Will politics be a burden for Pacquiao?
When "Fighter of the Decade" Manny Pacquiao shed his wild and wooly ways by stopping his gambling, selling off a small casino he owned in Ermita, Manila, getting rid of his hundreds of fighting cocks and staying away from drinking and late nights, fight fans and supporters were extremely happy.
In fact the number of hangers-on, derisively referred to as leeches, also dropped.
Even more inspiring was to see Manny, Bible in hand, transforming himself from a fighter who enjoyed the good times that come with fame and a small fortune, into a preacher-man whom thousands came to listen to in venues such as the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The young man who had broken through the bondage of family poverty and hammered his way in the ring to international recognition as a legitimate boxing hero and a crossover star suddenly appeared to be trekking the straight and narrow path and in so doing, showing the way for others.
His commitment to help the poor was not idle talk. He has backed them up with concrete acts such as donating three hectares of land for housing for the poor in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
There are many who believe, based especially on his last, uninspiring performance against Timothy "Desert Storm" Bradley in which Pacquiao was robbed of the decision by judges whom fiery Top Rank promoter Bob Arum referred to as "three blind mice" and lost his WBO welterweight title, that Pacquiao had lost the fire in his guts that had so magnificently burned in his pulverizing of Oscar De La Hoya, whose pretty face was re-arranged forcing him to quit on his stool at the end of the 7th round; the 2nd round knockout when he separated Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton from his senses and the mauling of Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto into submission in a 12th round TKO.
Looking down the road at a potential $100 million epic against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao knew that a rematch with Bradley may provide the satisfaction of revenge, but other than that would prove nothing and bring in negligible revenues because Bradley was not a pay-per-view attraction.
He needed to fight to stay in shape and besides, he needs the money to fund a re-election campaign for the lone congressional seat in Sarangani province, although it seems likely that he will run unopposed. But that too, while costing much less, does entail expenses in getting out the vote.
On top of that, his brother Rogelio is seeking a congressional seat in General Santos against the formidable, articulate and charming Darlene Antonino Custodio, heir to a wealthy political family who Pacquiao went up against and got drubbed some years ago.
This again will cost money and my guess is, the funds will come from Manny.
To add to the demands on his political war chest, Pacquiao's lovely wife Jinkee has, at the last minute, filed her certificate of candidacy for vice governor of Sarangani.
The lady who had often shunned any thought of political office has turned around, and nobody knows why and who influenced the decision. Most fingers point in the direction of Manny which is understandable.
Question is, how much will the demands of a political campaign, although it will be next year, diminish the focus of Pacquiao in his fourth encounter with Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez.
Well-known boxing man and TV analyst Moy Lainez of "In This Corner" who has watched most of Pacquiao's fights at ringside and was with him all the way when he hammered Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamadome in San Antonio, told Yahoo Philippines, " You know Pacquiao is used to that (distractions) but I don't know about this fight. I would rather he concentrate on this fight against Marquez than be involved in politics."
Marquez seems like a pest that simply won't go away unless Pacquiao virtually exterminates all pretentions of the Mexican who insists he won their three previous fights but was robbed by the judges.
Marquez has even gone to the extent of requesting the Nevada State Athletic Commission to appoint one Mexican and one Filipino judge and a non-Nevada judge.
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer, who proposes the names of the ring officials which is then ratified or rejected by the Commission, told us he doesn't know as of now who the judges will be for the December 8 showdown at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Knowing how hard his three previous fights have been — the first ended in a draw, Pacquiao won the second by a majority decision and in their third fight which was by far the most controversial of all, won a split decision — Pacquiao has begun training early in his hometown if GenSan.
Roadwork in the mornings and a workout at the gym of longtime friend and sometime mentor Ray Golingan with childhood friend and trainer Restituto "Buboy" Fernandez, provide an insight into Manny's determination to once and for all shut Marquez up, which has been the expressed desire of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.
An astute boxing aficionado who used to schedule Pacquiao on his amateur fight cards on weekends in GenSan and has closely watched his career as a fighter and a politician, Golingan was himself struck by the early training of Manny, stating "he looks better prepared now."
Besides, Pacquiao has made a commitment not to train for the normal two weeks in his training camp in Baguio City but rather to run the full gamut of training at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, starting October 15.
Clearly, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is bordering on the ecstatic, perhaps more because 13,000 tickets were sold on the opening weekend and there are only around 3,000 left which means it's almost certainly going to be a sell-out.
Arum told us, "We are well on the way to a sell-out and everybody is excited about the fight" effectively dousing the fears of some that fight fans are tired of seeing Pacquiao fight Marquez which Arum has sufficiently doused by stating there certainly won't be a fifth fight between the two.
To Arum, the early training schedule of Pacquiao confirms what the fighter told him during the media tour to promote the fight. Arum revealed that Pacquiao "really told me he wants to make a statement" although he conceded Marquez wants to do the same thing.
To Arum, the early training and the grim determination of Pacquiao is "terrific."
He is convinced both men are "not going to fight a cautious fight like they did the last time. They'll go for a knockout."
Pacquiao's adviser Michael Koncz agrees. He says "somebody is going to get knocked out". But he didn't say who.
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.
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