IT is 12 days to go before Manny Pacquiao returns to the ring again, this time to fight Timothy Bradley. Again.
In five days perhaps, Pacquiao will stop training seriously, settling for light workouts like jogging, calisthenics, shadow-boxing and working the medicine ball.
It is a boxer?s routine as old as the ol? man rivah.
Once the hard work on the gym and at the tracks has been hurdled, the real business begins for Pacquiao, who will be in his 63rd fight on April 13 (Manila time) since he turned pro in 1996.
He is 35 years old now, a billionaire no less and a lawmaker at that from the Lone District of Sarangani province. And to think he only earned a few bucks when he started out as a flyweight?barely enough to put food on the table.
Eighteen years later, not only is the table overflowing with food. There are now many tables laden with food from morning till night, distributed in three mansions built by Pacquiao, one of which is in Makati?s Forbes Park, where only the genuine rich dwell in utter abundance.
Pacquiao will pocket a fortune again in the Bradley bout, amounting to no less than $20 million, maybe.
How lucky can one get, indeed.
Virtually unschooled and, yet, he keeps so much money now in the bank he once was the country?s No. 1 taxpayer. But Madam Kim chases the Pacman now for alleged tax evasion.
How ironic life is, indeed.
Virtually lacking in control of English and, yet, he is doggedly sought after by CNN and other world-famous networks, mainly because he has become the face of the earth with his eight world titles in eight weight divisions?a record. How fate can transform someone?s destiny, indeed.
When Pacquiao fights Bradley in Las Vegas, he is not only after reclaiming the crown the American stole from him in June 2012. He will also make formal his boxing comeback that got derailed by that sixth-round knockout he absorbed at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in December of 2012.
The road to redemption began with his fight with Oscar Rios in November 2013, destroying the American in 12 rounds that all went Pacquiao?s way.
But a win on April 13 must not only happen for Pacquiao. Beating Bradley decisively, as in via a brutal knockout or a bombardment like no other, should materialize to legitimize a certified return to the top. Anything lesser would render the victory hollow.
If only Pacquiao can make good his promise to revive his killer instinct, I think he is in a perfect position to put Bradley to dreamland.
For one, Bradley, although he is quick and can evade punches with ease, is still hittable. Look to their first bout and you will see that Pacquiao kept connecting in the first six rounds?even almost decking him. But Pacquiao, for one reason or another, slowed down in the final half and paid dearly for it. Two of the three judges gave the fight to Bradley?a verdict that became The Robbery of the Year in 2012.
For another, even as Bradley is unbeaten in 31 fights, he throws virtually harmless punches as he has only 12 knockout victories to prove this. In contrast, Pacquiao has 38 KOs in a 55-5-2 card.
Bradley must also be wary because in Pacquiao?s return bouts, Pacquiao holds a splendid record.
After stopping the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003, Pacquiao easily decisioned the scared, always-running Mexican in their rematch the following year.
After drawing with Marquez in 2004, Pacquiao defeated the Dynamite in their next two return bouts before a lucky punch in their fourth match stopped the Pacman in the sixth.
After losing on points to Erik Morales in 2005, Pacquiao knocked El Terible twice in their next two fights, the last one in 2006 which I covered in Las Vegas, coming in the third round. Thus, if we go by history, I don?t see Pacquiao losing.
Unless the curse of the lucky punch ? la Marquez of 2012 resurrects itself. Again.
THAT?S IT. If plans don?t go awry, the winner in the Pacquiao-Bradley fight will meet the victor in the Juan Manuel Marquez-Mike Alvarado bout set for May 17. Pacquiao-Marquez 5 in the offing?
