BONG WENCESLAO:

The judges’ decision didn’t reflect what happened on the ring, says Wenceslao. The “Pambansang Kamao” and “fighting senator” still has it, at least for boxers on Australian Jeff Horn’s level. Boxing experts saw yesterday’s “Battle of Brisbane” in Australia as a robbery. But that doesn’t matter, said Wenceslao, because it is not as if Pacquiao is still trying to establish his name in the boxing world. He already has the Hall of Fame badge attached to him, which means “the remaining fights of his career would already be mere icing on the cake.”

Don’t be deceived by the unanimous decision win Australian Jeff Horn got against Filipino Manny Pacquiao in yesterday’s “Battle of Brisbane” in Brisbane, Australia. The “Pambansang Kamao” and “fighting senator” still has it, at least against a fighter of Horn’s level. The judges’ decision didn’t reflect what happened on the ring.

Boxing experts even described it as a robbery. No matter. If this were a young Pacquiao still establishing his name in the sport of boxing, we should all make a fuss. But this is a Pacquiao whose induction into the boxing Hall of Fame is a given, which means the remaining fights of his career would already be mere icing on the cake.

It is for this reason, and a few others, that calls for him to resign are getting intense. One other reason? He is a senator, elected to the post last year after a so-so stint in the House of Representatives, and he owes those who voted for him and the Filipino people his full attention. Being a senator can’t be a mere sideline.

The reverse is also true. He obviously has lost his focus on boxing, and it showed in his failure to put down Horn. In fact, he hasn’t scored a knockout since 2010, which means he has long been past his prime years when he tore through eight divisions and caught the imagination of the boxing world. And he seems to be only in it for the money.

Okay, I believe him when he said he just could not leave yet the sport that has consumed him since his teenage years. Boxers, even the great ones, actually have a problem knowing when to quit. We don’t even have to go far for an example. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach had a few bouts too many. Now his speech is slurred and his muscles twitch involuntarily.

The ideal is for fighters to quit while they are ahead. For Pacquiao, that would have been years ago, notably when he decided to, as they say, throw his hat into the proverbial political ring. But quitting, especially for the greats in this era, is not only about career talk. There’s also money talk.

At the peak of Pacquiao’s worldwide popularity, he competed with another great, American Floyd Mayweather Jr., for the distinction of topping the list of boxing’s top earner, earning millions of dollars for every bout. Dollars. Convert that into pesos and you will already be talking billions. That also means he is a cash cow for his promoter, trainer, even his opponents—or for the boxing industry itself.

That’s where retirement talk for him has gotten tricky. Walking away from boxing, I think, would be far easier for him than walking away from millions (of dollar or pesos). Which is so unlike Mayweather, who quit with his winning record intact. But the “Money” man is in a different situation. His finances are well managed.

Pacquiao is now a politician. We already know the Filipino brand of politics. It is one that impoverishes, if one’s riches are not “unli,” or enriches, if one dips one’s fingers into public coffers. So a “clean” Pacquiao will keep on fighting to fund his politics. But he would be doing so at the expense of his Senate tasks--and his health.

By this token, don’t be deceived by the loss. There would be a rematch.