It is once Manny Pacquiao?s official outfitter. Not anymore. Manny now sports Nike boxing shorts and shoes besides having his own brand of sporting goods and apparels.
But Fear Factor may be Manny?s best psychological weapon against any boxer ? the same weapon that is keeping the biggest fight in his era from happening. Many are dropping his name in the hope of landing the biggest fight in their careers but, deep inside, they know surviving merely the championship rounds already means victory.
Manny is on a tear. He has not lost since 2005 going 13-0 (win-loss) after dropping a unanimous decision to Erik Morales. All along, he avenged that Morales loss twice over, both by knockouts. Eight of those victories in that span were stoppage wins ? all against top flight opponents.
Since breaking out in the American audience with a sensational drubbing of Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001, Pacquiao has taken boxing like a hurricane. He went from a nondescript last minute substitute to what he is now, boxing?s biggest draw and cash cow. It is hard to imagine that a fighter from this part of the world will captivate all of boxing. But he did. And he is doing it with style. A style that is never seen before.
Confident and cocky foes kept on saying they that had their own weapons to stop the rampaging Filipino beak buster. After getting hit by a getting-to-know-me punch from Pacquiao ? usually a probing left straight to the kisser ? they became believers of Mike Tyson. Tyson it is he who said everybody has a gameplan until they got hit.
It is not easy to miss the fear in the eyes of his opponents that immediately follows Manny?s first big punch in the fight that comes as certain as the sun rises in the East in the first round.
Pacquiao has built a solid and fearsome reputation as a fearless finisher possessing an arsenal of two-fisted attacks to go along with his cat-quick speed.
Even Juan Manuel Marquez who has given Manny fits in two of his fights knew that he could end up in the canvass anytime. That is why he never allowed Manny to keep his distance. Marquez knew that they only way he could keep up with Manny is to square up and keep the Filipino within his arms length.
In a little over two weeks, another boxer will again try to prove himself wrong.
Shane Mosley will test if his 39-year old legs can still keep up with Manny?s speed and if his hands will still have the zap to stop the Filipino eight-division champion from his track.
Manny is like a bullet train. His fists travel in blur. But unlike trains, Manny?s punches do not follow the railway tracks. They come from all directions and meet at an intersection with cruelest of intentions. And Manny does not know what traffic lights in boxing mean if Mosley only cares to listen.
But like all other boxers before him, Mosley will soon develop a kind of phobic fit that only Manny brings into the ring.
The Fear Factor. The Mannyphobia.
