When is Manny Pacquiao fighting?
Manny Pacquiao. TRISTAN TAMAYO/INQUIRER.net
If he’s indeed fighting on April 14, as offered by Bob Arum, shouldn’t Manny Pacquiao be back training by now, or hitting the road last week yet?
Top Rank announced it has scheduled a Pacquiao bout for April, side-by-side with the WBO welterweight championship between title defender Jeff Horn of Australia and the unbeaten Terence Crawford from Nebraska.
Pacquiao responded by saying he would be very delighted to clash with Argentine punching machine Lucas Matthysse, instead of the banged-up Mike Alvarado. Matthysse is reigning WBA welterweight champion.
Bob Arum cried no way: Pacquiao-Matthysse could happen, but not anytime soon.
So what is Pacquiao doing?
The other day, he was reported doing the political rounds, bringing help and hope to aggrieved countrymen. He also appeared deeply involved nursing and expanding the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), his newest sports baby.
If Pacquiao would agree to fight in April, time would be of the essence. March is around the corner, and before we know it, Pacquiao would be left with only a month to work and be fit for a stellar performance.
Maybe he could afford to take it easy. In fact, Alvarado, a former world titlist who’s openly considered busted ring material, is being trumpeted as top prospect for Pacquiao’s first knockout victim since 2009.
Pacquiao could just cram and instantly declare readiness to do battle and go for a KO?
Fact is Bob Arum is himself uncertain about Pacquiao’s exact plan.
The best the Top Rank CEO could do was announce Pacquiao could fight a truly big fight by November, either against Vasyl Lomachenko or Crawford.
Of course, there are many experts and fans who wonder if Pacquiao has enough left in him to wage great battle.
The respected boxing critic and scholar Paul Magno has surmised Pacquiao is now the boxing equivalent of the fat Elvis Presley in Las Vegas.
“For all intents and purposes, Manny Pacquiao is now in the fat Elvis Presley period in Las Vegas. The question of whether Pacquiao is still among the elite welterweight in the world is up for debate. Instead, Team Pacquiao, guided by Bob Arum, has focused on Manny as a novelty icon—a draw to longtime loyalists and, if Arum gets his way, a piggyback ride for in-house up-and-coming-fighters,” Magno explains.
