Few homeland reporters have the rapport and easy relationship with Pinoy Idol Manny Pacquiao that Manila Bulletin’s Nick Giongco has long enjoyed.
Giongco is not loud, obnoxious or overbearing like some scribes (here Marley looks into mirror).
But he gets the job done in a solid, fact-filled manner. Taking a one fight, late career “sabbatical” when he has no alluring opponent other than unavailable Floyd Mayweather Jr., is, as I’ve delineated previously, a smooth move by and for Manny.
If it’s Manny’s mission to get the Mayweather Lollapalooza made for next May, then so be it. If it’s his priority then Arum will stop flapping his jaws about a second fight against Tim Bradley or Miguel Cotto or a fourth dance with toe-stepper Juan Manuel Marquez. Maybe I’m naive but I think 80 year old Arum would like to make Floyd-Manny not only for the jumbo Jackpot but for his own promotional legacy. Don’t think Tio Roberto has no ego.
The public won’t mind if Manny stays idle for the remainder of this year. Mayweather is also likely to keep his powder dry the balance of 2012 as well.
There is no mania among fight fans to see Pacquiao engage Bradley, Cotto or Marquez. Those are $25 million pay-nights where Mayweather Moolah can double, perhaps even triple that income for one 12-rounder.
I don’t think the masses in America or the Philippines are on pins and needles wondering if Pacquiao, losing steam and not able to notch a KO or TKO in five successive bouts, will schedule a November waltz.
A prolonged rest from sparring and other intensive training won’t leave Pacquiao lame coming into the New Year.
Such a respite could revive him, maybe more so mentally than physically. (A photo I spotted a few days showed Pacman having a blast rafting on a Sarangani river.)
He’s not retiring anytime soon and neither is Floyd Jr.
Oldtime trainers like the great Ray Arcel always said, “To rest is to rust.”
In Pacman’s case, I think a rest will brush away some cobwebs and leave him tanned, rested and ready for his ultimate challenge.
By the same token, a flat or dismal performance against Messrs. Bradley, Cotto or pesky Juan Ma could devalue the Mayweather match.
Sitting out one little dance won’t turn Pacquiao into a wallflower.
