MARCH 13th? SAY IT AIN’T SO, MANNY

By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
05 Dec 2009

The whole world is buzzing. The biggest fight ever in our generation is about to happen.

But, should it really be so soon?

Reports indicate that Bob Arum flew all the way to Manila and has sweet-talked Manny Pacquiao to accept the fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., on March 13, 2010. All that needs to be done is iron-out details like glove size, fight weight and purse split.

Now, where the hell were Pacquiao’s highly paid “advisers” during that meeting?

Sleeping on the job?

No offense against the Bob Father. But, that date is too fast too soon.

People know that Arum is in the business of putting fights together and the Pacquiao-Mayweather tiff is no exception. Arum will put a fight together as long as the fighters and their advisers say yes. That is how he makes his money.

Arum, understandably so, is not terribly concerned about Pacquiao’s ear problem. OK he is, but that’s not a priority for him much less, his job. That is the responsibility of Pacquiao’s doctors.

However, his advisers (Koncz and Gacal) should make it their business to ask for the current medical situation of Pacquiao and make a decision from there as to what’s it best for Pacquiao.

These “advisers” should know better that agree with Pacquiao to accept March 13th. They should know when to say no and not just be simple “yes” men. Can’t they listen to Freddie Roach ( who is against the said date for medical reasons) even just for now?

Why advise Pacquiao to take the fight so soon when he is not yet fully healed from the damage he received in beating Miguel Cotto?

Word is, besides the cartilage damage on his right ear, Pacquiao has a “broken ear drum” as well. Some “broken ear drums heal in weeks, others in months. I am not privy to Pacquiao’s health status, but my guess is he is not fully healed and will take more time to do so.

Perhaps four months is enough to heal Pacquiao’s ear problems, but would it not be more prudent if he waited after the elections in May?

The ears have a lot to do with equilibrium. If Pacquiao is not fully healed, a single good hit on the same ear will cause an enormous amount of trouble. There will be pain and loss of balance, two things that can disadvantage a boxer during a fight.

Allowing Pacquiao more time to heal until September will be to his advantage. He can fight fair and square and will not have any distractions from the elections.

And on the side, it will be sweet to hear Michael Buffer introduce Pacquiao as “ the Congressman from Saranggani….Honorable Manny “Pacman” Pacquiaooooooo.!

So what if Mayweather is not available after May 10th. If Pretty Boy wants the money, he will make himself available. No doubt about that.

Darn if HBO does not have a date after May 10th. They are powerful enough and have enough money to produce a date. They can do it if they want! And, from the looks of it, they know how much the fight will generate in PPV so it does not take an Einstein to know that they will find a fight date no matter when.

Oh incidentally, September really looks good.

Another issue to address is “focus”.

Pacquiao as we all know is not a 100% sure bet to beat the Chiongbians on the May 10th Congressional elections.

Oh, not that he can’t win the elections. He has a chance that is better than good.

But he needs all the campaign time he can muster for his chances of winning to improve significantly. As they say in the Philippines, in elections “nothing is for sure”. And that holds true too even for the world’s top pound4pound boxer.

Remember, Pacquiao does not yet have the “political machine” close to the one developed by the Chiongbians in their long course of political history in Saranggani.

Thus if Pacquiao is really bent in winning, he needs to spend time in the campaign trail to negate the Chiongbian’s advantage. Plenty of time, in fact.

If he leaves that great responsibility to his people and so-called leaders to do it for him, no matter who says what, I am certain the results will be different.

Very different in fact and Pacquiao may not like them.

In addition perhaps more money will be spent unnecessarily. For all you know, some of that money will be unaccounted for as well. But, poor “accounting” is a given in Philippine politics..

And, if he is training for the March 13th fight, he will be away from the campaign trail. With that, Pacquiao will be constantly burden with the progress of the campaign. Thus, no matter what, “focus” will become an issue.

If that happens, there is a chance that he may lose from two fronts.

That is not acceptable!

Therefore, Pacquiao should really think this out. This is the time for his advisers to really earn their keep and convince Pacquiao that March 13th is not a good date to fight a guy like Mayweather.

The fight is not going anywhere. So does Mayweather. Many say it will happen come what may anyway. So what’s the rush?

Why take the risk of losing when it’s so simple to avoid the risk and come out on top.

Pacquiao should at this point just say no to March 13th and concentrate on getting elected as Congressman. Then, after the elections Arum and the rest of them can sit down with him and his advisers and hammer out the details for a fight with Mayweather.

No matter what and in spite of Mayweather threatening to fight someone else before Pacquiao, if and when Pacquiao comes calling the elections, Mayweather will still be there waiting.

And so does Arum and the rest of the players putting up the fight together.

Therefore, in so far as March 13th is concerned, Manny please say it ain’t so!

Source: PhilBoxing.com