Time for Pacquiao to assess himself

By Al S. Mendoza

ALL things must pass, even the good ones.

By now, Manny Pacquiao should realize the truth behind that truism.

Being a movie superstar is a good thing.  And that will pass.

Being an astute politician is a good thing.  And that will pass.

And, yes, being a boxing icon is a good thing.  But, yes, that will also pass.

Nothing lasts forever.  Only God, whatever you conceive Him to be, lasts forever—and God’s miracles, too.

And what’s one of God’s miracles?

The sun shining on both the bad and the good, the ugly and beautiful, the poor and rich.

Also, rain pouring on rose and rotten.

God does those miracles all the time to prove his unconditional love to all.

Many say Pacquiao has been God’s miracle to us, too, if not to the world.

Eight world boxing crowns in eight weight divisions.  Pacquiao’s the first to achieve that feat.

Pacquiao even became the first active boxer in the history of world boxing to get elected as a lawmaker in his country.

When his wife, Jinkee, officially claims the vice governor post in Sarangani in May (she is running unopposed), Manny and Jinkee will become sports’ first husband-and-wife tandem holding elective positions in any country in the world.

So, where is Pacquiao headed to?

Or, to be more precise, where are the Pacquiaos headed to?

Pacquiao has lost twice in 2012—a first back-to-back loss in one year for the ring icon in a boxing career spanning nearly 17 years.

If that’s not a signal of things to come for Pacquiao, what is?

If there was no message to Pacquiao—to the Pacquiaos—in those two losses, darn.

For, it has become crystal clear:  Pacquiao has to take stock of himself after the setbacks to Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.

If we are to believe Mommy D (Pacquao’s mother named Dionisia), the PacMan’s defeats were the result of Pacquiao’s decision to leave the Catholic faith and move to the Born Again sect.

Mommy D rued the fact that Pacquiao had abandoned the rosary and stopped making the sign of the cross before, during and after every fight in 2012.

Pacquiao’s mother believes it’s time for her son to retire.

“I will tell Jinkee not to sign the renewal of Manny’s contract with Bob Arum,” said Mommy D.

Arum is Pacquiao’s American promoter since 2006.

It used to be that Pacquiao was only in boxing.  And he did very well in it.

Then he became a politician and a boxer at the same time.

And then he became a Bible-preacher but outside of the Catholic faith that he’s been with since he was a kid.

If you ask me, I want him to leave boxing.  If not, he might yet suffer more setbacks.

Politics and boxing—they just don’t mix.

And religion?

Well, was it mere coincidence that he lost two in-a-row right after switching roads leading to God?

Happy New Year!

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