& } anc Boxing goes with Pacquiao By Garth McLennan fter defeating Antonio Margarito A« Saturday in a wild and entertaining brawl of a boxing match, Manny Pacquiao, Philippine congressman and most people’s pick as the world’s bets pound-for-pound fighter, vaulted himself into a truly elite class of boxer that very few have been able to reach over the years. Since dissecting and in turn retiring the legendary Oscar de la Hoya a few years ago, every one of Pacquiao’s subsequent fights have been events unto themselves. Like Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali and several others over the decades before him, Pacquiao, through consistent winning against top opponents with a dramatic and non-stop action style, has managed to make every one of his bouts must-see extravaganzas, even in today’s world of astronomical pay-per-view costs and extreme competitiveness for the avera: 2 guy’s entertainment dollar. After de la Hoya there was Ricky Hatton (who also hasn’t fought since being demolished by Pacquiao in two rounds), followed by Miguel Cotto last November, who was devastated in 12 dominating rounds by Pacquiao. After Cotto came middling contender Joshua Clottey in the first ever big time fight in Cowboys Stadium down in Dallas, Texas, who didn’t last long either. Now the tough Margarito, fresh off a lengthy suspension for injecting cement powder into his gloves prior to a bout with Shane Mosley, too has fallen, despite ballooning in the days right before the fight with Pacquiao which gave him an almost unheard of 17 pound weight advantage. It didn’t matter though. Pacquiao lit up Margarito, who utilized a charging, offensive style of fighting that played right into Pacquiao’s inhumanly fast hands. With a weak defence, Pacquiao was able to land lightning fast punches seemingly at will, and after the bout (where Pacquiao score a unanimous decision victory) Margarito looked like Rocky after going 15 rounds with Apollo Creed. So what makes Pacquiao such a transcendent superstar? In a sport that has seen its glory days long go by, Pacquiao has emerged as a fighter the North American public can really get behind again. That type of star hasn’t been seen, in any weight class, since de la Hoya and Tyson. Sure, Pacquiao wins, which always helps, but what really sets him apart, and makes boxing as a whole noticeable in a sports landscape where the UFC and mixed martial arts dominate the bulk of fan’s combat appetites, is that Manny Pacquiao is just a lot of fun to watch. I mean, Floyd Mayweather wins more than anyone, and he’s a technical genius defensively, but to the average fan he is, more or less, boring. Pacquiao lights it up every time he steps into the ring, and even the most basic, uneducated person even remotely interested in boxing can see the appeal of him. Because of the way Pacquiao fights though, and because he always takes on the very best that his sport has to offer (another thing that separates him from Mayweather in the public’s eye), the American sports fan has really fallen in love with Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao/Margarito drew over 1.5 million pay-per-view buys, each at least costing $50-60 a pop. Those are numbers boxing hasn’t seen outside of a Pacquiao fight in years, and they’re even more incredible when you look at how much more popular (to North Americans at least) UFC is than boxing. Now it’s true that until he fights Mayweather, Pacquiao’s legacy won’t be truly complete. However, at this stage of his career, unlike Mayweather, it really doesn’t matter who he fights, the public is going to watch. That’s a very good thing not just for Pacquiao, but for boxing as well, and it’s something that hasn’t been seen in a very long time. TONY PEP BOXING & FITNESS -Located at the Corner of 6th Street & Royal Ave- *$80 per Month for UNLIMITED Basic Open Gym* *$70 per Month with 3 Month Sign Up for Basic Open Gym* *$10 per Day Drop In Fee for Basic Open Gym* (Mon/Wed 6:30-9 pm; Tues/Thurs/Fri 5-9 pm & Sat 1-5 pm) $60 per Month for 4 Sessions or $120 per Month for 8 Ses- sions és 20 By Josh Martin, Sports Editor Ihe Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their five game road trip last week where they went 2-2-1 over the span of nine days. They ventured onto the Eastern side of the NHL where they faced Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Buffalo and then finished it off in Pittsburgh with a 3-1 loss. You have got to hand it to “Sid the Kid”, who had a beauty in that game where he sprung out of the penalty box in full flight for a puck that squeaked right through Kevin Bieksa on the blue line. Crosby ripped down the ice and fired the puck past his rival Roberto Luongo on his stick side to open up the scoring. It marked his 13" goal of the season which puts him at third place to be only behind Steve Stamkos who has 19 and Alexander Semin with 14. Daniel Sedin is on that list as well at fourth place with 12 goals of his own. The Canucks scrounged up a total of five points out of a possible 10 on the road trip, which is a little average for the third place western conference team. Their record on the road now stands at a pedestrian 4-5-2 while at home they remain undefeated in regulation with a 6-0-1 record. That’s good news for the club since they have a four game home stretch coming up before leaving again on December 1 to Calgary. Cory Schneider was finally brought For the Canucks, home never looked so sweet back down to reality during the recent Eastern swing. After winning his first three games of the season and recording a sensational 0.90 GAA and a .969 SV%, Schneider got the nod for the game against the Buffalo Sabres. He let ina couple of softies in the first period but came up big at moments throughout the game. Despite his efforts the Canucks found themselves down 3-1 heading into the third period. Alex Edler and Mikael Samuelsson however, came through with a couple of timely goals to tie it up at three tallies apiece and force overtime. In the extra session, after a scramble in front of the Vancouver goal, Dan Hamhuis mistakenly handed the puck over right onto the tape of Thomas Vanek’s stick where the sniper then put it home past Schneider, handing him his first loss of the season. A tough pill to swallow, especially for Hamhuis. The Canucks winning hot streak has officially ended after a pair of losses to the Sabres and the Penguins at the end of their five game road trip. They had a total of eight wins in the course of nine games starting from the end of October and heading into the beginning of November. The Canucks will try and get back on track with their four home games coming up to increase on their nearly perfect home record and close off the month of November on a positive note.