By Charlie Knoxville
Manny Pacquiao could either be slipping physically or he just doesn’t have the same hunger he once had. Remember the Pacman when he demolished or at least tried to demolish all of his opponents? It seems that fighter is no longer there and is just going through the motions to satisfy the paying fans.
I think this was the moment that the notorious cherry picker Floyd Mayweather Jr. was waiting for — to see when Manny started to slow down or no longer have the fighting spirit before gathering enough courage to fight him. Just before Floyd got sentenced to jail, he was very vocal and for the first time he was aggressive in calling out Pacquiao. In the past he would call out Manny but later lie and say he never said such things. Only when Manny Pacquiao looked like he was vulnerable against Juan Manuel Marquez is when Mayweather gained the confidence to finally get a fight with him done because Floyd felt the Pacman has finally slowed down. Everyone has known about Floyd’s cherry picking strategy even before Manny Pacquiao was mentioned as an opponent, way back when Manny was still a featherweight and Floyd was fighting at 140 and 147 pounds Floyd was labeled a ducker and cherry picker. Manny fought two guys that Floyd notoriously ducked in the past Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, after seeing Pacquiao destroy both of the guys that Floyd was scared to fight in their primes it made Floyd even more hesitant to step in the ring with the Pacman.
In case you were hiding under a rock, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was hit with a jail term after he pled guilty to misdemeanor battery in exchange for prosecutors dropping the felony battery charge and Bob Arum said he will not wait around for Floyd Mayweather to finish his sentence and already book a fight for Manny in the coming weeks. After the Juan Manuel Marquez fight, a lot of boxers believe that they can defeat Pacquiao and will enter the ring against Manny with a mindset that could either get them hurt badly or help make them successful against the Pacman. This is why Manny Pacquiao must put his main focus on boxing because his next opponent is going to come in hungry and determined to take him out and Manny mustn’t take them lightly like he did Juan Manuel Marquez or else an upset could happen
I think we are finally seeing the distractions taking a toll on him. He is now a congressman, runs businesses in the Philippines, does lots of charity work, and hosts his own game show, and judging from his last few fights he is spreading himself too thin. Maybe Juan Manuel Marquez just gives him trouble stylistically speaking, but I don’t think so. I think Manny looked very bored in his recent fights, he wasn’t 100 percent mentally inside the ring, he went back to all of his old habits against Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez and it showed as he had difficulty closing the show against two guys who came to survive. A focused Pacman would have destroyed them both, we saw a focused and controlled Pacman when he fought David Diaz and Oscar De La Hoya, he actually fought intelligently in those fights.
Manny needs to bring his focus back to boxing. He needs to focus on his upcoming few fights as if he was fighting for his first world title, these are the fights that people will remember most because only recently his name and popularity has garnered many fans worldwide who were not familiar with the ferocious featherweight version of Manny Pacquiao. Let’s hope that the Pacman took the Juan Manuel Marquez fight as a wake up call and once again makes boxing his main endeavor.
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I am an avid fan of boxing and video games. My first fight of memory was watching Prince Naseem Hamed destroy Kevin Kelly. I enjoy all aspects of the sport. My favorite current boxer is Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. My favorite boxing match is Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo 1. I love watching boxing on Pay-Per-View more than being there live because you can really enjoy and watch the action from the best view.