Be thankful you live in a land where you can choose between white or dark meet, or both. You can even opt for tofu. But also be thankful that the economics of boxing enrich our bounty with such imported red meat as Manny Pacquiao. Maybe later in this century Asia - with casinos opening up China - will replace America as the land of the free agent, but for now be thankful we can get the best of all worlds. Be thankful that no matter how you may squirm upon hearing Harold Lederman's voice, or dislike other boxing commentators, it's still better than be subjected to the boom boxes of Chris Berman and Dick Vitale.

Be thankful that baseball writers do not pick my fighter of the year, which of course is Pacquiao and you don't need my so-called "expertise" to tell you that. Hell, you could read that in Dandy Dan Rafael.

Give thanks to the idea that Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be only the second best fighter in the world. That kind of puts the game in a brighter light. Pacquiao is certainly the "fightingest fighter," to quote the esteemed wordsmith Bob Arum. Yes, he's the most exciting boxer currently active. And I'm not going to holler if you think he's also the best. You know, pound for pound.

This is all subjective, mind you, but I do believe that the 130-pound Mayweather - whom Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach says was then at his best - might not have handled the 130-pound Filipino. I am not thankful that the stars were not aligned properly to give us this tussle. 


Be thankful that John Ruiz has been advised to retire by Ron Borges, who is only about six years too late.

Show your gratitude that those who missed the Pacquiao demolition of the great Erik Morales will be shown the taped replay before HBO's live telecast this Saturday of Juan Manuel Marquez - you remember him, got knocked down three times by Pacquiao but got up to bravely get a draw that he did not deserve - defending against another Filipino southpaw, Jimrex Jaca, whose knickname is Exterminator and be thankful he doesn't have Bernard Hopkins in costume to escort him to the ring in Hidalgo, Texas.

Pass the candied yams at the prospect of Jaca, who once knocked out Pacquiao in one round (okay, it was Bobby Pacquiao, the below-the-belt brother), giving Marquez a tussle. I mean, would HBO have made a bad match?

Be thankful that Morales will probably decide on maybe a victory lap around a Tijuana bullring or go directly to retirement and thus remains as bright and as alert as ever. And no dessert for anyone who suggests that he "quit" when, as most have pointed out, he imitated Alexis Arguello just sitting on his butt in 1983, hands folded around his knees, rather than get up and face more of Aaron Pryor.

Morales sat there, looked at his father and shook his head, no, as he allowed the ref to count him out, saying later his corner "was urging me to get up, but I knew it was futile - no point - I was a beaten man."

Kind of reminiscent of Arguello, after his second knockout loss to Pryor, saying "I thought if I got up he'd kill me" and thanks to Graham Houston for remembering that line.

I'm thankful I'm not writing about what happens next with Pacquiao, which will now be the subject of a debate between Arum and Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. Frankly, I don't give a damn which millionaire gets richer and I know Shelly Finkel will get his slice of pumpkin pie from whichever deal the courts approve.

Let us say grace that whichever promoter wins, we'll get to see some good fights because Pacquiao wants to face only the finest.

Arum says he plans to open up Steve Wynn's casino in Macau with the Pac Man vs. Edwin Valero, the Japan-based Venezuelan legend (as told by the youngsters over at maxboxing) who is banned from fighting in the States for medical reasons. This is a very dangerous fight for Pacquiao, who would be given the "soft" touch of Marco Antonio Barrera in March if he goes to work for Golden Boy. At least, he knows he can knock out Barrera. For dessert, there's always Joan Guzman.

He's mashed potatoes and gravy, the good stuff, and thankfully Johnny Bos is still around.

Be thankful boxing provides us with turkeys all year long. Bless us all, Tiny Tim, for having Don King, Jose Sulaiman, Marian Muhammad and all the gang to kick around. There's King, aided and abetted by the IBFelons' Marian Muhammad, demanding an immediate shot at Wladimir Klitschko for the mediocre Ray Austin. And Sulaiman, I hope he gets to be a judge during his ridiculous attempt again at "open" scoring and wears a target on his back. By the way, the scoring on last Saturday's undercard will not be ridiculed here - okay, maybe Adelaide Byrd's eyesight-challenged six-point edge for Ricardo Torres in a fight most observers thought Mike Arnaoutis won (I had the Greek ahead, but only by 114-113 so I have no complaints with the 114-113 score for Torres). But I, like Dave Moretti, wound up with Oscar Nino ahead (again, I had it 114-113) against the too passive Brian Viloria so the majority draw does not seem outrageous.

Isn't it great, though, having someone like Marian Muhammad always ready to step in and over-rule a referee or judge?

This is all subjective, but then, this is my column. You have a different opinion, get your own column.

Reminder: Eat quickly in case James Toney crashes. Or Jose Luis Castillo. Or me.

Be thankful that there are fighters whose spirit keeps them going, even when it hurts to watch (see, or don't see, Evander Holyfield), because without that spirit, there would be no sport. And let us pray they all get through safely.

Okay, the heavyweights may be a bit TRAFE (unkosher), but let's be grateful that we will have some nice fights to dig into next year - even not counting Pacquiao's, although I think the idea of holding the Mayweather-de la Hoya record-breaker on Cinco de Mayo could be improved by staging it on Father's Day for the sake of Floyd Sr.

And of course we should note how Floyd Jr. is up in his home town of Grand Rapids, Mich., giving out 500 turkeys to the poor and holding other charity events, and in case we didn't notice, there was his PR lady to remind us.

Muhammad Ali still walks among us and, bless him, so does his former aide-de-camp, the great Gene Kilroy. Joe Frazier is still singing, I hope, and Larry Holmes.

I would be more thankful if I could stop hearing how Sam Soliman, the awkward Aussie, gave Winky Wright a close fight. Bull. Winky just realized he couldn't knock out the stone-chinned man and coasted to the finish line. He won by a mile.

I would be even more thankful if Wright would stop picking on oldtimers like himself, I mean, like Ike Quartey, and accommodated Jermain Taylor for the rematch - and though most of us thought Winky won the first go-round, Taylor retained the title and is thus entitled to more than a 50-50 split. Maybe something like 51-49. The late Jimmy Jacobs got that concession from Mike Trainer when Jacobs's champion, Wilfred Benitez, defended against Trainer's man, Sugar Ray Leonard. Jimmy called it a "cosmetic" edge.

Be thankful for the Internet, without which you wouldn't get so many unfounded rumors and you heard it here first. Count your blessings that this game has been graced by writers like A.J. Liebling, Pat Putnam and the Schulbergs.

Take a second helping of cranberry sauce, but vow not to buy pay-per-view shows featuring Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Joe Mesi, Kevin Kelley, Wayne McCullough, Gerry Cooney, any other two heavyweights you can name, Julio Cesar Chavez (Sr. or Jr.), Hector Camacho (ditto) and Zab Judah. It's Thanksgiving, not Halloween.

So be grateful Norm Stone is no longer around and Roberto Duran is.

And be thankful I don't write Thanksgiving Day columns more than once a year.

PENTHOUSE: Manny Pacquiao, who did it all - not only throwing right hands, but carrying the Filipino flag out of the ring.

OUTHOUSE: Anyone who compared Pacquiao-Morales III to Hagler-Hearns. Yeah, they both ended in the third round, but last Saturday's installment was a virtuoso performance, not a fight. Hagler-Hearns had two-way action.

M

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