By Al S.Mendoza 

 

MANNY Pacquiao is staging a comeback.

But it is not really a comeback in the strictest sense of the word.

He is coming back to fight but not actually in a real brawl.

Well, it will still be a fight atop the roped ring when he returns.

But, in reality, he will be merely in an exhibition match.

Meaning, he goes through the motions of boxing, like wearing boxing shorts and boxing shoes.

And, yes, he will also be wearing boxing gloves but only the eight-ounce gloves.

They are light gloves and, therefore, lacking in knockout power.

It would be a freak of a knockout if Pacquiao gets to knock out his foe.

That’s why he is into an exhibition fight.  And not just once but twice.

First, Pacquiao takes on Korean youtuber DK Yoo on December 10 in Seoul, South Korea.

That’s seven days before Pacquiao turns 44 years old.

They will meet in an exhibition set for six rounds, with a referee as the third man in the ring.  The usual three judges were waived.

Despite the light-as-feather gloves, Pacquiao is still expected to pull his punches.  Meaning, he’d be merely throwing harmless and painless baby shots at Yoo, who is not really a full-fledged boxer.

Thus, should Pacquiao suddenly knocks out Yoo, that’d be a shock resembling the toppling of Urdaneta SM by a mere Magnitude 2 earthquake.

That’d be a shocker to end all shockers—as in Juan Ponce Enrile, 98, out-ageing Venezuela’s 113-year-old Juan Vicente Perez Mora, the world’s oldest living man born on May 27, 1909.

You think Pacquiao’s career is finally ended after the Yoo fight?

Think again, fellers.

Two months later, in mid-February 2023, Pacquiao will climb the ring again.

This time, to fight Jaber Zayani, 31, who is dubbed the French superstar.

And rightly so.

Zayani is unbeaten in 18 fights, with 11 knockouts, making him a top lightweight contender.

That makes the clash set for eight rounds interesting.

Like the Yoo contest, the Zayani meeting is also unsanctioned, making it likewise as an exhibition of sorts using also eight-ounce gloves.

But Zayani is taking the fight seriously, which is tabled at

King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“Call it an exhibition or something but when the senator (Pacquiao) signed the deal, I told him to prepare well because I’m going to give him a real fight,” Zayani said.  “He then told me, ‘you better be prepared.’”

Zayani is no stranger to Pacquiao as he was Pacquiao’s sparmate when the eight-time world champion prepared for his 12-round world welterweight bout against Keith Thurman in July 2019.

But Zayani has come a long way since.  He just signed a five-year, multi-million promotional deal with Saudi Prince Al-Walid Ben Talal.

With the Pacquiao-Zayani clash awash with oil-powered Saudi cash, you can just imagine how much moolah PacMan will take home after the fight.

So, who said Pacquiao has retired for good?

Not when there’s a bonanza being dangled to replenish the billions lost in his failed presidential bid in the May 9 polls.

Wise as ever.

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments