IT’S AXIOMATIC that one can only go up so high.
The apex of boxer Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao was before he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez. And he zoomed down after that debacle at the hands of Floyd Mayweather.
It would be of no consequence even if he wins against Timothy Bradley come April, yet devastating if he loses.
For Pacquiao is not only a battered fighter, what with the tremendous punches he had absorbed over the years. He must be tired and fagged out such that deep inside he might abhor the rigors of prefight trainings. What with the luxuries of life he now enjoys, not to mention his fascination with show biz and basketball, to mention a few diversions.
Politics? His dismal record in the House of Representatives as the No. 1 absentee, even as he availed himself of all congressional perks while on training, could not but bother him somehow. For he is basically a good man at heart.
His abrupt switch of religion is not something to be sneezed at, so to say. It got some backlash, spiritually or otherwise, inside and outside, up and down, as Pacquiao is now scorned and spurned by a vast number of full-blooded Catholics. Especially in the matter of Marian devotion and the rosary of which his mother, Aling Dionisia, is an ardent adherent.
Today, Pacquiao no longer has the “must-win” motivation inspired by his desire to help earthquake and typhoon survivors, which he had when he defeated Brandon Rios in November 2013. And what could be so cataclysmic such that it could cost Pacquiao even his Senate run is when the hordes of LGBTs, spearheaded by show biz celebrities, ferociously go viral against him.
Many former Pacman fans could still be praying for his safety when he fights Bradley this April—but not anymore for his victory. Amen?
—RUDY MEDENILLA, rudymedenilla@yahoo.com