Before fifth fight, Pacquiao needs complete brain evaluation
Manny Pacquiao has told Top Rank promoter Bob Arum he wants a fifth fight with Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez who scored a crushing 6th round knockout over the eight division world champion at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last Saturday.
Arum told Yahoo! Philippines that Marquez also wanted a fifth fight.
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However, we suggested on ABS-CBN dzMM Teleradyo and ANC on Monday that the first priority is for Pacquiao to have a thorough brain examination. Arum's response was " I am one hundred percent in agreement."'
He told us, "That's one thing I am going to suggest. We have the best brain center in the world here in Las Vegas, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Novo brain center and I will suggest that he have complete evaluation."
Arum said that with the CT Scan that Pacquiao underwent in Las Vegas "you could see that there is no serious damage but unless you do a complete brain evaluation you cannot estimate whether there is any damage."
The astute promoter told us he had spoken to Pacquiao while the fighter's wife Jinkee called Arum's wife Lovee and "everybody is fine and he is heading back to Manila" where he is expected to get a hero's welcome despite the loss.
Arum said he told Pacquiao "I don't want to talk about boxing after he told me he wants to fight again and he wants to do a rematch and I said we are not talking about anything until after the first of the year."
He said he told Marquez the same thing after the Mexican also told him he would like to do a fifth fight with Pacquiao.
Arum didn't buy the suggestion that in case they fight again Pacquiao should first have a tune-up fight against what trainer Freddie Roach described as a softer opponent, meaning someone who didn't have a big punch.
Arum told us he totally disagreed with suggestion, saying "No, no, no. Absolutely not."
He said what Pacquiao needs right now is " rest and he should get away from boxing for a little bit. There's no rush for either guy and then we'll do the rematch in June or September. A fight in-between is not necessary."
PACQUIAO A GENTLEMAN
Meantime, Marquez' strength and conditioning coach Angel Heredia in an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Philippines that even after the loss Pacquiao was a gentleman and took it well. He said "that's the part of the charming side of Pacquiao. Everybody knows that he is a tremendous character and is a guy who is on top of the world but a very nice guy and down to earth."
Heredia said he had worked with Marquez on strength and conditioning some weeks prior to the third fight with Pacquiao which ended in a hugely controversial majority decision for Pacquiao and they suspected Pacquiao was training very hard for the fourth fight so they worked "pretty much on explosiveness, power and endurance as well."
Heredia indicated that "timing is also very important and the momentum of the fight. You never know when he's going to throw a combination and in order to react you must train properly."
He emphasized that "we haven't done anything (illegal) since we started. Science has given us many clues and tools to be able to do the right thing without going into drugs."
The strength and conditioning guru of Marquez noted that Marquez was "hitting Manny very hard on the lower part of the body and that was causing Manny problems. He seemed desperate and was jumping around to try and penetrate in the sixth round. I noticed a little bit of fatigue even after the fourth round."
Heredia remarked that when Pacquiao and Marquez were shooting pre-fight advertising Pacquiao "looked just terrible and soft. He didn't have the muscle. But at the weigh-in its an amazing transformation. Why would I say that Pacquiao is not on drugs? It's because I am a scientist for God's sake and I know what it takes to become a good athlete without breaking the law."
VICTORY WAS 'ALL SCIENCE'
Heredia's counterpart in the Pacquiao camp. Alex Ariza told us that Marquez "did a little bit of boxing and focused a lot on his speed and stamina. He worked out for three months but look at his body."
Ariza said "you cannot argue that science played the biggest factor in the victory of Marquez. That wasn't old school boxing, that wasn't Nacho Beristain's, that was all science. It was his conditioning, his nutrition program, his strength and conditioning. It was all science."
Arum also disclosed that Marquez will be at special ringside this Saturday at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas when Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire defends his WBO super bantamweight title against another Mexican warrior Jorge "Travieso" Arce, who also spent two and a half weeks training with Marquez, trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain and Heredia.
Heredia said Arce was there for "only two and a half weeks and he had to go back home. Obviously the time was not enough for us to train in Mexico City. So he decided it was best to go and train at his hometown where the gym was close by."
The strength and condition coach said Donaire was "very quick, very technical and it's going to be a good fight. I would say that Arce is another warrior but the different styles play an important role in this fight. If Arce does the right things he could give Nonito some problems but Nonito is the guy who is very fast. It's kind of hard to predict what will happen."
He concluded,"some people are favoring Nonito but in boxing anything can happen."
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
