MANNY Pacquiao bowing to Keith Thurman has never bugged me.
Why, because since Pacquiao’s tools remain incredibly intact, no way he could lose.
Even at 40, Pacquiao still has winged feet, hand speed and the power of a 25-year-old.
Pacquiao’s spar mates swore they got hurt not only once but twice and maybe more during fierce sessions atop the ring.
Even legends like Erik “Terrible” Morales, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Marco Antonio Barrera insist Thurman will be no match against Pacquiao.
Didn’t Pacquiao stop Morales twice in their second and third fights to avenge a points-loss decision in their first bout?
I will never forget Pacquiao’s second KO win over Morales to capture a 2-1 edge in their classic trilogy.
I was in Las Vegas covering it and, from the stands, I regaled at the electric manner that Pacquiao finished Morales off in 2:57 of Round 3.
During the fight, my beer-guzzling Mexican seatmate, so boisterously unruly that he irked fiction writer Sol F. Juvida to no end, fell cemetery-silent when he saw Morales finally fall from Pacquiao’s rapid-fire punches.
That was in 2006, when Pacquiao was a mere 129-pounder but already fast crafting a niche in the sport that he embraced so passionately when he turned pro in 1995—weighing just 98 pounds and only 16 and standing 4-feet-11.
Today, he is boxing’s only eight-division world champion in light flyweight, flyweight, super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight, among others.
At 147 pounds, he will now try to unify all the welterweight titles against Thurman in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But Thurman has shining credentials too: at 30, he is 10 years younger; and he is 29-0 with 22 KOs and one no-contest.
However, his victims have suspect stats. Meaning, were they legit?
Only by landing his own lucky knockout punch can Thurman be saved from absorbing his first defeat ever.
Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) will lean heavily on his experience to win his 71st fight. Either by knockout or decision.
For our fighting senator, chicken feed.
Just another day in the office.