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By Paul Magno
Fighters don’t take easily to defeat—and great fighters struggle especially hard with the idea that someone bested them. Such is the case with Manny Pacquiao, who, almost nine months after the fact, still seems to be struggling with his May 2 loss to arch-rival Floyd Mayweather in the biggest money fight of all-time.
It doesn’t take much to send the Filipino icon back in time to juggle scenarios, make excuses, and attempt to re-write history. Even while promoting an upcoming third bout with Timothy Bradley, Mayweather still weighs heavily on Pacquiao’s mind.
“I still believe I won that last fight,” Pacquiao told the assembled media during Thursday’s Pacquiao-Bradley presser. “After reviewing the tape, I threw a lot of punches. I respect the commission and the judges, but if you ask what is in my heart, that’s what I feel.”
A sizeable chunk of his rabid fan base would agree with that assessment. Numerous sadly desperate videos would pop up in the aftermath of the mega-fight, attempting to explain, through various forms of video manipulation, that Pacquiao really DID win the fight. It was not a highlight for boxing and certainly not a highlight in the Hall of Fame career of the multi-division world champ. To see Pacquiao still caught up on May 2, reviewing the happenings of the bout over and over again while living in denial, is also more than a little sad.
“I wanted to be like that the whole round.” Pacquiao said, referring to a punch in the fourth round of the mega-fight that seemed to buzz Mayweather. “In that fourth round, I felt something and backed off. I lost my right hand and backed off. It was just an accident. Before that, I felt good.
A wistful Pacquiao, well-convinced of his own version of things, even added his own special touches to the story. “Floyd pulled on my [injured] arm. He’s so smart.”
If this first press outing in New York was any indication of what awaits in the overall media tour, then we’re in for a eulogy to a dead dream rather than the promotion for an upcoming fight. A theme of denial and re-written history is no way to convince the world to cough up a sizable chunk of change to see a rematch that nobody clamored for in the first place.
And even the fact that this is being billed as Manny’s last fight is not enough to sell it, mostly because, again, Mayweather is deeply on his brain and that obsession won’t really ever allow him to commit to retirement.
“I don’t know,” said Pacquiao, responding to a question of whether the prospect of a Mayweather rematch would change his retirement plans. “At that time, God willing, I’ll be a senator in the Philippines and I’ll ask the people of the Philippines if they’ll allow it. My attention and focus is to serve the people. I’ll ask the people if they agree to that.”
By Paul Magno
Fighters don’t take easily to defeat—and great fighters struggle especially hard with the idea that someone bested them. Such is the case with Manny Pacquiao, who, almost nine months after the fact, still seems to be struggling with his May 2 loss to arch-rival Floyd Mayweather in the biggest money fight of all-time.
It doesn’t take much to send the Filipino icon back in time to juggle scenarios, make excuses, and attempt to re-write history. Even while promoting an upcoming third bout with Timothy Bradley, Mayweather still weighs heavily on Pacquiao’s mind.
“I still believe I won that last fight,” Pacquiao told the assembled media during Thursday’s Pacquiao-Bradley presser. “After reviewing the tape, I threw a lot of punches. I respect the commission and the judges, but if you ask what is in my heart, that’s what I feel.”
A sizeable chunk of his rabid fan base would agree with that assessment. Numerous sadly desperate videos would pop up in the aftermath of the mega-fight, attempting to explain, through various forms of video manipulation, that Pacquiao really DID win the fight. It was not a highlight for boxing and certainly not a highlight in the Hall of Fame career of the multi-division world champ. To see Pacquiao still caught up on May 2, reviewing the happenings of the bout over and over again while living in denial, is also more than a little sad.
“I wanted to be like that the whole round.” Pacquiao said, referring to a punch in the fourth round of the mega-fight that seemed to buzz Mayweather. “In that fourth round, I felt something and backed off. I lost my right hand and backed off. It was just an accident. Before that, I felt good.
A wistful Pacquiao, well-convinced of his own version of things, even added his own special touches to the story. “Floyd pulled on my [injured] arm. He’s so smart.”
If this first press outing in New York was any indication of what awaits in the overall media tour, then we’re in for a eulogy to a dead dream rather than the promotion for an upcoming fight. A theme of denial and re-written history is no way to convince the world to cough up a sizable chunk of change to see a rematch that nobody clamored for in the first place.
And even the fact that this is being billed as Manny’s last fight is not enough to sell it, mostly because, again, Mayweather is deeply on his brain and that obsession won’t really ever allow him to commit to retirement.
“I don’t know,” said Pacquiao, responding to a question of whether the prospect of a Mayweather rematch would change his retirement plans. “At that time, God willing, I’ll be a senator in the Philippines and I’ll ask the people of the Philippines if they’ll allow it. My attention and focus is to serve the people. I’ll ask the people if they agree to that.”
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