Pacquiao’s future

After the noise over his controversial victory over Juan Manuel Marquez has died down —it may still be ringing as this piece sees print—Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao has to answer some real questions about his future in and outside the ring.

It’s still well over a year and a half to the next elections . The congressman may plan to run again because of an expressed desire to serve the people, even if he can still do what he does now in a private capacity without being accountable to anyone other than himself and his family.

Or, and this is a remote possibility, he can quit politics and focus on chasing the one bout that will further cement his already formidable reputation in world boxing history, namely a fight with the back-tracking American Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It doesn’t take a boxing analyst to see that what happened last Sunday was an escape act that doesn’t befit one of Pacquiao’s esteemed status. There’s Compubox to show that the People’s Champ landed more shots than Marquez but to the people who watched live and elsewhere around the world, the televised coverage tells a different story.

But this isn’t about whether Pacquiao deserved to win, a question best reserved for professional and armchair analysts. It’s about whether the country’s, nay the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter despite Mayweather’s empty boasts, should remain in the ring in the immediate future.

With politics, some side businesses and endorsement deals left and right, it’s a wonder that Pacquiao managed to show up as he did in Las Vegas and avoid a points defeat from the technically proficient Marquez—not that the Mexican boxer is physically capable of matching, much less knocking the Pacman down.

Already some pundits, such as Cebu’s own Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district, suggested that Pacquiao match up against newcomer Timothy Bradley even if the American isn’t in the same class as Pacquiao or Marquez.

But the only person who actually benefits from this long procession of would-be contenders and has-beens confronting Pacquiao—some say the real winner in last Sunday’s so-called “fight of the ages”—is promoter Bob Arum.

No, right now the only legitimate reason for Pacquiao to step into the ring perhaps for the last time would be a match with Mayweather. Unfortunately for boxing fans, Mayweather won’t bite even if he derides last Sunday’s match as an affirmation that Pacquiao isn’t in his league.

Pacquiao can decide whatever is good for himself, but Filipinos hope he can get his match with Mayweather set in stone soon so he can exit the sport that made him a household name on a high note and concentrate on his political career or any other venture he wants to pursue. It would be a shame if he wastes his time with anyone of a caliber lower than his.