SENATOR (and yes, he is a legendary boxer, too) Manny Pacquiao is set to fight Argentinian Lucas Matthysse on July 15 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I have stopped watching Pacman’s fights on pay-per-view since he became senator because I think he should have retired after joining politics. His coming fight won’t be different for me. I am not interested.
But one detail in the announced fight did get my attention. Or should I say some details. One, the fight is promoted by Pacquiao’s own MP Promotions together with Oscar dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. That means the Pacman’s long-time promoter BobArum of Top Rank is out of the picture. Pacquiao is also being trained by Filipinos. Meaning his long-time trainer Freddie Roach is out of the picture.
Meaning that this fight has a different feel to it. Pacquiao is known to be superstitious so he must be feeling something in his gut in this fight. The Pacquiao camp may feel Matthysse, a former world champion, is way below Pacman’s level. But he is old and already an occasional fighter. And he no longer has his old team surrounding him. I say this is a dangerous fight for him.
That’s why he shouldn’t have jettisoned Roach. Pacquiao said he is not firing his long-time trainer and may eventually get back to him in his future fights. He may thus be only testing the waters, but I say it is too late in the day for him t do some experimenting.
Roach, who played a big role in Pacquiao’s surge as an eight-division world champion, considers Manny as a son. In the Los Angeles Times article, “Once at the top of the fight game, Freddie Roach is now putting himself up from the canvass” by Lance Pugmire, the trainer was quoted as saying he would even train Pacquiao for free in this fight if the latter calls him. But Manny also has his pride, I think.
Indeed, the fortunes of Roach, who is afflicted with Parkinson’s disease, has shifted drastically. The heady days of his partnership with Pacquiao is but a memory. His once popular Wild Card Gym is on its downside. He still has money he accumulated in his prime years, but world champions are no longer knocking at the Wild Card Gym’s door.
It pains me to know how much Roach also sacrificed for Manny. In Pacquiao’s last fight with Australian Jeff Horn, Roach flew in from the US to the Philippines to train Pacquiao. He left behind his cancer-stricken mother. Pacquiao lost to Horn and later after Roach’s return to the US his mother died.
Roach once said that he would be frank with Pacquiao if he feels it was time for the Filipino boxer to retire. After Manny’s loss to Horn, Roach said he told Manny about the need to focus either on boxing or being a senator.
“You know Manny,” Roach recalled telling his ward, “being a senator and being a world champion boxer is very difficult...I know you’ve always multi-tasked, but you might want to think about doing one before the other.” Roach said Pacquiao was silent for a while then smiled at him. Roach hasn’t talked to Pacman since then.
When I wrote this column, the image of the sun setting flitted in my mind. Then there was Freddie and, yes, Manny. And I felt sad.