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Pacquiao’s dodgy ‘time management’
Ronnie Nathanielsz
http://www.inquirer.net/sports/artic...anagement.html
Ronnie Nathanielsz
THOSE OF us who have diligently followed the career of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao are concerned about how his preparation has been going for the fight against Antonio Margarito at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Nov. 13.
That’s because we care for him, as well as what he has done for our people in an incredible career.
It’s not that we don’t have faith in Manny’s ability to come through, even at the last minute in the most challenging of situations.
We realize, though, that for all the assessments of Margarito being an over-the-hill fighter, and excruciatingly slow when measured against Pacquiao’s blinding speed, there is a compelling need to look at the other factors consistent with a rational evaluation of what may well be—as Manny himself concedes—the toughest fight of his career.
* * *
To begin with, Margarito is five inches taller and has a six-inch reach advantage—formidable odds for Manny to overcome.
While it is true that he plastered Oscar De La Hoya, who was almost as tall as Margarito, the undeniable fact is De La Hoya was, by then, a finished fighter who kept at the 147-pound limit for weeks, had some sort of shoulder injury, and had nowhere near the speed, movement and power of Pacquiao.
Pacquiao was dominating because he trained relentlessly, just like he did for his fight against Miguel Cotto and, to a lesser extent, against Joshua Clottey.
This time around, with one month to go, Manny is trying to juggle his time between boxing and other demands and, by all accounts, he is nowhere near the condition he was in at a similar time in his preparation for those two fights.
In fact, he began his strength and conditioning training only on Monday at the Rizal Memorial track stadium. This means he’s got only about two weeks left to build the muscles and the resistance to face Margarito, who would probably come in at fight night around 160 lb.
* * *
That’s why Pacquiao is in effect cramming which, as the eminent founding secretary general of the World Boxing Council, Rudy Salud, has always maintained, is not a good thing.
Margarito will try to push Pacquiao against the ropes, lean on him with all his body weight, use his elbows and generally strive to bully him, being the much bigger man.
To be able to push him off or get out of those situations, Manny will need strength and speed and be ready to go 12 demanding rounds—unless he is able to take Margarito out with a flurry, early in the fight.
While Manny speaks about time management, his weekend trips from Baguio to Manila and back, even if he sleeps in the car, will still take a toll on him, physically if not mentally.
* * *
Attending the PMA Alumni Association Family Sportsfest one week and the 10.10.10 run the following week were demonstrations of the nobility of the man. But for all the worthiness of the causes, they won’t add anything to his condition.
Perhaps the fact that he ran 10 kilometers in the fun run to save the Pasig River and obviously enjoyed himself, would have helped in his physical conditioning program, as well as his mental state.
Instead of going back to Baguio that morning, he reportedly met with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and some congressmen, once again in pursuit of a noble objective of getting more funds for the development of Sarangani and the Mindanao region.
We feel this could have waited until after his fight, which should be the sole focus of his efforts right now.
* * *
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum may disagree, but the fact is Pacquiao was sluggish when he sparred last Saturday, going three rounds with ambitious, young and undefeated Glen Tapia. Those who watched the sparring, however, said he did better against the more experienced Michael Medina.
While it does happen to most boxers who have an off day, it still is a cause for concern.
His almost nightly games of basketball don’t help either because, very often, he’s so tired that he doesn’t jog the following morning.
He—and those around him—brush off worries about an ache in his foot, as they do the occasional pain in his back.
The fight against Margarito isn’t
going to be easy because Margarito is hungry, wants to make a name for himself and erase the ignominy of the hand-wraps issue, as well as break Pacquiao’s remarkable run of success against Mexicans.
He has the motivation.
Manny’s courageous heart is his biggest asset against the fear of defeat. But for all his courage, his speed and his confidence, and having the genius Freddie Roach in his corner alongside conditioning guru Ariza, it won’t guarantee success at a much heavier weight than he has ever fought before.
That’s because we care for him, as well as what he has done for our people in an incredible career.
It’s not that we don’t have faith in Manny’s ability to come through, even at the last minute in the most challenging of situations.
We realize, though, that for all the assessments of Margarito being an over-the-hill fighter, and excruciatingly slow when measured against Pacquiao’s blinding speed, there is a compelling need to look at the other factors consistent with a rational evaluation of what may well be—as Manny himself concedes—the toughest fight of his career.
* * *
To begin with, Margarito is five inches taller and has a six-inch reach advantage—formidable odds for Manny to overcome.
While it is true that he plastered Oscar De La Hoya, who was almost as tall as Margarito, the undeniable fact is De La Hoya was, by then, a finished fighter who kept at the 147-pound limit for weeks, had some sort of shoulder injury, and had nowhere near the speed, movement and power of Pacquiao.
Pacquiao was dominating because he trained relentlessly, just like he did for his fight against Miguel Cotto and, to a lesser extent, against Joshua Clottey.
This time around, with one month to go, Manny is trying to juggle his time between boxing and other demands and, by all accounts, he is nowhere near the condition he was in at a similar time in his preparation for those two fights.
In fact, he began his strength and conditioning training only on Monday at the Rizal Memorial track stadium. This means he’s got only about two weeks left to build the muscles and the resistance to face Margarito, who would probably come in at fight night around 160 lb.
* * *
That’s why Pacquiao is in effect cramming which, as the eminent founding secretary general of the World Boxing Council, Rudy Salud, has always maintained, is not a good thing.
Margarito will try to push Pacquiao against the ropes, lean on him with all his body weight, use his elbows and generally strive to bully him, being the much bigger man.
To be able to push him off or get out of those situations, Manny will need strength and speed and be ready to go 12 demanding rounds—unless he is able to take Margarito out with a flurry, early in the fight.
While Manny speaks about time management, his weekend trips from Baguio to Manila and back, even if he sleeps in the car, will still take a toll on him, physically if not mentally.
* * *
Attending the PMA Alumni Association Family Sportsfest one week and the 10.10.10 run the following week were demonstrations of the nobility of the man. But for all the worthiness of the causes, they won’t add anything to his condition.
Perhaps the fact that he ran 10 kilometers in the fun run to save the Pasig River and obviously enjoyed himself, would have helped in his physical conditioning program, as well as his mental state.
Instead of going back to Baguio that morning, he reportedly met with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and some congressmen, once again in pursuit of a noble objective of getting more funds for the development of Sarangani and the Mindanao region.
We feel this could have waited until after his fight, which should be the sole focus of his efforts right now.
* * *
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum may disagree, but the fact is Pacquiao was sluggish when he sparred last Saturday, going three rounds with ambitious, young and undefeated Glen Tapia. Those who watched the sparring, however, said he did better against the more experienced Michael Medina.
While it does happen to most boxers who have an off day, it still is a cause for concern.
His almost nightly games of basketball don’t help either because, very often, he’s so tired that he doesn’t jog the following morning.
He—and those around him—brush off worries about an ache in his foot, as they do the occasional pain in his back.
The fight against Margarito isn’t
going to be easy because Margarito is hungry, wants to make a name for himself and erase the ignominy of the hand-wraps issue, as well as break Pacquiao’s remarkable run of success against Mexicans.
He has the motivation.
Manny’s courageous heart is his biggest asset against the fear of defeat. But for all his courage, his speed and his confidence, and having the genius Freddie Roach in his corner alongside conditioning guru Ariza, it won’t guarantee success at a much heavier weight than he has ever fought before.
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