the name of Manny Pacquiao who had yet to get with trainer Freddie Roach. “Killing it” on the mitts where his rapid hand speed and intensity were on display.
MANNY WANTED SOME SPARRING
Little brother and I frightfully, and now regrettably, declined. My dad, always the prankster convinced our elder brother that Manny was expecting to jump into the ring with my sibling who was visibly spooked and kept looking over at Manny and saying, “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
PACQUIAO PULLS OFF LAST MINUTE UPSET
A couple months later we were watching the undercard of an Oscar De La Hoya fight and the last minute replacement to fight the IBF 122 lb. champ from South Africa, Lehlo Ledwaba, entered the ring and we all said, “Holy Sheet! That’s the guy from the gym!”
HBO COULD NOT EVEN SAY “PACQUIAO”
We didn’t remember his name and HBO’s announcing crew couldn’t even get it right. Pacquiao went on to destroy the favored Lehdwaba, announcing his arrival on the scene. In fact it was this fight that made HBO decide to take an interest in Manny, who had already won some titles in lower weight classes.
AGAPITO SANCHEZ WAS A “ROUGH” DUDE
Fast forward to November 2001 and Floyd Mayweather was headlining a fight in San Francisco at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium against Jesus Chavez. He also used World Gym to train while in town and unlike Pacquiao seven months prior, everyone knew who he was and how to pronounce his name.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER WAS 24 YEARS YOUNG
The media flocks to the gym along with my father who posed as a reporter to get close to Floyd and ask questions. As members of the gym, my brother and I were able to see Mayweather work up close and personal.
HOW MANY JABS TO DA’ BAG START THE DAY?
His rope skipping routine is stuff of legend and we found it phenomenal that he started off with 500 jabs on the heavy bag. His mitt work was most impressive and the accuracy with which he landed was astounding. In fact, at one point he was doing a mitt routine then looked over to my brother and I while still cracking the mitts with pinpoint accuracy and saying, “What’s up playa? How you doing? How’s school? How’s everything?”
HARD LOOK AT MAYWEATHER & THE “FILIPINO DUDE”
A couple of us were comparing him to the little Filipino dude we saw earlier that year. We concluded that although the Filipino guy was smaller, he probably hit harder and was just as fast. However, while he was violent and intense, Mayweather was fluid and moved with a smooth level of smooth finesse.
PACQUIAO NOT SO IMPRESSIVE IN FRISCO RING
Later that week we went to the fight where featured on the undercard was none other than the Filipino dude we saw earlier that year. Pacquiao went up against the late Agapito Sanchez whom the Filipino icon later called the dirtiest fighter he’s ever fought. Manny had to settle for a Technical Draw after a head butt forced them to the cards.
STILL YOUNG AND FIGHTING CHAVEZ AT 130
Mayweather’s underrated power was on display as he stopped Chavez in the late rounds. Jesus made things difficult for Floyd but the future pound for pound king’s sniper-like accuracy saw him weather the storm and force his challenger’s head to snap back several times.
THE NAVA’S SAW “THE FIGHT” 14 YEARS AGO
Many have been speaking about the potential for this fight the last five years. My brothers, father, and former trainer Paul Wade and I have been anticipating this collision for 14 years. And here we are. At last.
Jason B. Nava
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WHEN MAYWEATHER FIRST MET PACQUIAO