By James Slater – Has superstar and P-4-P #1 (or #2, depending on which publication you are reading) Manny Pacquiao slipped a little? Has the 33-year-old southpaw sensation lost his ability to render an elite fighter unconscious?
Pac-Man fans were somewhat disappointed with their hero’s winning fights with Sugar Shane Mosley and, last time out, that squeaker of a majority verdict over archrival Juan Manuel Marquez. Whispers that Manny might, just might, have lost an amount of his chilling power were heard after the wide yet largely dull win over the ageing Mosley (a fight that also angered many, what with the constant touching of gloves the two so-called, should-be, rivals engaged in during the “action.”) And after the “gift” win over the Mexican great known as “Dinamita,” these whispers became more than a touch louder..
It may simply have been the fact that the superb Marquez will always give Pacquiao nightmares due to his style and the fact that he has Pac-Man’s number; but fans want to know one way or the other: is the Filipino icon on the slide or not? Next up, unbeaten, superbly conditioned 140-pound champ Tim Bradley gets his chance to find out firsthand.
Trainer Freddie Roach, the man responsible for a good percentage of Manny’s magic, has an interesting theory as to why his star pupil failed to get rid of not only Mosley but before that fight, Antonio Margarito. Speaking with The Manila Bulletin recently, Roach said Pacquiao “carried” Margarito and Mosley, out of “pity” for his two opponents (Roach never said Pacquiao “carried” Marquez!).
Personally, I have no argument with Roach as far as the Mosley fight goes. Had Pacquiao gone for it as he should have done after scoring that 3rd-round knockdown over Sugar, I’m certain he could have terminated a fight that instead dragged on for boring round after boring round. But the Margarito fight? No way. Pacquiao, moving up to a career-heavy 150-pounds at the time, later admitted to being hurt bad by body shots in the middle rounds. Promoter Bob Arum later said his fighter would no longer face naturally bigger men like “Tony” because the fight had been too hard and too damaging. That sure doesn’t sound like a fight that Pac-Man permitted to drag on to the final bell because he had “pity” for the other guy, does it?
Mosley, yes, I can buy that Pacquiao carried his man – Margarito, no chance.
In any case, Roach, who has said, with regard to recent talk of possible retirement from Manny, that he will decide when the right time to walk away has arrived, says his fighter will go back to his lean, mean, killer ways on June 9th. If Pacquiao can actually do so, it could be bad news for Bradley. But again, by how much has Pacquiao passed his peak? KO’ing Bradley, 28-0(12) may not prove to be as sure a thing as Roach seems to think it might be.
Rest assured though, there will be no “carrying” going on in this fight – whether Pacquiao wins or loses!