By Dale Tait: Every now and then in the sport of boxing a fighter comes along and exceeds all our expectations of what a fighter should be. In most cases the boxer possesses the following attributes; power, speed, timing, exceptional skills and of course charisma!

These are the fighters we hate to see walk away from our sometimes frustrating but great sport, Muhammad Ali was maybe the first and arguably the most famous of this elite group. Sugar ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. All in their prime possessed the above attributes, and all left the sport a mere shell of their former glory (with the exception of Jones who still fights on at 43) always trying to re ignite the flame that once lit their paths to greatness, but never quite succeeding.

I was able to catch the final leg of Mike Tyson’s career and like many fans became infatuated with the films of his earliest fights. Almost 20 years after his first title win we still believed he was going to walk into the ring and be the ‘Iron’ Mike of the mid 80’s time after time we felt short changed by his performances, why? Because we refused to believe he was pushing 40, and we refused to believe that like everyone else he was just a man who slowed and diminished with age. We so badly wanted to believe he really didn’t train like he should or his head wasn’t in it but next time he will, the fact was he just didn’t have it any more.

Last week I watched my favourite fighter Manny Pacquiao end up on the wrong side of a bad decision against Timothy Bradley. Yes Pacquiao won the fight, but I’m not writing to say he was robbed because we all know what happened. Last week I realised that Pacquiao is well into his decline it showed early into the fight, he’s lost a step or two and he now seems to lacks one of the abilities that all great fighters are known for, the ability to finish off a fighter when he’s hurt. Have you noticed how he never quite seems close enough to catch his opponent with those devastating ‘Pac-man’ combinations we know so well. The last time Pacquiao looked good was against Margarito. What shocked me was reading about a respected trainer/teacher like Freddie Roach saying “everyone saw that Pacquiao is back”, even Roach is refusing to admit that his fighter is in steady decline.

So getting back to the point of this article, it seems Pacquiao has no plans of calling it a day any time soon so I guess it’s time to get ready for the usual excuses coming up over the next few fights e.g. his head wasn’t in it, his marriage is on the rocks, legs cramping up, bad training camps etc. I’m not buying it, not this time.

That elite group of special fighters I mentioned earlier is in my own opinion about to get a new member in Manny Pacquiao. Sadly the loyal fans will gradually have to face disappointment every time their man steps into the squared circle, and eventually just maybe even humiliation along with fighter and trainer.

This is one of the shames of the sport, and it’s a reoccurring one, we deny ourselves the truth all the time just to recapture some of the magic that we once witnesses, and that that unfortunately is what comes with trying to keep a name in the game.