Pacman leaves Rio door open

DEPRIVED of a gold since the Philippines joined the Olympics in 1924, many are excited over the prospect of winning our elusive first gold medal in Rio De Janeiro, should Manny Pacquiao decide to fight there this August.

As of today, Manny has not decided if he will or he won’t.

His trilogy with Tim Bradley over with, his immediate concern is to catch up on the campaign trail of the fast approaching national elections this May.

“Will the first Olympic gold be a cinch if Manny fights in Rio?” all those who has access to Abap executive director Ed Picson is asking him these days.

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To those who do not fully understand the sport of boxing, Ed’s reply may be a bit disparaging.

Despite all of Manny’s global accomplishments in the ring, winning a gold for his country in the Olympics cannot be assured, according to Ed.

In amateur boxing, there are only 3 rounds.

And because of this, volume punchers have an edge. One thing going for Manny is that he is a volume puncher.

But one thing that has to be considered is, once the Olympic door is opened to professionals, competition will be very stiff, Ed said.

“Younger, stronger, faster boxers from all over the world. Manny is 37, his major edge over his opponents is experience.”

The Aiba still has to open its doors to professionals and according to Ed, the international boxing federation may just be waiting for Pacquiao to say yes to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
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“Long before the London Olympics in 2012, Dr. Ching Kuo Wu had already extended an invitation for Manny to fight in the Olympics. Dr. Wu, who is from Chinese Taipei, is the president of the Aiba. He is pinning his hopes on Manny fighting in the Olympics, ” explained Ed who is in constant communication with Wu.

Pacquiao did not discount the possibility of seeing action in Rio de Jainero.

Abap welcomes this statement of Pacquiao saying that it is reserving the 64 kg class for the 8-division world champion.

Pacquiao will make his final decision in a couple of weeks, Picson said.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao was expected to join United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard bearer Vice President Jejomar Binay in the campaign trail Friday and this is the chance of his fans to see him in the flesh.

However, Binay advised Pacquiao to take some rest first.

Pacquiao missed several sorties of UNA to prepare for his trilogy with Bradley.