By Marcus Richardson: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is very excited about how well his money fighter WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has been looking recently in his training with Freddie Roach at the Wildcard gym as Pacquiao gets ready to take on one of Arum’s unbeaten stable fighters Tim Bradley on June 9th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Obviously, Arum doesn’t want to see his cash cow Pacquiao beaten at this point because it mess things up for future pay-per-view bouts, as well a future fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Arum said to RingTV “When I saw him [Pacquiao] on Monday, he was still a little jet-lagged. But today, you know, I’ve never seen him physically look the way that he does. The fact that he’s loving a good life now is really beginning to show in his demeanor, and in his face, and in the way that he’s carrying himself.”
I have no idea what Arum is talking about, because if anything, Pacquiao looks a lot older than he was three years ago when he beat Miguel Cotto. He looks physically older than he was even a year ago. How can he look younger when he’s aging and taking punishment in beating up Arum’s Top Rank stable fighters one after another. Granted, Arum has done a good job of preserving Pacquiao by putting him in with a faded Antonio Margarito in a catchweight title fight at 154, Joshua Clottey, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto in yet another catchweight title fight.
However, Pacquiao still has taken a lot of shots in some of those fights and he’s definitely not looking fresh-faced or younger. He’s coming off of an awful performance against Juan Manuel Marquez last November in a fight that you can make a good case that he lost that fight. Pacquiao isn’t getting any younger and just because he’s hitting the mitts with enthusiasm doesn’t mean anything. The proof is in the ring, and Pacquiao is going to have a lot of proving to do on June 9th against a hungry, young lion in Bradley. He wants what Pacquiao has got and he’s coming to take his belt from him.
The judges won’t do Pacquiao any favors if he gets another controversial decision because you can’t have a fighter winning time after time by controversial decisions without turning the public off.