When you lose control
Let’s face it. Manny Pacquiao isn’t the fighter he once was. Nobody is. Time inevitably robs us of our physicality, our athleticism. More so in the case of fighters.
Unlike other athletes, they take more damage and abuse every single time those gloves smash against skin and muscle.
With every scrape, every cut, every drop of blood that is shed, a little piece of themselves get violently taken.
PAST HIS PRIME. And so it was distressing to watch Manny struggle so badly against Jeff Horn.
Not trying to take away anything from Horn who exceeded expectations and excellently played to his strengths, but the Pacquiao of 3 years ago could have closed it out in that one-sided 9th round.
The thing is, we have this adage in boxing which says you are only as good as your last fight.
Loosely translated, this means every single time out fighters have to prove themselves on top of the ring and you can never really tell what’s going to happen especially when we speak of fighters fighting past their prime.
In Manny’s case this is not even past his prime, but way past his prime.
He was in his prime at 25 years old when he was the whirling dervish that flummoxed Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera with 6-8 punch combos.
And he was still at the peak of his powers when at 30 he demolished a past-his-prime Oscar dela Hoya.
But at 34, he began losing to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. We forgave him those losses because after all, Bradley didn’t deserve that one and well, Marquez just landed a lucky shot. ( I disagreed on this one though. Marquez had enough seasoning and experience to pull of that shot)
Perhaps we are too forgiving of our heroes. And this infirms our assessment of their capabilities.
The writing on the wall has been there all this time. Perhaps some of us have deliberately chosen to ignore it.
JUDGES. Bottom line is that Manny clearly won that fight. But he could easily have dispatched of Horn had he faced him earlier in his career.
The speed and the footwork just wasn’t there. Neither was the fight-ending power. So it had to go to the judges. When that happens you lose control over the result. And that’s that. VERBATIM.” I think Pacquiao was focused on fighting (me) again. No one gave Jeff Horn a chance -he’s a schoolteacher who was bullied -- now he’s world champion.So anything can happen in boxing.” - Floyd Mayweather Jr. (http://www. worldboxingnews.com)
LAST ROUND. It’s on my progeny, my little man, my future UFC champion, Rodan Benjamin Jericho who turns 7 today. Cheers!
Not trying to take away anything from Horn who exceeded expectations and excellently played to his strengths, but the Pacquiao of 3 years ago could have closed it out in that one-sided 9th round.