How focused could a fighter be in training for a still unidentified opponent for a fight on a still undetermined date? This is a dilemma.
A fighter the caliber of Manny Pacquiao should not have this problem. Instead of looking for fights, Manny should already be enjoying the luxury of choosing whom to fight. Worthy featherweights should be moving mountains to get the chance to face the Pac Man and be recognized.
Manny is no stranger to challenges. He has fought with the self and the best fighters in his division who appeared on the scene with him in these years. He learned from and overcame them.
The negative side of the self
This is probably one of the most difficult enemies a fighter has to contend with. It is difficult as it is often times unrecognizable.
A fighter taunts his would be opponent to make him angry. At fight time the angry fighter disregards his team’s fight plan and fights according to his derailed emotional dictates and loses even before his opponent lands a punch.
Juan Manuel Marquez referred to this self as his Mexican macho ego which made him go for broke after the first of three knockdowns in the first round of his fight with Manny.
After winning all his first 14 fights with 6 KOs, Manny faced Rustico Torrecampo, a fighter with a 11-4-5 record. Manny lost this fight that he could have easily won for failure to reign in his self. As the relater of his life states after the shocking loss, Manny realized too late “that overconfidence and cockiness are dangerous things.” His second defeat, which cost him the WBC flyweight crown was likewise caused by his inability to gain control the self, neglecting the danger posed by putting on unwanted weight and being out of shape going into the title fight with Medgoen Singsurat.
Manny showed he has started to master the self when he fought Agapito Sanchez. Manny struggled with his self, in addition to solving a problem like the dirty Agapito. His self wanted to inflict in return the low blows and head butts Agapito was inflicting on him. With his handlers telling him “don’t retaliate, don’t retaliate”, Manny prevailed over this natural selfish desire to strike back “tooth-for- tooth”. Though he showed his frustration over and over, the foul blows having been landing on him also over and over, he conquered the urge to get even with the dirty tricks.
To the delight of his fans, Manny’s conquering of the self is amusingly manifested in his good naturedly grinning and being unperturbed when fighting before a howling hostile crowd. His grins are bigger and he blows kisses to those booing him.
He correctly identifies this rowdy crowd as “not the enemy” and that he was fighting in the ring and not outside of it. In the end, not a few among those in the unruly crowd applaud Manny as well. In effect he, as a bonus, likewise conquered them over to his side.
The best fighters
A fighter is considered as the “best” at the moment in his division and domain when he is recognized as champion.
When Manny, who was then 14-1, fought the defending 112 pound Orient-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) flyweight champion Chokchai Chockvivat in June 1997, not a few expressed concern that it was still too early for him to trade blows with a “hard hitting veteran” who was then toting a remarkable 35-2 (15 KOs) record. Manny appeased his worried followers when he took the title with a 5th round KO.
A few months later, the then WBC #5 flyweight contender Manny seemed a greenhorn when he faced defending WBC flyweight champion Chatchai Sasakul, who posted a formidable 33-0 (24 KOs) record. Chatchai “gave Manny a boxing lesson for 6 rounds”. Manny obliged and learned those lessons quick enough to give Chatchai headaches with his 1-2 right-left combos in round 7. This turning of the tide continued, and the now backpedaling Chatchai finally went to dreamland shortly after the start of the 8th round, winning for Manny and his country his first world title.
No doubt, Manny dares to fight the best. After disposing of Emmanuel Lucero in the 3rd round, HBO’s Larry Merchant asked him “where does Manny Pacquiao go next?” The then 122 pound kingpin issued his challenge, perceived at the time as overly daring by even his diehard fans, when he said that he wanted to “fight (Marco Antonio) Barrera and (Paulie) Ayala, especially Barrera”. While trainer Freddie Roach wished for Manny to fight a lesser fighter for debut at featherweight, Manny simply aimed at the best. And he conquered the highly regarded best featherweight named Marco Antonio.
Manny – The “Destroyer”?
Manny is now well known and is being introduced in the ring as “The Destroyer”. Some other fighters have this same moniker attached to them. What seems fitting with its positive, rather than negative, connotation appears to be “The Conqueror”. Manny has conquered over his self and the best fighters he has fought.
“The Destroyer”, being a biblical description of Satan the Devil, is inappropriate for a fighter who frequently prays in the ring and repeatedly does the sign of the cross during fights. After winning a fight Manny cries, “Thank you Lord!” Manny even once boldly declared, after being asked whether it would matter who he fights, that he “would fight anybody, ‘maski pa si Satanas'” (even Satan).
Manny will conquer the present dilemma
For about two weeks after landing in the USA looking for fights, Manny trained for no one in particular. When opportunity smiled on him, Manny was ready even with only a two-week notice. He thoroughly vanquished Lehlonoholo Ledwaba in less than six rounds to win the latter’s IBF super-bantamweight title.
Now Manny is training again for no one in particular. This “enemy” is not new. Those regarded as “worthy” opponents are themselves disproving their “worthiness” by shying away from an encounter with Manny, and for good reason. After trading bombs with the Pac Man, these fighters know they will indeed be “recognized” but in the unfavorable sense.
Manny’s supporters wish that Manny remain focused in his training. As in the Ledwaba case, devoted and whole-hearted training would make Manny ever ready, even with less than “a two week notice” to face whoever has the guts to rumble with him in the ring.
Fighting opponents other than Manny or pricing themselves out of a fight are manifestations of fear to face the Pac Man. This is an enemy of another class Manny Pacquiao has to learn to live with.
But being the over comer, the winner and the vanquisher that he is, the “No Fear” fearsome fighter would again, in the end, Conquer!
