Pacquiao?s willingness to ?rebuke someone if they are doing wrong? does not extend to Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte?
On Saturday, November 5, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, future Hall of Famer Manny Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs), the senator from General Santos City, Philippines, gets it on with WBO World welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KOs), the 27-year-old from Las Vegas by way of Los Angeles, California.
Pacquiao has been one of the great fighters of our time and can still perform, even at the age of 37, like a man a decade younger. But he is on the downside of his career, having lost three of his last seven fights, to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012 and the embarrassing loss, made worse by a lame post-fight excuse, to Floyd Mayweather in 2015.
He has also not stopped an opponent since 2009, when he crushed Ricky Hatton in two rounds. So promises of a knockout, no matter who is making the promise, need be taken with a grain of salt.
Vargas, with 10 knockouts in 28 fights, isn?t likely to stop Pacquiao. But the reigning and defending champion won?t sleepwalk through the bout, unlike some of Manny?s recent opponents, and believes that beating Pacquiao will catapult him into superstardom.
?It would definitely put me on the worldwide stage,? said Vargas on a recent teleconference call, ?make me that boxing star that I have been looking forward to being. I have been waiting for this for a long time and I?m glad it?s here and I am going to take advantage of it.
?The only fighters to beat Manny Pacquiao have become legends themselves. So I plan to become one of the few to beat Manny Pacquiao and also become one of the legends.?
Saturday?s fight has subtexts galore to go along with the preexisting narrative. Pacquiao, for example, should he emerge victorious, will be the first senator to win a world title.
?I am fighting for history,? he said. ?I was the first sitting congressman to win a world title. For this one, it is not enough to be the first sitting senator to fight for a world title. I want to be the first senator to become world champion. For me, that would be quite an accomplishment.?
However gratifying that factoid might be, the knock on Pacquiao is that he lost his killer instinct when he gave up his depraved former life and embraced Christianity. Under normal circumstances?whatever normal signifies in the midst of bountiful abnormality?that could mean the end of a fighter?s career, and Pacquiao did retire from the sport, however briefly. But Manny wasn?t done with boxing. He wanted to fight again, he wanted to earn some scratch again, and he has managed to divide his time between his senatorial duties and the rigors of the fight game.
?It took discipline to manage my time effectively,? Pacquiao said. ?I want to prove that I am still one of the best pound-for-pound fighters. I feel I still have a lot to prove. I am not done with boxing. I will continue to keep fighting as long as I love boxing and boxing still loves me. I do not feel old. I feel like I am still 27.
?I do not underestimate Jessie Vargas. He is a good strong champion. You cannot fight at this level and be successful by underestimating your opponent. Every opponent gets my full attention and respect. I respect Jessie and that is why I trained hard. This is the most important fight because it will determine the direction of my boxing career. I need to win convincingly.?
Whether Pacquiao wins or loses convincingly, his role as a politician, even as he psyches himself for Saturday?s pay-per-view fight, is never far from his mind.
?I enjoy politics because I do not have a hidden agenda,? he said. ?I serve honestly. That?s a good thing for me because I?m not ashamed to tell the truth. I?m not ashamed to rebuke someone if they are doing wrong. Government is for serving the people, not for serving oneself.?
Evidence of Pacquiao?s willingness to ?rebuke someone if they are doing wrong? does not extend to Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, with whom he has close ties.
Duterte is a demagogue. He is also awash in blood. Neither of which, apparently, warrants rebuke from the man who asserts his Christian values at every opportunity.
Pacquiao may be a ?useful idiot? when it comes to Duterte, who Manny said was anointed by God to ?discipline? the Philippine people, or he may just be whistling past the graveyard. In any case, Duterte, who not long ago compared himself to Hitler, at least has an appreciation of boxing.
?I am no boxing expert,? he said at a news conference this week, ?but if [a knockout] does happen, it should be in the early rounds. If it goes beyond seven or eight rounds, he could tire out. He might lose his punching power. Manny can hit him, knock him down.?
Maybe Duterte should stick to boxing and leave governing to the humane.
The same goes for Manny.
