CHICAGO (JGL) – When Manny Pacquiao made a post-fight comment, saying, “I thought I won the fight,” he must be thinking in the back of his mind that “if only my shoulder were not hurting, I could have won the fight.” But he kept his injured condition to himself.
But if it was true that his shoulder injury worsened in the fourth round as he held his punches when he had Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on the ropes, he should have asked referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight before the end of round four.
Under the rules, the “fight becomes official only after four rounds.” That means if the fight were stopped before end of the fourth round, it would have been a no-decision fight.
Just like in baseball, if the regulation game is rained out when it has not reached a halfway point, the baseball umpires can stop the game and suspend the game (to be continued at a later date from the point of stoppage) or the game is simply canceled and replayed from the start.
But when Manny kept on fighting thru his injury, he was taking the risk, hoping he could land a lucky punch just like the unexpected wicked right straight from Juan Manuel Marquez that flattened him.
But there was no way that he could do it to Mayweather, who had mastered the art and science of hitting and running and docking, dodging and landing his jabs from the outside instead of fighting him toe to toe.
So, Manny should forget any illusion that he won the fight. It was all his fault, if not his handlers.
What he needs to do now is to get a second opinion before he agrees to undergo surgery for a rotator cuff tear.
And Manny should follow the regimen if he wants to recover fast.
MANNY SHOULD START FROM SCRATCH ANEW
If he feels he had completely recovered, he can start with his rehabilitation.
If he had recovered, it will still be long way up to reaching fighting condition.
But just like baseball, a player who undergoes a long lay-off needs to play with the minor league players before joining the majors. He will have to fight lower-ranked boxers in the division before he faces Mayweather anew.
If he loses in his bout with low-rated boxers, he better forget facing the likes of Mayweather again.
He better hang up his gloves and cut his losses by avoiding further humiliations.
But if he wins against lesser-known opponents and he feels he has regained his old fighting form, it will not hurt if he insures the most vulnerable parts of his body, like his injured shoulder, with the Lloyds of London, which had insured other body parts of celebrities.
If such celebrities as Heidi Klum had insured her legs, or America Ferrera her smile. Or Bruce Springsteen his pipes, or Michael Flatley’s legs, why doesn’t Manny insure his shoulder or his fists for millions of dollars. After all, he has all the money in the world to pay for the premiums!
By doing so, if he re-injures his shoulder or his fists, he can use the coverage to payoff damages in case, he faces another round of class action suit.
Two complainants identified as Staphane Vanel and Kami Rahbaran had sued Manny and his Team Pacquiao, including his promoter, Hall of Famer Bob Arum, in a class action in federal court in Las Vegas, Nevada for fraud when they claimed Manny and Team Pacquiao defrauded them for paying to watch the fight when they watched the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight thru pay-per-view although Manny was injured. The duo hope thousands of others who watched the fight live and who bet on the fight and lost would join their class suit.
Whether Manny is still weighing his options to go back in the ring or not, I believe, now is the time for Manny to hang up his gloves.
At this point, since he has a perfect and legitimate reason to retire, he better do so.
After all his shoulder injury is much better than if he would suffer a brain injury that would foreclose any chances of him turning his part-time job as Sarangani Congressman to a full time job.
If not, he can pursue a full time singing career that earned him the admiration of some of his fans, among them Jimmy Kimmel, who even promoted and interpreted his latest hit, “Lalaban ako para sa Pilipino” (I will fight for the Philippines).
Or Manny can go back to emceeing in his give-away television program, “Manny Many Prizes.”
Or he can go full time as basketball coach but not as a player so he will avoid re-injuring his shoulder.
Or he becomes a full-time product endorser.
Manny should be reminded that if he wants to stick to boxing, he should stick to his recovery and rehabilitation regimen. He cannot use his layoff from boxing to devote his time to extra-curricular activities as a politician, singer, TV emcee, basketball player, player-coach or product endorser, etc.
Otherwise, he better call it a career and enjoy a lifetime of enjoyment while he can. After all, Manny has nothing to prove anymore. Quit na, Manny. Now na! (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
Joseph G. Lariosa
Correspondent
Journal GlobaLinks
P. O. Box 30110
Chicago, IL 60630
Tel. 312.772.5454
Telefax 312.428.5714