A focused Pacquiao; Lao-Tzu on claiming credit

In less than three weeks, Manny Pacquiao gets a chance to avenge his controversial split decision loss in June 2012 to American Timothy Bradley Jr. Bradley will defend the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title he wrested from Pacquiao at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Since grabbing the title from Pacquiao, Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs), who delights at being  called “Desert Storm”, has successfully defended his title by decision twice.

Bradley won by unanimous decision over Pacquiao sparring partner Ruslan Provodnikov of Russia in March 2013 despite being staggered in the first round and by his own admission suffering a concussion. He went down on one knee in the last round but managed to get the judges’ nod. In his last fight, Bradley won by split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez who was bidding to be the first Mexican fighter to win titles in four divisions.

Before getting into ring on April 12 (April 13, Sunday, in Manila), boxing enthusiasts are being treated to a lot of verbal jabbing between the Pacquiao and Bradley camps. The American’s camp has said that Pacquiao has lost his killer instincts and needs to be “ruthless” to beat him. Bradley claims that if Pacquiao doesn’t knock him out, he’ll beat the Filipino boxing icon convincingly.

The Pacquiao camp, on the other hand, doesn’t relish what it claims is Bradley’s lack of respect for Pacquiao. Freddie Roach and company promise that fans will see the same Pacquiao who overwhelmed Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and even Juan Manuel Marquez before that fateful perfect punch in the last second of the sixth round in December 2012.

Pacquiao arrived in LA on Saturday, March 8 and has been training intensively and smartly for the last three weeks with new routines being introduced by conditioning coach, Julius Fortune.

Upon Pacquiao’s arrival in LA, Roach said, “We had a great camp in the Philippines and Manny, as usual, is way ahead of schedule in his conditioning and very motivated. Referring to the start of the second phase of Pacquiao’s preparations, Roach emphasized,  “Manny wants that title back. If Bradley thinks he’s going to see the same compassionate Manny he saw the first time they fought, he is in for a very big surprise.”

While Pacquiao’s camp and his promoter, Bob Arum, are certainly focusing on this “revenge” fight, there’s no denying that after getting rid of Bradley, Pacquiao and Arum are still entertaining hopes of a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout that should be the biggest in the history of boxing.

Mayweather is due to face Argentinian Marcos Maidana who will defend his World Boxing Association welterweight title against the flamboyant “Money Man” on May 3, also at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Maidana, 35-3, 31 KOs, will try to put a halt to Mayweather’s winning streak of 45 victories (26 by knockout).

Maidana has beaten noteworthy fighters, among them Adrien Broner who was unbeaten before fighting the Argentine. Broner was the heavy pre-fight favorite (3:1) but lost via unanimous decision. Maidana decked Broner in the second and eighth rounds on his way to that lopsided victory.

Aside from being more than an average power puncher, the 30-year old champion, has tremendous recuperative powers like Marquez who can come off the canvas and still made life difficult for the opposing camp, if not win ultimately. In Maidana’s debut in the U.S., Victor Ortiz knocked down the Argentine three times within the first two rounds but Maidana recovered and won by TKO in the sixth round.

Maidana’s three career defeats, all by decision, came from the hands of Andreas Kotelnik, Amir Khan (another former sparring partner of Pacquiao) and Devon Alexander. Khan was considered as a Mayweather opponent but was dropped strangely by the undefeated American after conducting a poll among fight fans which Khan won. 

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Last week, we found ourselves (unwillingly) in the middle of a mild controversy involving the “architect and engineer” of the De La Salle Lady Spikers first three-peat from 2003-2005. We were rather amused when someone who is an enthusiastic supporter of women’s volleyball had told our colleague Quinito Henson he was the manager of the Lady Spikers when the team achieved its first and second three-peats. A La Salle alumnus had called Quinito to clarify the statement which had no basis in fact. We were manager from 2002 to 2008 and this alumnus pointed out that the first three-peat was during that period. In a subsequent interview conducted by Quinito to correct the claims made by the man, the same person denied he claimed credit for the two three-peats and said he “worked behind the scenes”. Certainly, there is a whale of a difference being manager and “working behind the scenes”.

Perhaps, a quote from Laozi (Lao-Tzu), a philosopher from ancient China during the Zhou dynasty can be instructive: “Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.”