Battle of the Braves
You can’t afford to be panic-stricken and fearful when you climb the ring because it will mess up your strategy
There is a running joke among boxing men about how certain fighters tremble at the sight and taste of their own blood or freeze the moment their foes start inflicting even the slightest sensation of pain.
I have the utmost respect for boxers. Even those who are called cowards are not really faint-hearted fellows. Boxers are some of the bravest souls you could ever find. Imagine, every time they step into the ring, one of their feet is in the grave. Tell me, how many people on your friends list are willing to lace up and engage in a fight?
Boxing has a long list of deaths and this is proof that the ring is no place for a scared cat. Thus, It breaks my heart when fans criticize some boxers for their seeming lack of aggressiveness.
Even those who quit on their stool or turn their backs during a fight are forever remembered for this misdeed.
So, when I got the chance to speak with this one guy a few days ago, I raised the subject of courage on top of the ring. If there’s one dude who can speak authoritatively about fighting heart, there’s no other person to talk to but Manny Pacquiao, the very person I was speaking to.
Two months ago, Pacquiao turned 42.
You would think that he has mellowed a bit, that this age and the long inactivity have made him into a softie.
But Pacquiao’s prey drive remains the same.
Instead of picking on a fighter who is custom-made for his furious fists, Pacquiao wants to take on a puncher many regard as the best in the welterweight division: Terence Crawford. Pacquiao told this writer that if a Crawford clash can’t be made, then there is a solid Plan B: Errol Spence.
Like the locked and loaded Crawford, the long-limbed Spence is unbeaten, young and extremely dangerous.
If you are thinking about getting hurt, you’re done.
Pacquiao did include Mikey Garcia in the equation but the way the eight-division champion mentioned the name of the Mexican-American banger sounded as if he would rather not fight at all than settle for somebody who is not worth sharing the ring with.
If worse comes to worst, Pacquiao might still end up squaring off with the semi-robotic Garcia but I am dead-certain he would rather take the bull by the horns than pluck the feathers of a chicken.
In boxing, spunk is as important as power.
If Muhammad Ali didn’t have it, he would have wilted in the first fight with Joe Frazier and there would not have been a Thrilla in Manila.
Pacquiao, like Ali, has a lot of balls.
“You can’t afford to be panic-stricken and fearful when you climb the ring because it will mess up your strategy,” Pacquiao said during a lively chat that delved into a wide range of topics from public service, politics, racial divide and, of course, his pride and joy — boxing.
“If you are thinking about getting hurt, you’re done,” he said. Then I asked him who among his many outstanding fighters displayed an indomitable spirit.
His answer did not surprise me.
But that, my friends, will be a subject matter for another day.