Correct me if I didn’t get this right. After wiping out kingdoms and empires, some with little or no opposition at all because of fear, Alexander the Great felt sad when he found out there were none left for him to conquer.
Manny Pacquiao has just returned to the Philippines after training for almost a month in the US, seemingly having Alexander’s sad feeling. It appears that there are “none left for him to conquer” in the featherweight division.
He resumed training with Freddie Roach since he arrived at the latter’s Wild Card Gym in California last September 8, hoping that the negotiations for either a rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera or a fight with Erik Morales would materialize. But neither fighter would face him until the end of the year. Erik and Marco Antonio decided instead to fight each other.
Many are blaming Murad Muhammad, Manny’s promoter in the US, for failing to secure a fight for the Pac Man since his May fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. But don’t totally blame Murad. The blame, or rather, the biggest reason Manny is not getting any fight is Manny himself. He has cleaned up his division of fighters willing to trade punches with him.
As Jim Lampley of HBO declared after Manny’s total domination and “humiliation” of the then widely acclaimed top man in the featherweight division, Marco Antonio Barrera, in November last year, “Manny has practically wiped out the featherweight division, psychologically.” What’s happening to Manny today is the realization of Lampley’s prognosis after that fight.
Lampley added, “I’m standing here wracking my brains thinking of a featherweight who might want to face Manny Pacquiao.” Juan Manuel did face Manny. While he fought a good fight and escaped with a controversial draw, Juan Manuel had to visit the canvas three times in the first round and had his body punished like never before. While Juan Manuel may have “wanted” to face Manny prior to that fight, it appears now that he doesn’t want to fight Manny again when he refused the fans’ clamored rematch. He instead chose a safer fight with a lesser fighter in Orlando Salido.
Lampley further foretold that “Pacquiao is gonna be looking hard for people who wanna face that kind of devastation” (of Marco Antonio).
Manny, his handlers, and more particularly Murad Mohammad now realize it is really hard to find a “world class” featherweight who would be man enough to face the “kind of devastation” Marco Antonio experienced.
As Alexander the Great swept kingdoms and empires by fear of his army’s might, so has Manny Pacquiao swept the featherweights by fear of his devastating left and right.
Cheer up Manny. You’re Great!
