Many people greeted the revelation that Manny Pacquiao had decided to spend more time with his family studying the Bible?while also giving up drinking, gambling, cockfighting, and womanizing?as wonderful news. After all, even if only a fraction of his rumored transgressions were true, he?s already sown enough wild oats to satisfy an army of sinners. But the hallelujah chorus could very well be silenced the next time Pacquiao fights.
While it is true that life in the fast lane has ruined or cut short the careers of many boxers, it is also true that the vast majority of great fighters were wild men who embraced a life filled with virtually every vice known to mankind. Even alleged paragons of virtue such as Oscar De La Hoya and Sugar Ray Leonard, who traded on their squeaky clean images, have admitted they snorted cocaine and drank to excess.
Joe Louis had the image of a saint, but was hardly a choir boy outside the ropes
It is a story as old as boxing. John L. Sullivan, the first heavyweight champion of the gloved era, was a hopeless alcoholic. Jack Johnson spent much of his time associating with prostitutes and Jack Dempsey pimped his first wife. Joe Louis, whose public persona was akin to that of a saint, had more lovers than fights, used drugs, and gambled away a sizable portion of his fortune playing golf. Bible thumper Evander Holyfield fathered so many kids out of wedlock he?s forced to fight on at the age of 49 in order to keep up with his child support payments. Then there?s Mike Tyson, whose countless misdeeds have been so well documented there is no need to recount them again here.
Middleweight champions Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, and Mickey Walker were all boozers and serial lotharios. Another middleweight champ, Kid McCoy, went to jail for shooting his fianc?e. Welterweight champion Dixie Kid was a morphine addict and lightweight champion Lew Jenkins used to fill his water bottle with whiskey. Roberto Duran, who won titles from lightweight to middleweight, partied so hard between bouts his toughest fights were usually with the scales. Pacquiao?s arch rival, Floyd Mayweather, gambles huge sums of money on sporting events and has been hauled into court several times for physically abusing women.
It is interesting to note that all of the fighters mentioned above are either members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame or still active and shoo-ins for induction five years after their final fight. It was not, of course, their outrageous lifestyles that made these men great boxers. Nonetheless, boxers? personalities are usually reflected in the way they fight. They are risk takers willing to literally place their lives in jeopardy every time they enter the squared circle. Whether the inherent danger of their profession encourages them to throw caution to the wind outside the ring or those who turn to prize fighting are already predisposed toward recklessness is an intriguing chicken/egg conundrum. But there is no denying that fighters who live their lives with wild abandon are frequently the best of the breed.
Can Pacquiao rediscover the fire as a man of God?
Throughout most of his career, Pacquiao was a whirling dervish of a fighter, tearing into opponents as if there was no tomorrow. It was an enormously popular style that carried him to fame and fortune, and his behavior outside of the ring mirrored his fighting attitude. Alarmists frequently warned that his carousing, drinking, and all-night gambling binges would be his downfall. But what if the opposite is true? What if PacMan?s reformation and sanctification are echoed in the manner in which he fights? We have already had to watch him exchange so many hugs with Shane Mosley one could be excused for thinking Manny had mistaken ?Sugar Shane? for one of his old paramours. Have we seen the last of the ferocious Filipino assassin who punched his way into our hearts in a breathtaking manner that drew comparisons to the legendary Henry Armstrong?
There is a good chance that these questions will be answered on June 9 when Pacquiao fights Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. While some critics have deemed Bradley an unworthy adversary, they are wrong. The undefeated Bradley is talented, confident, and more than capable of testing Manny?s mettle. Instead of praying for another victory, perhaps Pacquiao?s millions of fans should hope he reverts to his old ways and indulges in at least once more taste of debauchery before stepping into the ring.
Email your comments to: [email protected]
PI Sports International, now in its third month of publication, is the only all-sports newspaper in the Philippines which caters directly to the vast foreign, tourist and high end Filipino market. The paper is distributed FREE throughout Angeles City, Subic, La Union, Manila, Makati, Cebu, Puerto Galera and other places.
To read the online digital version of the March Issue of PI Sports International, please click the cover image below.
