LAS VEGAS ? This is the way Manny Pacquiao began his last goodbye. He was wearing the colors of the Philippines flag, and as he came out of the darkness of the tunnel and into the floodlit arena, he looked more like the ambassador from Manila coming to present his credentials than a great fighter striding into his ceremonial farewell.
This was no Spartan warrior told to come back with his shield or on it. This was the boy-grown-older from Gen San City, marveling at his role in the incredible travelogue that has been his career.
He waved as he turned his head first stage left, then stage right. His smile seemed to widen with each thunderous chant from the crowd:
“Manny … Manny … Manny.”
And before this night was over we learned an awful lot. Pacquiao is no Grade B Hollywood version of Rocky. He was, is and will always remain, in the memories of those who were there Saturday night, one of the greatest fighters of his time. We learned that Teddy Atlas, the erudite trainer in his first partnership with Timothy Bradley had, indeed, created a new fighter. We saw these two touch gloves before every round in a subtle but remarkable show of respect.
We also saw Pacquiao, totally healed from the torn rotator cuff that had enabled Floyd Mayweather to look like Sugar Ray Robinson when they fought, emerge once again as a brilliant two-armed, two-fisted fighter.
The drama began slowly Saturday night with a first round that was more shadow boxing than combat. In the second, Pacquiao controlled the ring geography, boxing brilliantly. In the third, he again set the pace and stole the round by winning two late inside exchanges.
But in the fourth, Pacquiao morphed into what was expected of him. On my card, he won the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth, scoring two knockdowns along the way. Those two punctuation marks gave him enough points on my card to mathematically make Bradley need a knockout to win.
The seventh-round knockdown was as much a push as a punch. But in the ninth, after a multi-punch, two-handed assault, Pacquiao landed a ferocious left that dropped Bradley.
Atlas had convinced Bradley that he would win if he could set the pace and control the flow. It made sense, and Bradley sure as hell tried. He was successful in the beginning, but, as in most Pacquiao fights, the storm on the horizon was inevitable. You could sense it coming midway through the fifth, when the first big exchange between the two triggered the thunder.
At the start of each round from the third onward, Pacquiao was off his stool first, several feet toward the center ring, and had to be sent back a foot or two by the referee Tony Weeks.
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“I wanted the knockout. I went for it in every round,” Pacquiao would later say.
So in the fifth, Bradley, anticipating the storm, struck first, landing a big right hand that backed Pacquiao up. The response came immediately. Pacquiao answered with a right-left combination to the head, then Bradley answered with a big left that caught Pacquiao on the jaw and triggered two overhand left counter punches. The roar grew so loud in the arena you could barely hear the bell ending the round.
When the scores were totaled ? all three judges had it 116-110 in the welterweight showdown.
Considering Pacquiao’s response to Bradley’s competitiveness and his own fighter’s ability to fire rapid combinations, proving his right shoulder had totally healed, Freddie Roach, Manny’s trainer, said later:
“Look, if he means it about retiring, then more power to him, He’s earned it. But if he changes his mind after what I saw tonight, yes, I would encourage him and I would not hesitate to train him again.
“When I see Manny Pacquiao like that, this is the best Manny Pacquiao. He hasn’t missed a beat. I would like to see him fight again.”
And there are big fights out there for him. Canelo Alvarez and Amir Kahn would draw big numbers. And then, of course, anybody who understands boxing knows that when Pacquiao tore his shoulder before and during the Mayweather fight, nothing ? absolutely nothing ? was truly settled on that night.
Up the street, a brand-new T-Mobile Arena, which has yet to host it first fight, sits against the Vegas Strip’s horizon and beckons with the same allure that bonds a lady of the evening with a visiting high roller ? money.
“Let me enjoy first a retired life,” Pacquiao said about his chances of fighting again. “If you ask me to come back I don’t know. I may be enjoying retired life. I’m not there yet so I just don’t know.”
I personally would not bet against Mayweather-Pacquiao II.
As for what happened to Bradley in this town on Saturday night, I am reminded of the irrefutable logic of Mr. Mike Tyson:
“Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.”
Good night, good fight, but no plan would have been good enough against Pacquiao.
