Manny in crossroads of career

MACAU – Manny Pacquiao is in the crossroads of a long boxing career and this morning’s fight against Brandon Rios will determine his future in the ring. If Pacquiao wins, he’ll be back on track after losing back-to-back to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez. That could lead to a rematch with Bradley or a fifth meeting with Marquez or a duel with WBO lightwelterweight champion Ruslan Probvodnikov in May and if things fall into place, a megabuck showdown with Floyd Mayweather before the end of next year.

If Pacquiao loses, it may be curtains to a storybook journey that brought the Sarangani congressman world titles in eight different weight divisions, a record that’s almost impossible to surpass. For Rios, the situation isn’t quite as black and white because he’s much younger with a lot more mileage left in his engine. Rios is 27 and Pacquiao just a few weeks short of 35. BamBam has logged 33 fights since turning pro in 2004 compared to Pacquiao’s 61 dating back to 1995.

When Rios turned pro in 2004, Pacquiao had already compiled 42 fights – more than BamBam’s total at this point – with two world titles and high-profile encounters against Marco Antonio Barrera and Marquez. If Rios loses, he can always bounce back as time is on his side. Pacquiao is now two or three or four fights away from retirement and he knows it. Still, trainer Freddie Roach said the signs don’t indicate a road to pasture at the moment.

“If the fight does not go well, we will seriously talk about his retirement and possibly going to politics (on a full-time basis),” said Roach. “It’s really hard to say until we see this fight but I will be the first one to tell him to retire and we have an agreement that as soon as I tell him that, he will retire.”

Lawyer Romy Macalintal, a ringside fixture whenever Pacquiao fights, said the ring icon will qualify to run for the Philippine presidency in 2022. “The Constitution provides that the President should be 40 years old on election day,” he said. “Since he is just 34, he’ll be 37 only by the 2016 presidential polls. Of course, he could run for the Senate in 2016 and if he tops the Senate race, that could be his stepping stone for the 2022 presidential elections if he maintains his popularity and credibility as a leader.”

Macalintal said a usual ringside fixture Rep. Lito Atienza will be absent this morning. “I just talked to Lito who tipped me that for the first time, he will not watch Manny’s fight at ringside and decided to stay in Manila in deference to typhoon victims as he prays for Manny’s victory,” he said.  Not too many politicians made the trip here. Among them are Congressmen Bing Leonardia, Amado Bagatsing and Rey Umali and Sen. Tito Sotto.

Fight referee Geno Rodriguez said the fans will get their money’s worth in the Pacquiao-Rios battle. “It’s going to be an exciting fight and I’ll be enjoying it right inside the ring,” said Rodriguez. “It’s my first time to do a fight with either Manny or Brandon. They’re both phenomenal fighters. I think the fans will like what they’ll see. Those two guys will come after each other.”

Rodriguez, 64, said he’ll never forget his Manila visit in 2008 when he worked Gerry Peñalosa’s WBO bantamweight title defense against Thailand’s Ratanachai Sor Vorapin at the Araneta Coliseum. He was saddened by the news that Filipino fighter Pretty Boy Lucas had to undergo brain surgery in Japan after a fight in Tokyo in 1995. A year before, Rodriguez was the referee in Lucas’ failed attempt to wrest the WBO flyweight crown from Baby Jake Matlala in South Africa. “I’m glad he’s alive and his life was saved,” said Rodriguez. “I remember Lucas as a really tough and brave kid.” Lucas survived the ordeal but now wears a plate on his head to seal the hole that was drilled through his skull to drain blood in an emergency surgery after he was stopped by Korea’s Chang Jae Kwon.