Ignore Uncle Bob;
retire now, Manny!
By ALEX P. VIDAL / PNS
May
11, 2011
If Manny Pacquiao
wants to fight poverty in the
Philippines,
now is the right time. Silencing Sugar Shane Mosley last May 7 should
have been his farewell performance.
Pacquiao must ignore
the saber-rattling of Bob Arum and his ilk who want him to fight again
in November until next year.
It's his face that is
being riddled with punches; it's his brains that are being rocked
violently with blows.
Arum, et al are
pushing Pacquiao to the limits. After 10 years of a successful
campaign in the U.S. market, it's time for Pacquiao to wrap up his
career while he is ahead – while his main faculties are still intact!
Definitely he is tired
and weary. We don't see it but he can feel it. The 14-fight winning
streak is a manifestation that a human body has underwent catatonic
punishment.
He has been a beak
buster since 14 and has accumulated more than 100 actual bouts
(including his stint as amateur boxer in
General Santos City).
In his March 2010
fight with Joshua Clotey in
Arlington, Texas alone,
Pacquiao received a total of about 1,300 punches after 12 rounds.
Meaning, he absorbed more than 100 punches per round!
"How did he survive
that? How can he withstand that? He is only human," observed my
roommate Eddie Alien, dean of Philippine sportswriters.
He is only human, yes.
Must he allow his body to be further peppered with more punishment
when he has been assured now of a bright future and can rest on his
laurels with comfort?
More Fights
Arum has hinted
Pacquiao would next fight either Timothy Bradley or Juan Manuel
Marquez in November this year before ducking it out with the perennial
evader Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year. What for? How many more
millions of dollars must Pacquiao pocket before he realizes that
money, after all, is not everything in this world?
The guy has nothing to
prove anymore as a fighter and acknowledged No. 1 boxer in the world
pound-for-pound. He has breached the earnings of a paid athlete in
fight business with his swashbuckling talent.
A crusader can only
demolish poverty if he is mentally and physically fit. If Pacquiao
will quit as prizefighter and focus his attention on his new-found
hobby, his mission is already half accomplished!
Never mind his rock
star-like mop-top that has contributed in his fame and glory. With his
playful exuberance and charismatic appeal, Pacquiao can reach out with
any sector in society and can be an effective ambassador of
anti-poverty campaign for the United Nations non-pareil.