“Listening to your instincts, while being the easiest, can also be the hardest thing to do.” –Tena Desae
The biggest stumbling block for Senator Manny Pacquiao’s presidential ambitions is not Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, it’s the current political “rockstar,” Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Moreno Domagoso.
In terms of his boxing career, he next faces Keith Thurman, Jr. and, if the menacing 5’7” reigning World Boxing Association super welterweight champion scores a win against the ‘Pambansang Kamao’ next weekend, July 20, the Filipino boxer may have to neglect his obligations as senator (again) to focus on a rematch; even if the “winds of change” have already swept away his “invincibility.”
Win or lose, Pacquiao will never retire
The prospect of losing doesn’t scare Pacquiao as long as he is able to thrill and entertain his fans. He doesn’t believe in defeat and retirement as he is a “ring warrior” who forgets his age, along with how far can an athlete push their abilities.
In addition, he will have to continue fighting in order to raise money for his presidential campaign (at the expense of his “tired and weary” bones).
His attempt to snatch 30-year-old Thurman’s belt defies logic and his handlers, if he still listens to them, share the guilt.
An eight-time world boxing champion has nothing to prove anymore. Pacquiao doesn’t need fame and he should have retired a long time ago; primarily, after losing to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in 2015, which was hyped as the richest in history. The combined paychecks from his five subsequent fights were enough to last a lifetime—on top of the reported $100 million he bankrolled from the rumble with Mayweather.
Is the bulk of that amount still intact?
Why continue to risk injury by fighting when Pacquiao can live a comfortable and privileged life as a senator.
Every fight for an aging boxer is literally a fight of his life.
History is brimming with horrifying tales of famous marquee names who ended up in a wheelchair after they refused to quit.
A fighter engaged in sustained brutal physical assault over the course of many years risks brain injury, especially if the boxer is on a precarious “my spirit is still willing but my body cannot” level yet still decides continues to box.
What the body can’t absorb the spirit must obey for it’s the body that takes the pounding, not the spirit.
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Alex P. Vidal, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo./WDJ