General Admission
A knockout, please, or nothing at all
By Al S. Mendoza
THE world welterweight crown held by Timothy Bradley is on the line today in Las Vegas.
But for Manny Pacquiao, recapturing his crown back should merely be secondary.
What should be primary for the PacMan is his career.
And what is that career?
Boxing. Not his political career, or his Bible babe.
Thus, Pacquiao must not only defeat Bradley today to consummate his desire to bring his career back in shape.
He must defeat Bradley by knockout.
That’s the only way Pacquiao could restore his reputation as the world’s darling in the ring.
His pride, ego and reputation had been in tatters since that 6th-round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez some 16 months ago—never mind that he battered Brandon Rios in 12 rounds in Macau last November.
The Rios rout was the least the world had wanted to see.
Pacquiao knocking the lights out of Rios was what the world had wanted to see.
And when it did not happen, the ever fickle, hard-to-please, crowd had turned its back on PacMan. Rudely.
OK, Pacquiao’s been forgiven.
Rios couldn’t be knocked out because, after the fight, he was found to have used PEDs (power-enhancing drugs) before the bout.
So that even if Pacquiao had used a buzz saw or an axe maybe, he could never have knocked out Rios neither.
One who is drugged can never be dumped for good.
He will keep coming back—like a rubber ball.
Thus, if Pacquiao is truly in shape, which he boisterously claims he is, I don’t see any reason why he can’t knock Bradley out.
At 35, Pacquiao isn’t old hat.
He still packs that power that he’s been known of, a power that has floored 38 of his 55 victims.
And in the 30-year-old Bradley, Pacquiao has a foe that virtually lacks power as Bradley has only 12 KOs to his name.
The only good thing going for Bradley is, he is unbeaten in 31 fights.
But that should really read “30-1” if only the two judges in their 2012 fight weren’t that blind as to pick Bradley the winner by 115-113, the same score given by the third judge favoring Pacquiao.
Look, in a verdict given by a new jury to review the Pacquiao-Bradley 1, Pacquiao won by a unanimous decision.
Today, I do not like a unanimous decision victory for Pacquiao—unless it would come after Bradley had proved to be like the “un-toppable and un-knockable” leaning tower of Pisa despite absorbing bombardment without let-up.
I will only say Pacquiao’s career would be back, firmly, if he could win by a knockout today.
Otherwise, he can shift his focus on his other career—politics.
And, yes, maybe in his Bible belief, which would be absolutely fine by me—anytime at all.
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