Many boxers fight past their prime because they can?t let go of the sport they love or mostly for financial reasons. Fighting too long can tarnish a legacy and cause long term physical damage to one?s body. Determining when the right time for a fighter to hang up the gloves all depends on the number of tough fights ones been in and how much punishment a boxer has took. Each fighter has a certain set of skills that make them unique and special such as athleticism, punching power, defensive awareness among other traits. So that begs the question, if a fighter losses what makes the special, can they regain it? I first thought of this question the other day whenever Manny Pacquiao tweeted we would be seeing the old Manny come Dec. 8th, whenever Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez do battle for a 4th time. Additionally, Pacquiao claims he wants to be the 24 year old fighter, the one who was feared by everyone he stepped in the ring with. While Pacquiao intentions are clear, father time is not on his sized as well as all his outside distractions. I truly do not believe we will ever see the ?old? Pacquiao again, as too many factors have come into play. How does Pacquiao figure to go about regaining the fire and reckless abandoned style that him so great? The old Manny Pacquiao would have knocked Timothy Bradley out in their fight and not let it gone the distance. One can make the claim that we haven?t seen the ferocious Pacquiao since his 2009 beat down of Ricky Hatton. While Pacquiao is still an elite boxer, it?s safe to say his best days are behind him, and sadly they aren?t coming back.
Speaking of Ricky Hatton, it was just announced he will be fighting former titlist Vyacheslav Senchenko, in his first fight during his comeback trail. Hatton has not fought since gotten knocked out cold by Pacquiao in that 2009 title fight. Whatever reasons Hatton has for stepping back into the ring must be outweighing the negatives since he contemplated suicide after his loss to Pacquiao. Many fighters are quite never the same after suffering a vicious knockout. Paul Williams comes to mind as someone who looked like a shell of themselves after getting rocked by Sergio Martinez. It will be interesting to see how Hatton is able to come back and perform. I highly suspect he won?t be able to regain the ?Hitman? status he once had, but if he is serious about training there is no reason why he can?t fight at a relatively high level for a few years.
In conclusion, we have two fighters who are trying to find ?it? again. Manny Pacquaio is trying to reignite the fire that made him number 1 on my pound for pound lists. Ricky Hatton is looking to restart a career that was derailed due to a knockout and will have the support of a nation behind him. Play close attention to see if these fighters can find ?it?.
