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By Christina Lopez
Manny Pacquaio-(Pacman), age 34, has brought an impressive amount of action and heart to the sport of boxing. Holding a record of 54 wins, with 38 of those knockouts, with wearing 8 title belts, has shown that without a doubt Pacquaio has sustained a phenomenal record in boxing. Despite losing his last two fights back to back against Timothy Bradley (31-0-1NC) and old adversary Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1D), he is still considered a top pound to pound fighter.
There is no secret when we say there has been a tremendous amount of controversial talk being thrown around about his previous fights. Was it too much for Manny Pacquaio to handle, being a congressman and still dedicate himself to his boxing career? So we turn to his fight against Bradley, even though it was not Manny’s top performance we all thought it would have still gotten the score cards favored to him, but that night we discovered a huge shock with the judges favoring the other corner- Timothy Bradley, leaving the man undefeated. As traumatic as that was to all the fans, we then see the most devastating of them all, the Pacman vs Marquez 5 fight. Oh boy was that a heck of a fight! It concluded with Marquez hitting him with that hard right, putting Pacquaio straight face down to the canvas in the last second of the sixth round.
Let’s remember these two men had fought several times and to the fans there was always a mix up and never a clear answer to whom was the clear winner. This was a huge, and incredible knockout for Marquez especially because it was Pacquaio, ‘the godfather of boxing’, and it showed that this was a clear knockout, no waiting on who the judges have favored in this bout. This stirred up all kind of questions and conclusions about Manny Pacquaio’s career in boxing. Is Manny too old now? Does he have any power behind his punches anymore? Has Pacquaio lived through his legacy? Is it time for him to retire? Is he more focused being a Congressman than being a boxer? So on and on.
As to blaming his involvement as being a public servant, changing himself physically, mentally and spiritually and trying to balance all of that with his dedication to boxing, is not something that is hindering his performance. Yes, Manny is getting up there in age, he has showed to be a bit slower, not doing as much as he used to with his power punches. Let’s face it this happens, doesn’t necessarily mean he is done with this sport and he should retire. Just like in every fight you transition, you come up with a game plan to defeat your opponent. Manny needs to utilize the skills he still has, come up with a different game plan within himself, and stop the repetition. Just like Marquez said, he knows that every time Pacquaio feints, he leans forward defensive less, and that’s what he was waiting for, the right time to put him to sleep, and so he did.
From the looks of ‘Face Off with Max Kellerman: Pacquiao/Rios’, Rios is hungry to retire Pacquiao. Pretty humorous to both Max and Pacquaio, but serious remark from Rios he states “To me, boxing is better than sex.” It is very clear that Brandon Rios likes the feeling of being a top contender and he is going to do what he has to do to become what Pacquaio has done in this sport.
Manny always very soft spoken but throwing in his smart remarks says ‘’He wants to be me’’ and ‘’He wants to do what I’ve done in boxing”, which is the typical Manny in an interview. He was not trying to be arrogant or disrespectful he was being humorous and playful. Aside from that, he portrayed his feel for the losses but is confident now about his fight against Rios and will not give up. He still believes he is young and will show the fans that his time is not over, by preparing himself mentally, physically and spiritually. With Brandon Rios strongly wanting to end Pacquaio’s career, and Manny Pacquaio wanting to show the fans that his legacy has not ended, we head into the upcoming HBO paper view fight November 23, 2013 in Macao.
