‘Like putting an arsonist to be fire department chief’

The first reaction to the assignment of Canadian Michael Koncz to straighten out Manny Pacquiao’s crooked tax record in the United States was one of disbelief.

There were also those who swore Pacquiao could be pulling their leg.

Well, nothing has so far been heard from that heavily taxed edge of the boxing globe since Pacquiao dispatched Koncz for the strange task.

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If at all, that assignment, based on Koncz’s record, could end up a big no-win mission.

Listen please: They’re expected to hold on together indefinitely through thick and thin—Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach.

However, through no fault of their own, their careers have veered sharply toward separate paths after they had teamed up magnificently in Macau last November, where Pacquiao completed an astounding comeback following back-to-back losses in 2012.

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We speak again here of the postfight, the days, weeks and events after the Clash in Cotai.

In Pacquiao’s case, the Filipino boxing super hero got slugged and was stunned with a huge tax case at home before he could unpack from Macau.

As soon as Pacquiao was able to cry foul, political harassment, the defiant national boxing treasure was slapped an $18.3 million tax lien by the US Internal Revenue Service.

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Those stunners could indeed be stiff as solid KO blows.

Meanwhile, Roach, mocked, kicked  and humiliated by Argentine conditioning coach Alex Ariza in Macau, proceeded to score quiet moral victories against his perceived nemesis.

Ariza was put in a very sorry spot after his fighter, Brandon Rios, was discovered to have used banned supplements in his bout against Pacquiao.

Then, to make it worse, Ariza was again questioned over suspicions of cheating after he was seen (on video) passing on something concealed in a napkin for Marcos Maidana to ingest in the crucial closing part of the bout against Adrien Broner in Texas.

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Those, needless to say, were clear moral points for Roach, who no longer had to detail why he decided to junk Ariza from Team Pacquiao.

For his part, Pacquiao, clearly on the ropes after his huge liability to the American government was made official to the public, took a complete turnaround. He quit protesting and quickly dispatched Koncz in a bid to avert an impending tax calamity.

Anyway, while there were many Pacquiao fanatics who would jump up and protest in defense of their idol before, the reaction to the latest official revelation from IRS was one of dismay and concern.

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Cried veteran newsman Bert de Guzman, a columnist for Balita: “How did Pacquiao hope to avert the calamity by sending out Koncz who, with his record, could be called a human calamity himself?”

Said international boxing correspondent Anthony Andales from his Carolina base in the US: “It (Koncz’s assignment) is like putting an arsonist to be fire department marshal; a pedophile to head the Unicef.”

There’s also an urgent call for promoter Bob Arum, who had glibly scored the Philippine government in a loud but hollow defense of Pacquiao earlier, to stand up and be counted.