Will we ever see the old Pacquiao again?

By Boxing News - 10/25/2012 - Comments

Image: Will we ever see the old Pacquiao again?By John F. McKenna (McJack): When Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao (53-4-2, 38 KO’s) was prepping for the Trilogy fight with World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) a year ago those close to “Pacman” were predicting that he would defeat “El Dinamita” with ease.

In fact long time trainer Freddie Roach was saying that the 38 year old Marquez might not survive past the first round. Strength and conditioning coach, Alex Ariza went a step further when he stated that even if God himself came down he would not be able to save Marquez from the fate that was in store for him.

Obviously God does not like being mocked. Marquez put in a terrific performance in a fight most boxing observers felt he won. Even some of Manny’s staunch supporters were forced to acknowledge that he escaped defeat in the Marquez fight by the slimmest of margins.

It wasn’t revealed until after the November 2011 fight that Pacquiao was not totally focused on the fight as we had been led to believe. Then there was the talk of the late night drinking, gambling and womanizing that Manny was allegedly engaged in prior to the fight.. The real thunderbolt however was when “Pacman” was supposedly served with divorce papers on the eve of the Marquez fight by his wife Jinkee.

The fact that Pacquiao performed as well as he did, given all the extra curricular activities he was engaged in is somewhat amazing. Now a year later Pacquiao and Marquez are preparing for their 4th encounter. Pacquiao will again be favored, but not as heavily as he was for the Trilogy. The news that is filtering out of the Philippines where Pacquiao is camped until he travels to Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood is that Manny is certainly taking Marquez more serious this time. “Pacman” has also indicated that he is determined to end any debate as to who the better fighter is by knocking Marquez out.

It is difficult to determine how much of what we hear coming out of a training camp prior to a major fight is scripted. If you check back to what was said a year ago it is almost certain that the comments and quotes would be almost identical to what is being said now. It is not just the promoters who are hyping the fight. The fighters and trainers also play a part by speaking out to the media.

The big question boxing fans now have is will the Manny Pacquiao of old ever be seen again? Manny has not scored a KO since 2009 and it is just possible that “Pacman” has lost not only the killer instinct, but the magic that made him the fighter of the decade.

Boxing fans do not want to see the Pacquiao who took his foot off the gas against Margarito in the later rounds, or the fighter who touched gloves at the end of every round against Shane Mosley. They want to see the tiger in the ring who KO’d Ricky Hatton in the 2nd round.

Killer instinct is something that not every fighter has, and once it is lost is almost impossible to retrieve.



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