By John F. McKenna (McJack): Filipino icon and eight division champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) has finally acknowledged what the rest of us already suspected. Manny has admitted that he has had a loss of focus in his most recent fights. “Pacman” was not the fighter we had all come to know when he defeated Shane Mosley in May 2011.
Granted Manny dropped Mosley in the 3rd round and went on to score a lopsided unanimous decision over “Sugar Shane”. But there were very clear signs that Pacquiao had lost the killer instinct he had had only two years prior.
Against Mosley, Pacquiao resorted to touching gloves at the end of every round and at every other opportunity. He also appeared to take his foot off the gas pedal at various times during the Mosley fight. In essence “Pacman” appeared to be content with a decision win against Mosley.
Manny’s fight with WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) was another instance in which the supposedly new and improved Pacquiao did not perform as expected. It was a fight nearly everyone expected Manny to dominate. Again Pacquiao came up short. In fact most boxing fans thought Marquez deserved the decision.
Pacman reached the very pinnacle of his fistic prowess when he stopped Ricky Hatton in the 2nd round and then went on to stop Miguel Cotto in 12 rounds. Boxing fans began to refer to “Pacman” as an all time great. He became a celebrity not only in his native Philippines, but all over the world. In short the soft spoken Pacquiao was now an international boxing star with all the endorsements that go with it.
But such fame has its downside. The media began to focus on everything Manny did. His stature was such that no one could live up to the expectations. Something had to give. Manny was only too human and became embroiled in extra curricular activities such as partying, gambling and alleged womanizing. It is rumored that Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee served him with divorce papers on the eve of the 3rd Marquez fight.
After the Marquez fight Manny had an epiphany of sorts and decided to give up the extra curricular activities. He replaced the partying with Bible study. Trainer Freddie Roach was elated that his charge had cleaned up his act. But in the lead up to his June fight with Timothy Bradley, it was clear that Pacquiao was still not totally focused on boxing. For that reason Roach prevailed on Manny to keep the training for the upcoming Marquez fight separate from his bible study and to forego training in Baguio City. Pacquiao will conduct his training solely at Roach’s Wild Card Gym.
Although Pacquiao did not receive the decision in his bout with Timothy Bradley in June, almost everyone save the judging officials thought he won the fight handily. But even in the Bradley fight he appeared at times to be content with the decision victory that did not come. Pacquiao, rather than going for the KO which would have taken the fight out of the judges hands, again appeared at various times to back off.
There are those who suggest that at age 33 Manny’s time has passed him buy and that he is on the downward slope of a brilliant career. It is this writer’s opinion however that Pacquiao’s recent problems have come from distractions and a lack of mental preparation.
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