22
April 2016
MetroVan Independent News
MVINEWS.COM
SPORTS
Once-beloved Manny Pacquiao
becoming a lot less likable
Manny Pacquiao.
This coming Saturday night on April
9, the 37-year-old former eight division
world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2,
38 KOs) could be fighting for the final time
of his career in his third fight against Tim
Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs) on HBO pay-perview from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas,
Nevada.
Pacquiao is coming off of shoulder
surgery on his right shoulder from a torn
rotator cuff that his promoter Bob Arum
says he suffered eight years ago in 2008.
Pacquiao has surgery on his shoulder last
May following his loss to Floyd Mayweather
Jr. Without any tune-up to test out his
shoulder, Pacquiao will be going straight
into his fight against Bradley this Saturday.
Arum expects Pacquiao to be better
than he’s been in years despite the fact
that he’s coming off a surgery and isn’t
tak ing a tune-up.
Arum even believes that Pacquiao’s
surgically repaired shoulder could be
stronger than his left shoulder, which would
be a real surprise to many considering
Pacquiao is a southpaw and is naturally
left handed.
“You’re going to see a two-handed
Pacquiao,” said Arum. “I mean, Pacquiao
since 2008, he’s had a torn rotator cuff.
Now that it’s been repaired, he’s hitting
hard with his right hand maybe harder
than his left. So you’re going to see an
unbeatable Manny Pacquiao on April 9.
Teddy [Atlas] is a great psychologist. All
top coaches are great psychologists. They
bring out 100 percent of their ability. Most
athletes don’t give 100 percent because
they don’t know that they’re capable of that
100 percent. Teddy can bring that out of a
fighter, and he’s bringing it out of Bradley.
So you will see Tim Bradley that’s the
best that any Tim Bradley you’ve seen
before. Tim Bradley is one of the great
fighters around. With Teddy Atlas bringing
out the full amount of his ability and with
a game plan that makes sense for the first
time, he’s very, very dangerous for Manny
Pacquiao,” said Arum.
So, who do you like in Saturday’s big
fight?
Putting aside the always knotty whovs.-whom infighting among grammar
geeks, back in the day that question was
common currency among boxing fans. It
simply required the respondent to pick a
winner.
But the question steps up a weight
class or two when approaching Saturday’s
welterweight pay-per-view extravaganza
between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy
Bradley. It takes on some extra muscle,
some moral heft.
Thanks to his disappointing punchingat-air performance from nearly a year ago
against the always crafty, rarely exciting,
now-you-see-him-now-you-don’t Floyd
Mayweather Jr., combined with his recent
piously pitiful anti-gay pronouncements
followed by half-hear ted apologies,
Pacquiao has achieved something even
more impressive than his astonishing ring
record.
The once universally adored fighter has
become unlikable.
And that’s not even counting the
Hennessy cognac television ad he
appeared in last year, an ad all dressed
up in highfalutin production values and
pseudo dramatic integrity, featuring a
supposedly born-again sports celebrity
who fancies himself as politically and
religiously relevant — pushing booze.
Oh, no doubt there are millions who
will cheer for Pacman on Saturday, millions
of fans for whom Pacquiao can never do
any wrong, millions blind to his declining
talent and hateful fiats disguised as divinely
inspired righteousness.
But the more discerning boxing fans
likely see Pacquiao as a variation on so
many former champions before him: fueled
more by ego than skill, confused about how
the wider world works, in love with his own
legend.
Pacquiao, whose professional career
spans 65 fights over 21 years, has lost
three of his six most recent bouts. He
carries considerable wear and tear into
Saturday’s fight, which he claims will be
his last.
But don’t bet on it. Great champions
— and make no mistake, Pacquiao was a
great champion — find it mighty difficult to
leave the gloves off. Muhammad Ali, both
Sugar Rays — Robinson and Leonard
— Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and
countless others have reneged on “last
fight” promises. Don’t expect Pacquiao
to be any different. For the right price, he
took money from a liquor company. For
the right price, he’ll take money from a
boxing promoter. And never discount the
adrenaline factor. After all, which figures to
be more exciting for Pacquiao: wrangling
behind the scenes with fellow Philippines
politicians or duking it out under the bright
lights while thousands cheer?
Who do you like in Saturday’s big fight?
Consider Timothy Bradley.
At 32, he’s seven years younger than
Pacquiao. In a 12-year pro career, he’s won
a world championship, including a split
decision over Pacquiao four years ago.
The only blemishes on his record are a loss
by unanimous decision two years ago to
Pacquiao and a draw against Argentine
contender Diego Gabriel Chaves.
Bradley isn’t lacking for boxing bona
fides.
But here are insights into Bradley the
person.
He kept his dignity intact and his
disappointment to himself following the
draw against Chaves, a decision most
boxing observers felt was a travesty. His
victory over Pacquiao in 2012 was generally
considered a generous decision, at best.
Virtually all boxing experts at the fight
scored it unofficially for Pacquiao. Bradley,
though, was gracious in the controversial
win, even humble. When he lost the
rematch, he offered no excuses (unlike
Pacquiao after losing to Mayweather, when
we suddenly heard about a previously
undisclosed shoulder injury and when he
apparently became delusional, claiming he
had beaten Mayweather anyway).
More to the point of Bradley’s
character, he had the following to say
to the Los Angeles Times in reaction
to Pacquiao’s Bible-thumping anti-gay
rhetoric that included a statement on
Philippines television that gays are “worse
than animals,” followed by an Instagram
post that quoted an Old Testament verse
justifying the killing of homosexuals:
“Judge people by their heart,” Bradley
said. “That’s how you judge people — by
what they do, by what they show.”
Bradley, who actually lives in the real,
wider world and counts gays among his
friends, associates and family members,
also spoke to the L.A. Times about a late
uncle, who was gay:
“My uncle loved me. Great guy, was
always there for me, always cheering for
me, always there to encourage me. I still
miss him today.”
Bradley and Pacquiao both have
skill and experience going for them. But
Bradley has authentic character and, if
not exactly youth, far less mileage than
Pacquiao. Bradley also has trainer Teddy
Atlas, a scar-faced Machiavellian mix of
blowhard and badass who once stood up
to Mike Tyson and got fired for his trouble.
ROBERT RUBINO