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Pacquiao proves there is still fight left in him

JOHN WIGHT looks at the return of Pac-man and his future at the age of 35

Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Timothy Bradley at the MGM in Las Vegas last weekend not only saw normal service being resumed where the Filipino’s status as one of the sport’s most compelling athletes in years is concerned, but also saw justice restored after he was robbed of the decision in their previous clash in 2012. Two of the judges scored the return match 116-112 and the third 118-110, evidence of Pacquiao’s dominance throughout.

The most remarkable aspect of the eight-division world champion’s career — which began at flyweight and has seen him move up the weights to light middleweight, claiming a word title at each weight — is the fact that at 35 years old he looks to have added a defence to his game that is worthy of the name, fighting now more with his head than his heart.

Against Bradley, Pacquaio was more elusive than he normally is, choosing to utilise the kind of guile not normally associated with his all action come forward style, which has seen him reliant on his power and ridiculous handspeed to devastate the opposition.

Notably, Pacquiao hasn’t managed to stop an opponent since defeating Miguel Cotto in 2009 by TKO in the 12th round. This stat had given rise to the suggestion that the Filipino no longer has the stomach for the game, his primary focus on his political career at home with boxing reduced to a part-time occupation.

If so, the folly of such an approach was surely laid bare by the brutal KO he suffered against his toughest opponent to date, Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez, in December 2012. The last of four contests they’ve had to date, Marquez provided Pacquaio with a harsh lesson in the limits to aggression in the squared circle.

Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach was understandably anxious prior to his fighter’s second meeting against Bradley to ensure that any drama to unfold did so inside the ring, involving the fighters, and not outside at the judges’ tables. He had good reason to be concerned, given the raft of controversial decisions there has been in too many major fights held in Vegas.

When Floyd Mayweather Jnr schooled Saul “Canelo” Alvarez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2013, his face in reaction to the scorecard of C J Ross contained more pain than it had in response to anything delivered by his opponent over 12 rounds.

Speaking of Mayweather, inevitably after Pacquaio’s victory over Bradley, and with Floyd about to face Argentina’s Marcus Maidana at the same venue on May 3, calls for the most desired fight in many a year — Mayweather v Pacquaio — continue.

The prospect of this fight never taking place is more likely than it will, which would be a travesty when you factor in the interest it would undoubtedly generate around the world, not to mention money both fighters would earn from it.

That said, at this point Mayweather isn’t exactly struggling to pay his bills and has eclipsed his Filipino counterpart when it comes to his status in the sport. Why risk an unbeaten record as he approaches the end of what by any standard has been an unbelievable career?

Even though Mayweather possesses the tools and attributes to best Pacquaio in the opinion of most at this point, you still sense that he remains cautious when it comes to this particular fight.

Why? Only he knows. Though it seems unlikely that his stated reasons as to why the fight hasn’t happened up to now — Pacquaio’s refusal to take an Olympic standard drug test before the fight and

Mayweather’s refusal to do business with Pacquaio’s promoter Bob Arum for personal reasons — isn’t the whole story.

Would Mayweather’s record be blemished without Pacquaio’s name on it after he retires? It’s a hard question to answer. If we were talking about the Manny Pacquiao of 2009 then, yes, it would be.

But since then the Filipino hasn’t impressed as much as Mayweather in his fights, suffering two defeats and appearing to have entered the dangerous territory of decline.

Though no announcement has been made, Mayweather is edging towards a 50-fight unbeaten record, one more than Rocky Marciano managed to achieve.

Right now he is on 45 fights, leaving five to go. Yet his mega money deal with Showtime only has another three fights left on it after he presumably defeats Marcus Maidana with among a dwindling band of names being mooted to face him afterwards, one of those being Britain’s Amir Khan.

Khan recently signed a deal with Mayweather’s long time promoter and adviser Al Haymon, making it a near certainty that they will face one another assuming the Brit comes through his own fight on May 3 against Luis Collazo on the Mayweather undercard.

Maybe a finale against Manny Pacquaio is part of the Mayweather gameplan going forward? If so, it will be a race against Father Time for both fighters to keep the inevitable ravages of age at bay. So far Mayweather appears to be a freak of nature, the 37-year-old remaining as sharp, fit, and strong as he was at 25. The question is, though, for how long?

Marcus Maidana is the next opponent who will be hoping to catch one of the best fighters ever to enter a boxing ring on the down slope.

All the signs indicate that he is about to be disappointed.

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