FOR A START, it should be noted here that Manny Pacquiao plays a sharp game of chess.
We’ve got a brainy boxing god here.
That said, it should be added that there’s every reason to believe Manny Pacquiao will do and try everything to ensure victory in his third encounter with Erik Morales.
Pacquiao has been training longer and harder (than he had done in his second fight with Morales) for his third “Grand Finale” clash with his Mexican rival.
Pacquiao will not only be sharper and stronger — he will also be wiser.
There definitely will be no repeat of the blind bull that got cut, bloodied and was mauled by Morales in their first fight.
After Pacquiao abandoned that tight, balled-up style of March 2005, he metamorphosed into a sharp striker — an amazing combine of brawn and brains — to knock out Morales last January.
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For the record, Morales has again decided to train up high in Mexico’s Otami Mountains.
But Pacquiao won’t be denied as he regularly jogs and scales the taxing Griffith Heights that snake over and around the Hollywood area, site of his Wild Card training camp.
Despite his fabulous regimen, there’s however no reason to fear Pacquiao might suffer from burnout.
If there’s something to be wary about, it’s not conditioning; rather it’s this possibility that he could also start treating his next bout with Morales like a chess match.
No kidding. This possibility appealed to us based on the report by the Star’s Quinito Henson wherein Pacquiao was quoted as saying “brains will decide his rubber match with Morales.”
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The story itself is great, something to rouse fans and keep us wondering.
Didn’t Pacquiao use enough brains in his last encounter in order to succeed?
Should he resort to even higher intellection for his next big fight?
Says the exclusive report: “According to Pacquiao, he has got 20 new moves to unravel in the Grand Finale.”
The pronouncement was rather amusing but, at least, it was not Pacman himself, but Pacquiao marketing man Eric Pineda, who divulged the plot.
It was not very clear whether there would be a Queen’s Gambit or Sicilian Defense in the ring repertoire.
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But we could only pray those “20 new moves” won’t melt like the promised Manila Ice that fizzled out in Pacquiao-Morales 1.
The truth is that thinking too much during a fight — which could result into undue caution — is bound to ruin Pacquiao’s momentum and cramp his style.
It doesn’t always pay for a boxer to be too brainy, it slows him down.
For one, Pacquiao happens to be a top-rate risk taker who seldom gives his foe room to plot and think.
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In Pacquiao’s case, it’s his fists that do the thinking.
His greatest, sharpest weapons are secret, nameless.
His role is to outbox, not to outthink, Morales.
Pacquiao happens to be a warrior, not a silly solon.
He can’t afford to be a bore.
Let him return to the chessboard, but only after his next big ring assignment.
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(SOS: From poetess Chiqui Almeda–This is a call for help for “Milenyo” victims in Bi?an, Laguna, who lost their homes, loved ones, everything. This Damayan effort of Kiwanis Bi?an, Colegio Monterei de Pila, Lambat-Saya Inc. is in cooperation with acting Bi?an Mayor Lenlen Alonte. Your kind gesture will go a long way to bring some balance in so much human misery. You can leave donations, food, clothes, beddings, slippers at the Timog Petron station in Quezon City, main drop-off point.)
