TO almost every boxer, the itch to fight is almost as perennial as grass. As in almost every writer, too?who will never retire but who gets tired only once in a long while.
While it is true that Manny Pacquiao has said in April that he was retiring after fighting Timothy Bradley Jr., that stance was merely the call of the moment. Deep in his heart, he didn?t mean it. Deep in his soul, he couldn?t just walk away from the true love of his life: boxing.
Sure, the Bradley fight that he won on points was his last farewell?but only temporarily. In no time, he?d come back, surrendering, willingly, to his heart?s harking.
Boxing is replete with un-retiring fighters, among them were even some of the best in the trade: George Foreman, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and yes, the greatest himself, the late Muhammad Ali.
And the obvious reason of un-retirement? Money.
Years after their much-criticized fight for its being dubbed a complete mismatch in 1981, Larry Holmes revealed that he only fought the un-retiring Ali because ?he had practically begged for it.?
Ali, Holmes had said, needed $6 million. Being what he was at that time?the world heavyweight champion after toiling for years as Ali?s ?mere sparring partner??he said he could ?only accede to the request of not only my former boss but my mentor as well.?
Everything that Holmes knew about boxing, he got them all from Ali.
It showed in that fight. The student that was Holmes was in command all the way as the teacher that was Ali had lost his gait, reflexes and, yes, his famed Ali Shuffle.
So one-sided was the bout that Holmes had also admitted pleading to the referee to stop the fight.
?It hurt me so much seeing my idol getting hurt,? said Holmes.
So, if Pacquiao should decide to fight again, possibly in November, act naturally, please?
Accept it as an integral part of every boxer?s path.
That is not news. That is as natural as China?s storied stubbornness.
And should Mayweather be Pacquiao?s next foe, consider it as believable as seeing Duterte boycott his own marriage.
Pacquiao-Mayweather II may not break record profits but, still, it will earn money huge enough to make everybody involved in the fight salivating. Kaput.
