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Philippines, 19 Apr 2024 |
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Will There Be Another Manny Pacquiao? PhilBoxing.com Wed, 15 Jun 2011  Will There Be Another Manny Pacquiao? In two years, or after four more fights at the most, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is expected to hang up his gloves. The tell-tale signs of a warrior who is starting to lose the fire in his belly are becoming all too obvious. In his last fight against Sugar Shane Mosley, Manny showed too that his legs are no longer as springy as when he first fought his professional bout 16 years ago in Mindoro Island against Enting Ignacio. "Boxing is not for killing" is a classic declaration of a fighter who seen enough blood and beating inside the ring. Besides, Manny Pacquiao is now starting to enjoy the comforts of success. He has a promising political career and has already gone up - way, way up - in the social strata as enunciated by his purchase of a P300-million mansion in Forbes Park. There is no reason for us to feel bad or betrayed should Manny decide to retire. He has given us more moments of joy than we have ever dreamed of, more than any other sports hero in the country's history. Indeed, there will be a sickening feeling of emptiness if and when Manny would retire because the moments of joy in this poor country are few and far between. More painful is the fact that until today, there is nobody in sight who could fill up even half the void that will be left behind by Manny's retirement. There is the Fil-Am bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. who is being touted by people close to him as the next "Manny Pacquiao." That is far from real. He does not have the charisma of Pacquiao, he is perceived to be controlled by his American wife and his public spat with his father and former trainer, Nonito Sr., while already settled, has disqualified him from being considered "True Filipino." Right now, he is in the doldrums for a tactical mistake, apparently engineered by his wife, of signing a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions while he still has a live contract with the rival outfit Top Rank of Bob Arum. Cebu City's Tony Aldeguer, whose commitment to and passion for boxing is beyond compare, has been working hard with the help of his young son, Michael, to discover new boxing talents. Yet in spite of their impressive promotional efforts and massive spending, the boys that they are trying to build up as possible heirs of Manny, all pale in comparison. Rey "Boom-Boom" Bautista, earlier trumpeted as the "next" Manny Pacquiao, in his last outing with previous conqueror Heriberto Ruiz of Mexico, has shown that his talent and skills are limited. I mean, if he can't win convincingly against the likes of Ruiz, how could he go up against the likes of Yuriorkis Gamboa or even Orlando Salido? Among the other boys from ALA Boxing, AJ Banal, does not have the heart of a champion, while Milan Melindo is too small to make it big. But there is a 19-year-old welterweight, a product of the boxing program of Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno, Jason Pagara, who I believe has the potentials of making it big. Young and raw, Pagara showed in his last fight that he has the heart and the power to come back from the brink of defeat to score a knockout. He also exudes a pleasant aura which could make him salable to TV viewers. But a lot of work still has to be done because right now he is one-dimensional and very raw. There are other younger boys in the ALA group and from Mindanao who are showing a lot of promise. There is Genesis Servania from Bacolod and Lorenzo Villanueva from North Cotabato who are both undefeated. There is another Cebuano prospect who is campaigning in the US now, lightweight Mercito Gesta who has just been signed up by Top Rank. Certainly, there will be other talents who will be discovered in the future and all that is needed is focus and dedication. Tony Aldeguer and his son, Michael, are doing it right now with the Pinoy Pride series and Summit Monthly Boxing. Soon, we will start our own monthly boxing tournament in Davao City with "Tomorrow's Champions." Moy Lainez's "In This Corner", Chino Trinidad's "Buhay Boksingero" on Channel 7 and Ronnie Nathanielsz' efforts will certainly contribute to the success of the search for the next boxing hero. Now, whether we will be able to discover another Manny Pacquiao is another question. There are pearls and pearls everywhere, but there is only one Pearl of Allah. There are diamonds and diamonds everywhere but there is only one Star of Africa. There will be boxers and boxers everywhere but there will only be one Manny Pacquiao. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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