FanHouse Jimmy Kimmel

Manny Pacquiao graces the cover of Time Magazine's Asia edition, and his corresponding five-page feature story is being included in the U.S. Edition with Hillary Clinton on its front.

The fighter's appearance in the magazine, which hit the news stands this past Friday, comes on the heels of his being in ESPN's Body Issue, his first, primetime television appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and his recognition as a 2009 Gusi Peace Prize laureate.

As the focus of the feature entitled The Meaning Of Manny, the fighter is amazed at his cross-over appeal.

"I absolutely had no idea that when I started my career in boxing, to provide a better life for myself and my family, that I would now be where I am today, and on the cover of Time Magazine," said Pacquiao, who will go after Miguel Cotto's WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title this Saturday at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

During the buildup of WBO welterweight champ Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao, the challenger's trainer, Freddie Roach, says he's having fun at the expense of Cotto and his chief cornermen, Joe Santiago.

Cotto "is slower," and "gets hit so much more" since his 11th-round knockout loss to Antonio Margarito, and "his defense sucks, because he's training himself," said Roach.

See what else Roach had to say after the jump.

Well, five weeks in and I finally land my first push. Which is good news (and a little bizarre) I guess, since I still went 5-7-1 for the week. Which brings my astounding season total to 31-41-1. On the bright side, my Tungsten picks are 7-3, so if you've been placing your money ... actually scratch that. If you're wagering on my picks, you're a bigger loser than me.

But, I have been known to occasionally get warm. Streaky business this handicapping. Let's rock.

Oakland Raiders @ New Orleans Saints (-7)
You would think that the Saints could come off Monday night's debacle and piece together a decent game against the frigging Raiders. And I don't want Mantz accusing me of jinxing the Saints this week. Or did I just do that? Crap.

Saints -7

Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts (-4)
Peyton Manning is like the Phil Mickelson of football and that should be self explanatory. (Loser turned winner goofball type.) Sage Rosenfels is still working on that transition so maybe Peyton doesn't deserve all the credit. Still, I'm not generally inclined to bet on Joe Flacco over anyone named Manning.

Colts -4

Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Jets (-6)
Doesn't this feel like a trap game? Cincy's horrible but they've at least been close in a few recent games. Jets favored by less than a touchdown, people teasing Brett Favre all over the place (No, not the "Nice painkiller addiction, wuss!!" type of teasing, you jackass.) And then BAM. Ryan Fitzpatrick gets all up in your bidness.

Bengals +6

Former heavyweight boxing champ George Foreman is well known for having five sons named George and a daughter named Georgetta. But get a load of this: In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Rampage Jackson says all of his kids are named Rampage:

According to Jackson, sons D'Angelo, Raja and Elijah all have the middle name Rampage. Unfortunately, his wife wouldn't allow daughter Naname to have the middle name Rampage, so he just calls her Paige.

A couple of interesting notes from the interview: Jackson was wearing an Affliction T-shirt even though the Affliction clothing line has been banned from UFC events because Affliction is trying to start up its own MMA promotion. I assume UFC President Dana White isn't thrilled about seeing one of his biggest stars giving some free advertising to a competitor.

Also, Jackson denied rumors that he'll be playing 'B.A.' Baracus, the Mr. T character, in an upcoming A-Team movie.

UPDATE: Five months later, I admit I'm wrong.

Boxing, more than any other sport, has been fodder for some of the great American films, from Requiem for a Heavyweight to Rocky to Raging Bull to Million Dollar Baby. This, I'd wager, will not be one of the great American films:

That was the trailer for The Hammer, the new boxing movie starring Adam Carolla. I like Carolla, but I agree with Sports by Brooks that he's at his best when he's working with a partner, be it Jimmy Kimmel or Dr. Drew Pinsky. As the star in a film, well, it doesn't look promising.

Still, it is a boxing movie, and Carolla knows boxing, and he's funny when he's talking about boxing in an interview with Todd Behrendt at Fox Sports. I'd love to see one of the cable channels that broadcasts boxing hire Carolla to serve as a commentator. I just don't feel the need to see him as a leading man.

Kimbo Slice, the Internet phenomenon who went from backyard brawler whose fights were on YouTube to mixed martial artist whose fights are on Showtime and pay-per-view, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and an interesting name came up as a potential future opponent:

When Kimmel asked, "Is Mike Tyson someone you would like to fight?" Slice said, "Yeah."

I think Tyson really is retired -- not just "retired" like so many fighters who aren't really finished -- but I must say, if he ever wanted to fight Slice, it would be one of the all-time greatest freak shows in the history of sport. And that means it would make everyone a lot of money.

As for the guy he's fighting next weekend, former UFC star Tank Abbott, Slice said, "I don't think nothing about Tank."

The conversation also got a little personal. Kimmel asked Slice if he conditions his beard, and Slice said, "I take care of it because it takes care of me." Kimmel told Slice, "It really is one of the shiniest, cleanest-looking beards I've ever seen."

And then it got really personal. Kimmel said to Slice, "Have you ever had a romantic relationship with a man? Be honest."

Slice replied, "No, man."

So how does Jimmy Kimmel feel about being banned from Monday Night Football after making jokes about fired announcer Joe Theismann? He tells Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated that he feels just fine about it, thank you. And he cracks another joke at Theismann's expense in the process:

"Technically, couldn't you say Joe Theismann has also been banned from Monday Night Football?" Kimmel told SI.com in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "If he showed up, they probably would not let him in. I was hoping to get banned from a casino first, but I suppose it's satisfying in a way to be banned from any television show. I don't know what I did exactly but apparently it was horrific....

"I'll tell you something: You only get the audio portion for most of the game, but everyone (in the booth) was laughing whether you can hear it or not. If people were not laughing, I would not have continued with it. I don't know exactly what upset them, if it was the Joe Theismann stuff or something else. I didn't feel like I was making anyone uncomfortable when I was there. Apparently, I did. What I sensed was three guys to my right and left smiling and stopping themselves from saying anything."

Banning Kimmel seems like an overreaction from ESPN, but Pro Football Talk raised an interesting point about that: Could it be that part of Theismann's departure from ESPN, when the Worldwide Leader released him from his contract, was a "non-disparagement clause," an agreement that ESPN wouldn't say anything negative about him? And could it be that ESPN is worried that what Kimmel said in the Monday Night booth violated that agreement?

I guess the bottom line is that ESPN shouldn't invite anyone into the booth who's going to say something unscripted. And seeing as the only way booth guests are ever interesting is if they say something unscripted, I guess ESPN just shouldn't have guests in the booth, period.

Last year, Jimmy Kimmel visited the Monday Night Football booth and delivered perhaps the funniest comment from any booth guest all season (not that that's saying much) by asking Joe Theismann, "How's the leg?"

That was in reference to the brutal compound fracture that Theismann suffered during his playing days on Monday Night Football, courtesy of Lawrence Taylor. Tonight Kimmel is back in the booth, and even though Theismann is no longer on the MNF announcing crew, Kimmel is still cracking jokes about him.

Kimmel's lines included asking, "What happened to Joe?" and "Do you think Joe is watching right now?" He also said Theismann is "watching from his living room with steam coming out of his ears" and "I thought Tony had him fired."

Tony Kornheiser seemed to find the jokes funny, but Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski clearly felt uncomfortable. Honestly, I thought it came across as a little mean-spirited. Yes, Theismann is bitter about the way he lost the MNF gig, but that doesn't mean Kimmel needs to kick him when he's down.

Kimmel did have one funny line, though: "Harrington's not a great quarterback but he's very nice to his pets." Sorry, No Photos