Manny Pacquiao whose incredible achievements in the ring and his humility and remarkable sense of compassion for his vanquished foes plus his concern for the poorest of the poor has made him a crossover star and a quintessential Filipino sports hero, celebrated his 32nd birthday on Friday.
Such a milestone is often a time for reflection when an individual looks back at the year gone by and discovers what he did and what he had failed to do and vows to do things in a better and more organized fashion in the year ahead. Manny Pacquiao 
can do no less because he has been placed on a pedestal by millions of his countrymen and needs to live up to their faith in him. With indications that Shane Mosley is next on Manny’s hit list the eminent lawyer and World Boxing Council founding secretary general Rudy Salud has said there is no way Manny can claim he is fighting Mosley for his country and people because there is nothing to be gained from such a fight except monetary rewards unlike if he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. But the fact that he is not fighting Mayweather is clearly not the fault of Pacquiao or Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. There is nobody else to blame but Mayweather himself.
While Salud and many others including ourselves question a fight against Mosley, we have to admit that given the present roster of possible opponents there is nobody outstanding or competitive enough to face off with Pacquiao at 147 pounds which is his chosen weight.
Andre Berto is young and has a reasonably strong right hand but not much else. He would be a comparatively easy fight for Pacquiao. Besides, he is not a draw and no promoter in his right mind – and despite his 79 summers Bob Arum is certainly in his right mind and astute as hell – would put up the guaranteed purse that Manny would want for such a fight because it won’t get the pay-per-view numbers needed to make it a worthwhile business proposition.
We ourselves had wanted Juan Manuel Marquez who battled Pacquiao twice with distinction even though he was dropped four times in the two fights. The reason being we wanted Pacquiao to shut him up once and for all over his claims that he beat Manny twice. This was echoed by Oscar De La Hoya who despite his skill and charisma as a fighter regrettably hasn’t translated his skill in the ring into a meaningful business sense and sadly lacks a proper appreciation of what this sport is all about today.
Marquez who was ripped apart by Mayweather in a welterweight bout where Mayweather came in at 149 and was tolerated by Golden Boy to the huge disadvantage of Marquez, wants twice as much as he received in the Mayweather fight. Here is the spectacle of a badly beaten fighter and someone who drew less than 5,000 fans in his last fight against Michael Katsidis asking for a ridiculously high purse.
In fairness to Arum, he openly admitted that Mosley was the biggest money fight available for Pacquiao at this point and that this is prizefighting which means men fight for a prize which essentially is the business of boxing as it has evolved in this day and age.
While we all enjoy the right to disagree, it is obvious that its Pacquiao’s call and if Arum wishes to give him an advance birthday gift in the form of Shane Mosley and a chance to earn $15-$20 million who are we to begrudge him that right especially if Manny needs the money for his many projects.
Boxing apart, our fervent wish on this auspicious day is for Pacquiao to look around him and to realize that an individual is often judged, sometimes unfairly we might add, by the company he keeps. It is high time that he isolates himself from leeches and miscellaneous characters who are there not because they truly care but only because they can get something out of a generous and kind human being as well as public mileage for themselves.
Manny also needs to look after his finances and invest his earnings wisely because whether he likes it or not his boxing career is winding down and he has far more important challenges to meet in his desire to serve his people. He must learn not to trust just about everybody who pushes a contract in front of him and tells him to sign promising he could earn well by recording songs or engaging in meet and greet gatherings. These often result in troublesome lawsuits that diminish his image and which cost money to defend and get out of.
We have known Manny from the time he was a 16 year old kid carving a name for himself on the weekly boxing show “Blow by Blow” which we produced and often anchored. He impressed us with his indomitable courage, his aggressive fighting style and his charisma. But most of all he touched us deeply when he told his late manager and father-figure Rod Nazario and myself some ten years ago that he wanted to enter public service to help the poor. That was not just the heart of a champion but the soul of a genuinely caring Filipino. God Bless you Manny.
Source: philboxing.com
