AS usual, every time Manny Pacquiao has a fight coming up, friends of mine come to me and ask the same question: ?Will he win??
I?m used to it. Been in the business for so long that it doesn?t rile me anymore. Goes with the territory, so they say.
I?ve had my share of hits and misses.
I said Pacquiao will lose to Oscar de la Hoya on December 6, 2008, and I was wrong. Pacquiao won by an eighth-round TKO.
I said Pacquiao will defeat Jeff Horn on July 2, 2017, and I was wrong. Pacquiao lost by unanimous decision. I was booed no end when I said Pacquiao will beat Marco Antonio Barrera on November 15, 2003, and I was right. Pacquiao stopped Barrera in the 11th round.
I made my prediction while I was acting as analyst of the live TV coverage of that fight in the company of Quinito Henson, Ed Picson and the late Hermie Rivera. Humbly, I was the only one from the panel who correctly predicted a Pacquiao victory.
I also said Pacquiao will knock out Erik Morales in their 2006 trilogy in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I was right. From ringside, I nearly busted my lungs out yelling when Pacquiao stopped Morales in the third round to post a 2-1 margin in their storied three-fight duel.
And so, can Pacquiao retain his World Boxing Association welterweight title against Adrien Broner?
Of course.
Even if he?s turned 40 already last December 17, Pacquiao can still dish it out as he has always been famously known for practically killing himself while training for a fight.
And even if Broner is only 29, mentally and even physically, the former four-time world champion will still be no match against the only eight-division king that is Pacquiao.
In fact, I pray fervently that Broner would make the 147-pound limit on weigh-in day as he was still 30 pounds overweight days before the January 20 (PHL time) fight.
No doubt that Broner?s record of 33-3-1, with 24 knockouts, is also something to crow about. He has not been stopped, too.
But he has been very unpredictable recently. His off-ring activities had been tainted with brushes with the law. His flamboyance and lack of focus could yet send him crashing to the canvas early in the title fight scheduled for 12 rounds.
In fact, if Pacquiao doesn?t knock Broner out for his 40th stoppage in his 70th fight, either the fighting senator has a bum stomach or a toothache.
Pacquiao?s recent reunion too with his longtime trainer Freddie Roach should produce another wondrous result for the fabled partnership, leading?inevitably?to that much talked-about rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.?
A sure hit.
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THAT?S IT After Coach Leo Austria won for San Miguel Corp. the Asean Basketball League crown, he would shortly see himself coaching the Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association. Jimmy Alapag had just won the ABL title coaching Alab-San Miguel Beer. Last week, Alapag saw himself joining Austria in the SMB coaching staff, a shocker of sorts as Alapag left TNT KaTropa?his organization of nearly 20 years.
