Waiting for Pacquiao’s next battle

The problem with every Manny Pacquiao fight is that it’s like waiting for the mid-year or Christmas bonus. It doesn’t come very often.
The nature of the fight game, especially at the high level Pacquiao is in, is that major battles are staged only once every six months.
The warriors in the higher echelons of boxing fight a maximum of 12 rounds every time, unlike the upcoming boxer who can easily shake off the sting of a four- or six-rounder after three months.
We can’t wait for the next Pacquiao encounter and we ask: What are we to do in the meantime?
Well, there will be a handful of Pacquiao wannabes who will fill up the gap.
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The most outstanding of that crop is Nonito Donaire Jr. His immense talent, however, is being overshadowed by his management skirmishes and brushes with the media.
Drian Francisco’s road back to the winning track is another journey to watch while the ALA fighters of Cebu do provide exciting ring exploits.
Then there’s the interesting sport of speculating on what will happen in the third part of the Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez trilogy.
The third fight completes what seems to be boxing tradition. When two fighters really rip at each other atop the ring, one fight is never just enough.
We’ve had Ali-Frazier, Morales-Barrera and Pacquiao-Morales to name just an outstanding few.
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Let’s take a few first attempts at sizing up what should be a war between Marquez and Pacquiao.
Marquez has shown incredible resiliency when he fights Pacquiao, surviving three knockdowns in the first battle and one more in the second fight.
Being a counterpuncher, Marquez seems to have an answer for everything that Pacquiao can dish out. Boxing analyst Moy Lainez has told me often that if there’s one fighter that can absorb Pacquiao’s power, it’s Marquez.
But so much has changed since their last battle.
Pacquiao is now comfortable fighting at the higher weight categories. Being there means he doesn’t have to grapple with making the lower weight and he can practically eat what he likes without overindulging.
What’s more, Pacquiao has grown smarter, wilier and precise in his last fights against taller opponents.
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Marquez is going to face a different Pacquiao from the one he faced twice before. The brave Mexican could end up frustrated by his own desire to finally trounce Pacquiao that he’ll mess up his fight plan.
Keep in mind that Marquez once came to Manila with no other agenda than to confront Pacquiao and ask for a rematch. He did this in one morning fight promo (because of the need to feed the fights to the US TV audience) that had a slew of Filipino fighters battling an international cast.
Pacquiao was at the promotion and politely faced Marquez with that knockout smile of his.
So the other next best thing to do in the meantime is to review the Pacquiao-Marquez bouts that are available online and in video shops. Checking them out will whet our appetite even more for that fight in November.