Focus.
Where is the focus in Pacquiao camp?
Is it on politics or pugilism? Is the on priming the illusion of a distracted fighter to sell a fight or dealing with the reality of a boxer tired of fighting with his fists?
The focus in the Margarito camp seems to be of a singular goal: defeating Manny Pacquiao.
?I have always prepared well, but this is the most important fight of my life, even more so than when I won the title for the first time or when I beat Miguel Cotto, ? Antonio Margarito told Sal Rodriguez. ?I?ve never felt as good as I do now. I?m very motivated.?
Getting a complete picture of the Pacquiao camp through news sources at this point in training seems akin to getting a good look at a painting by squinting through a handful of soda straws. Each straw gives you a new perspective, each is a different piece of a unique whole, but none, even when compiled, can give you a complete picture.
Some seem to have Pacquiao training hard for a fight in which Antonio Margarito will quickly throw up a white flag, others have indicated red flags in the Pacquiao camp.
Through these news sources Pacquiao seems to be reinforced as the renaissance man, a man that can not be pinned down. Is Pacquiao more concerned with his work as a politician, or serious about the fight? Are his sparring partners close to collecting the $1,000 bounty put up by trainer Freddie Roach to knock Pacquiao down or are they just nowhere near the level of Pacquiao? Is Master Roach losing the ear, influence and interest of his student to other ventures?
In one report, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has expressed his discontent with Pacquiao?s form and has been quoted as saying that the Pacman is ?lagging behind? in camp.
?There are so many distractions here in the Philippines that, while Freddie believes he will be OK once we get him to Los Angeles, his preparation ? for Manny ? leaves something to be desired,? Arum told USA Today. ?When he hits the mitts, he demonstrates his quickness. But when he?s sparring, whether it?s because he?s adjusting to bigger guys, taller guys, or whether he really hasn?t got the conditioning to fight at full speed the way he always does, I?m not sure.?
Another Report from the Manila Bulletin earlier in the week has Arum looking past the Margarito fight:
?It seems that promoter Bob Arum is so sure of another win by Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao that he already has grand plans for the fighting congressman from Sarangani in 2011.
The biggest is, of course, a fight against Floyd Mayweather, something the Hall of Fame promoter admits won?t be easy to do owing to the legal troubles Mayweather and his handlers are into.
??Of course, it?s a fight with Mayweather (that is the priority),? said Arum.?
The reports concerning Roach show a myriad of attitude toward the camp.
Dennis Principe, under the headline ?Pacquiao Dazzles Roach?, in The Manila Standard Today wrote, ?If not for a dazzling final-day workout by Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, this second tour in this breezy city would have been a disappointing training camp for famed trainer Freddie Roach.
After Pacquiao dominated his 10-round sparring session opposite sparmates Michael Medina, Glen Tapia and fellow world champion Amir Khan Thursday afternoon, Roach said he now sees the Filipino icon to be in a state, where the guru wants him to be at the conclusion of their storm-hit Northern Philippine camp.?
Other reports seem bleak and have Pacquiao showing little-to-no interest in the upcoming fight or boxing in general.
?These days, Hall of Fame boxing trainer Freddie Roach is feeling more like a member of the pop group Black Eyed Peas rather than a boxing guru as he ponders and sings ?Where is the Love???, wrote Dennis Guillermo of Examiner.com. ?Roach recently concluded the Philippines leg of his camp with his superstar pupil and boxing?s current best fighter Manny Pacquiao. Unlike all his previous other camps with the Filipino Fighting Pride, Roach is wondering whether he, together with the whole boxing community, had already lost it?s biggest star to his ?other job?.?
So which Pacquiao will show up on November 13?
Will it be the grinning Pacquiao emanating boxing spirit and unparalleled boxing skill that we have seen so many times before? Will we see a boxer we are no longer familiar with, a boxer longing to be somewhere else, doing something else, throwing languid punches in the wrong ring?
Only one man knows and the world is waiting to find out.
