Pacquiao vs. Marquez: The 25 Best Tweets About Their Upcoming Superfight

I am what the media-techie types call a "late adopter." I got my first cell phone sometime during the first year of the Obama administration. My wife just finally convinced me to learn how to send text messages earlier this fall.

I never had a MySpace and I mostly use Facebook in lieu of attending class reunions.

But twitter is another matter entirely. If you want to follow the revolution or professional boxing, you should sign up for twitter, because you aren't going to find a lot of coverage of either in the mainstream media.

On a day to day basis you can use your twitter account like an old fashioned newsroom wire service to get the latest news breaking from the best boxing news sites on the web. You can get  your own up to the minute promoter spin or insights from the fighters themselves.

And the character limit and open forum nature allow even the members of the huddled masses to rise up and be pithy and amusing from time to time.  

First the Undercard: How Old Is Joel Casamayor?

Some of the funniest tweets this week came courtesy of Steve Kim at Maxboxing.com, who pitched the set up line to his followers: "How old is Joel Casamayor?"

The answer, of course, is 40. The Cuban-born, Florida-based junior welterweight will meet the undefeated and highly regarded Timothy Bradley on the under card Saturday night.

Kim re-tweeted a number of his followers' replies, many of which were Vaudeville-worthy. I made room for five of the best on my list:

GrizzlyCageInc: "I am not saying Casamayor is old but the boat he defected from Cuba in was Noah's Arc." (1)  OntiverosVM also had Casamayor figuring into early religious history: "I'm not saying Casamayor is old but when God said Let there be Light! Joel flipped the switch." (2)

The Casamayor in the Old Testament theme was popular (one tweeter noted Casamayor was so old he knew the Old Testament as simply The Testament.). One of the best came from Mr_Steve_O, who tweeted that Casamayor was so old he "was supposed to fight Goliath at a catch weight." (3)

Mpara1432 declared "Casamayor is so old he invented the headbutt." (4) But alibomaye 7 really went over the top, trying to claim that Casamayor is "so old one of his fights actually aired on CBS." (5)

Dan Rafael Shouts out for Smoking Joe, Complains About Lack of Water in Desert

ESPN's Dan Rafael posed an interesting question on Tuesday when he tweeted: "Imagine if 24/7 was around to build up Ali-Frazier?" (6) 

The great champion's tragic and untimely death earlier this week shook the boxing world, but at least this was the kind of week when we are all particularly of a mind to celebrate and appreciate the spirit of a man like Smoking Joe. 

I highly recommend following Rafael on twitter, as he accumulates and updates interesting boxing information at a steady rate, even as he rages against the sad realities of life in the desert: "I'd give an update on MGM's water pressure but THERE IS NO FREAKIN' WATER from 11 am-4 pm daily. Are you serious? Nice to let guests know!" (7)

A particularly interesting tweet from Rafael was an upload of his cards for Pacquiao-Marquez one and two.  (8) 

Another Memory of Smoking Joe

Eric Raskin, who writes for HBO.Com and TheSweetScience.Com remembered a lighter side of Joe Frazier: "Note to Pacquiao fans: The late, great Joe Frazier was making people cringe with his limited singing abilities long before Pac. RIP, Joe." (9)

Raskin had another good one-liner: "Rough day here in Philly. Joe Frazier died. Then the Eagles' season died." (10)

I also have to thank Raskin for tweeting a heads up this morning for a very interesting Slate piece about Frazier by the always erudite anti-sportswriter, Robert Lipsyte. (11)

Great Boxingscene Video

Boxingscene.com is one of my favorite websites and they tweet out links to their great video and up-to-the-minute news stories on a regular basis. 

Two of the best this week have been videos with the two hall-of-fame trainers pitted against each other in the main event, Freddy Roach (12) and Nacho Beristain (13).

Steve Kim's Bob Arum Story

When he wasn't setting up rim shots at Joel Casamayor's expense this week, Steve Kim was posting a great story on Bob Arum and the Top Rank chief's perspective on the state of the fight game. (14)

Kim has a very good ear in this piece for presenting the colorful promoter's voice. Arum gets raked over the coals here on BleacherReport and elsewhere, but nobody is better at holding court with reporters, or engaging them one on one. 

A Story About Another Filipino Fighter

dRealSource of Examiner.Com tweeted out a link to his story on Filipino fighter Ana Julaton,a rising star in the woman's division who trains at the Wild Card Gym. (15) It is always nice to see stories during a big fight week that focus some attention on some of the lesser known fighter who are still trying to fight their way up. 

Not surprisingly, Pacquiao once again comes off a generous, big-hearted guy.  

You Must Follow HBO Boxing

Not surprisingly HBOBoxing has been tweeting links to great material all week. The attached video offers yet another interesting look at the two trainers. (17)

Other highlights from the HBOBoxing feed have been Emanuel Steward's analysis (18) and former Pacquiao opponent David Diaz's take on what it's like to fight the Filipino Hurricane (19). The Diaz piece is particularly intriguing. Hearing another professional talk about Pacquiao the way Diaz does really gives you an appreciation for what a special talent he is. 

And Now for Some Shameless Self-Promotion

My own tweet from Briggsfightalk: "On behalf of 40 yo gym rats everywhere: JMM at 38 still does what he did 4 years ago, beats Manny 114-112."

Follow me and get my opinions on boxing and the revolution, which are pretty much the only two topics I talk about, whether online or in real life. 

Top Rank Tweets the Presser

You could tell the Press Conference yesterday was lacking in fireworks by reading the Top Rank twitter feed, where it was noted that the Tecate Beer Promotional Models were "easy on the eyes" (21). 

Nacho Beristain said it would be a "classic" (22) and the Top Rank feed further noted that Freddy Roach "kept his remarks short and sweet. Why? A guess: He's ready for MP to get in the ring." (23).

Manny was his typical humble self, thanking "god, his fans, his team and his opponent." (24).

Frankly, seeing these kind of bland platitudes over the twitter feed actually has me more excited for the fight. It is telling that the combatants and trainers for this war do not feel any need to "pump themselves up" with bravado. 

This Top Rank tweet captured the entire mood of the event: "Marquez says he doesn't like to trash talk. He prefers to do his talking in the ring." (25) 

And make sure to check out the Top Rank feed later today, after the press conference, as they will be doing a tweet round-up.

Twitter: It might not be old school, but it's essential if you want to follow our old school sport.