.jpg)
Chicago Boxing Fitness Examiner | Tim Kane
Prizefighters usually don't like to draw attention to their birthdays. Some boxers lie about their age, as if that number on their scorecards -- if made smaller -- would be enough to keep them viable as fighters and lengthen their careers.
Pound-for-pound boxing champ Manny Pacquiao's 31st birthday [Dec. 17] will be celebrated in General Santos City in the Philippines -- at the same venue as last year.
Pacquiao's birthday is treated as a national holiday. Dignitaries will drop off presents. Entertainers will regale Pacquiao with jokes, songs and dance.
At last year's event [see the photo above] Pacquiao was not sure if his next fight would be with Ricky Hatton or Floyd Mayweather. Promoter Bob Arum was at the event and so was trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach, in an episode of HBO's "24/7" that aired in November when Pacquiao was preparing to fight Miguel Cotto, said he would like to see Pacquiao beat Mayweather and retire. That fight has been set for March 13.
Roach also said that he himself stayed in the fight game too long as a prizefighter, after he had passed his prime. And that has had an adverse effect on his health. He has Parkinson's disease, the same affliction that Muhammad Ali suffers from. Roach said he would be sure to tell any of the fighters that he trains to retire if he detected any evidence that their skills were eroding.
Source: Examiner.com
No comments:
Post a Comment