Venom of aging

IT’S pretty obvious that Manny Pacquiao wants to fight again.

For what reason, let me hazard a guess.

One, he wants to retire with a big bang.

Two, he misses the sport.

Three, he still feels he’s got gas left in his tank.

Pacquiao has lost his last fight, against super underdog Jeff Horn of Australia.

Although that defeat came by a controversial points decision, there was no doubt in the minds of genuine pundits that Pacquiao seemed not his usual old self anymore in that “Battle in Brisbane” last year.

In fact, Pacquiao hasn’t been that ferocious the last decade or so, his fighting style and aggressiveness seemingly diminished amid the onslaught of age.

He is 39 now and, therefore, has been absolutely slowed down by Father Time the last five years or so.

If he had won some of his recent fights, he’d done so with sheer instinct—almost simply hanging on to the fragile thread of his greatness to eke out those wins that were not, sadly, so convincing anymore.

And why he hasn’t been winning the way he used to—spectacular knockouts here and there—it is not difficult to explain.

No fighter, not even Muhammad Ali, has ever licked the venom of aging.

Now the question: Why then would Pacquiao still wish to continue fighting, and has even considered facing a knockout artist in Vasyl Lomachenko?

Waving a 10-1, win-loss card, all of Lomancheko’s 10 victories came by way of a knockout.

“I think he’s the most unbeatable fighter that I’ve ever had,” said Bob Arum of Lomachenko, a super-featherweight (130 lbs). “You’re dealing with a guy who’s almost like a scientist.”

It is apparent that Pacquiao, 59-7-2, wants to meet Lomachenko to prove he’s still a hot banana and, if the duel would push through, the fighting senator could, hopefully, score a big win aka stoppage.

Pacquiao misses boxing so much that we must understand his yearning to please his muse again.

That can come through a smashing win—a knockout, no less against Lomachenko.

But with a loss—whether against Lomachenko or someone else—the debate is definitely off: Pacquiao must retire to somehow stop his continued slide from greatness to shamelessness.

At close to 40, the creaking bones, the knees starting to shake and reflexes getting increasingly dulled tell you it’s time to retreat to the rocking chair—permanently.