THERE?S this scene in the boxing movie Creed where an old Rocky Balboa was training his dead best-friend?s son Apollo and pointed at the young man?s reflection in the mirror and said.
?This guy you see here, that?s the toughest opponent you?ll ever gonna face. I think that?s true in the ring, that?s true in life.?
That sort of defines Manny Pacquiao in and out of the ring. His toughest opponent isn?t Floyd Mayweather nor is Juan Manuel Marquez who demystified him with a knockout punch. It?s not even his latest opponent Jessie Vargas ten years younger whom he outclassed last Sunday.
Pacman, the Pambansang Kamao, Honorable Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao, is fighting himself.
At this stage in his life at age 37, Manny should be done with boxing. The world-record eight titles in eight divisions. The many opponents he flustered with his flurry of punches. The millions of fans worldwide wildly cheering for him. The millions who adore him here, that every match is a ?non-official? holiday. An underwhelming loss to Money Mayweather. A shocking knockout loss to Dinamita. He has faced every opponent imagined.
At this stage, he should do what most boxers have done, time to move on.
He did try. Try as in announcing his previous fight with Bradley last April was his last, and in June, he promise he would be Senator Pacquiao and would not be absent in Congress like his reputation as an absentee Saranggani Representative who only attended four sessions in three years.
But he showed he can?t turn away from the ring. Like Mayweather, he has to come back. Actually, money is a factor. But unlike Floyd who wants to get rich, Manny wants money to keep turning out his projects for the poor.
He has to prove other things. That he still has drawing power. That he can bounce back from the public sting he got for calling members of the gay community ?animals?.
He was fighting the odds, like last Sunday?s fight wasn?t really much hyped as his previous fights. Absent were the eternity of TV ads, billboards, tickets for pay-per-views and sponsorships.
There were fears his comeback would end with a thud.
But those doubts were gone once he stepped into the ring last Sunday. In twelve rounds he flustered the young champion, even knocking him down in the second round.
The cheers, the chants are still there, and then Michael Buffer?s familiar voice calling Pac-Man the champion for the nth time.
At 37, he still has it. That smile of his is still sweet. Doubters silenced. Or are they? After this, what?s really next for Manny? Back to Senate work, he says, and prepare for another fight next year.
Through the years, Manny was our inspiration amidst the country?s turmoil under Arroyo and Noynoy. Now, the country finds another inspiration in a president who is knocking out American bullies.
But do we still need Manny? Do we still want to cheer for the punches and money he throws for the people?
Manny needs to take one more look at the mirror. But the answer ultimately belongs to him.
