FanHouse DavidDiaz

It seems that the Celtics aren't ready to stop celebrating their NBA title just yet, as a group of them headed to Vegas to watch Manny Pacquiao win the WBC lightweight title by knocking out David Diaz. Check out Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and bandwagon-jumping Sam Cassell whop it up with Pacquiao in the dressing room moments after his victory.



The Celtics just won the NBA title, and were given more than their fair share of attention, right? How about letting Pacquiao have some of the spotlight for himself for a bit, huh guys? He hadn't even put a shirt on yet, and these guys come barging in and steal the show. Seriously, I didn't see celebrities like Steven Tyler, Bill Belichik, Donnie Wahlberg, or Bill Simmons (really -- that's the best you can do, Boston?) in the locker room with Paul Pierce or the delusional Glen Davis sharing the champagne on the night the Celtics won it all.

Note to the Celtics: you won the basketball championship. That doesn't mean you have the right to show off at baseball games, boxing matches, or anywhere else. It's been less than two weeks since Boston won the title, and it's no wonder that everyone who isn't a Celtics' die hard is already sick of this team.

We're less than 12 hours removed from Manny Pacquiao's knockout of David Diaz, and already the question must be asked: Who does Pacquiao fight next? Here are a few possibilities:

Nate Campbell: This would be an excellent fight, with the winner potentially unifying the lightweight title belts of all four sanctioning bodies.

Edwin Valero: Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, says Pacquiao will stay at lightweight to defend the WBC title he won last night, and Valero is the one name he mentioned as a possible opponent.

Joel Casamayor: The Ring Magazine lightweight champ faces Juan Manuel Marquez in September; if he wins he'd be a natural opponent for Pacquiao, but probably not until early next year.

Humberto Soto: On last night's undercard, Soto lost a dubious disqualification after dominating Francisco Lorenzo.

Amir Khan: Has been discussed as a possible opponent, but probably isn't ready for Pacquiao.

Ricky Hatton: It would be a huge fight, if Pacquiao is willing to move up in weight class again. This won't happen in 2008 but could happen in 2009.

Manny Pacqiuao knocked out David Diaz tonight in Las Vegas with a sensational showing, one that electrified the crowd and solidified the Filipino's spot atop the boxing world.

The WBC lightweight title was on the line, giving Pacquiao his fourth different weight class title. But more significantly, Pacquiao entered the ring for the first time atop the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound rankings. He'll certainly stay atop those ratings: He's the best boxer in the world.

Diaz showed tremendous heart and courage, refusing to back down no matter how many times Pacquiao punched him. Pacquiao was a vastly superior fighter, and the official FanHouse scorecard had Pacquiao winning every round of the fight. It was as dominant a showing as you'll ever see.

Pacquiao improved his record to 47-3-2. Diaz fell to 34-2-1.

Welcome to the FanHouse live blog of tonight's Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz lightweight title fight, where we'll be providing round-by-round updates of all the action.

Live commentary begins at 9 p.m. Eastern/9 a.m. Philippines time. The main event should start around 11:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Philippines time.

Welcome to the FanHouse live preview chat of tonight's Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz fight. We're just over 12 hours away from the big event, so now is a good time to ask questions, make comments and post your prediction for the fight.

The chat begins after the jump.

No American boxer is popular enough to have a preview of one of his fights be the lead, front page story in a major newspaper. But in the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao's popularity makes him the nation's biggest news (along with gas prices, which are big news everywhere).

Pacquiao's fight tonight against Chicago's David Diaz is for the WBC lightweight title and, more importantly, for Pacquiao to stake his claim as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

Chicagoan David Diaz will be a huge underdog when he steps into the ring with the Philippines' Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, but he's talking like a guy who exudes confidence.

Speaking at a press event yesterday where the reporters were much more interested in talking to Pacquiao, Diaz said this to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review Journal:

"If I were Manny Pacquiao, I would be concerned about my will. I will be there the entire fight, and I will stay there the entire fight."

Diaz isn't talking trash about Pacquiao -- he also said,"He's done a lot for boxing. I just became champion" -- but he is talking like someone who has a lot more confidence in himself than just about anyone else has in him.

If David Diaz is looking for motivation for his fight Saturday night with Manny Pacquiao, he could do a lot worse than to read the story by Steve Carpl in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The story makes clear that Pacquiao isn't looking past Diaz, but it also demonstrates that just about everyone around Pacquiao is assuming that he's going to beat Diaz and then move on to more lucrative fights against more famous opponents, especially a third fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, sees the fight happening as long as Marquez beats Joel Casamayor, and he sounds as if he thinks Diaz is little more than a speed bump. That's what the betting public seems to think, as Pacquiao is a heavy favorite.

I guess I'm in the minority, because while I expect Pacquiao to win, I think Diaz is going to give Pacquaio a good, competitive fight Saturday night -- and I think it's way too soon to be talking about fighting Marquez again.

Manny Pacquiao is on a seven-fight winning streak at 130 pounds and has basically cleared out the junior lightweight division.

So now he's moving up to a new challenge at 135 pounds, where he'll take on WBC lightweight title holder David Diaz Saturday night, and Norm Frauenheim of the Arizona Republic writes that he's fighting not just for the lightweight title, but for the pound-for-pound title. I think that sounds right.

Now that Floyd Mayweather is retired, Ring Magazine ranks Pacquiao atop its pound-for-pound ratings, and beating Diaz would solidify that. Although there are several other fighters who can stake a claim for the top pound-for-pound spot -- Joe Calzaghe, Juan Manuel Marquez, Kelly Pavlik -- none has had as many great performances in the last few years as Pacquiao has. If Pacquiao puts on another impressive showing in another weight class, he'll show that he's the best in the world.

We'll be live blogging the Pacquiao-Diaz fight here at FanHouse.

Assessing the performance of Manny Pacquiao in Saturday night's split decision victory over Juan Manuel Marquez, trainer Freddie Roach said Pacquiao didn't put on his best performance:

Asked whether Pacquiao used his right hand enough, Roach said, "He didn't use it like we thought he would but I think Marquez had a lot to do with that .... Manny was really not moving in the direction I wanted him to. We didn't fight a perfect fight but a very game fight. Manny can do a lot better."

I agree with Roach: Pacquiao didn't fight his best fight. That's a tribute to Marquez, but it's also a tribute to Pacquiao that he still managed to win.

Roach made clear that he wants Pacquiao's next fight to be at 135 pounds against David Diaz, and that if Marquez wants a rematch, he should have to do it at a heavier weight and after the Diaz fight. I don't have a problem with that, but I do think Marquez should get a rematch against Pacquiao eventually because on my scorecard, Marquez won Saturday night's fight.