MANILA, Philippines -- Please mark this line 10 days before Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines clashes for the second time with Mexico’s Juan Marquez:
“The bull, as he should be, is dead. The man, as he should be, is alive and with a tendency to smile.”
That’s one of the memorable passages in Ernest Hemingway’s “Death in the Afternoon,” an all-time classic on bullfighting and, yes, life as a whole.
These words by the great American writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, came to mind Tuesday morning following a live radio report on dzBB from California by a Filipino correspondent who has covered Pacquiao’s big bouts in the United States.
* * *
It’s trite, it has become almost a cliché, said the correspondent, how Pacquiao trains incredibly hard for yet another fight.
This was the case last year, the year before last, and much, much earlier.
Pacquiao doesn’t mind killing himself in preparing for a fight.
Of course, there were times when he would check in late for training in California.
There were times when he would cram, like last year when he failed to conveniently make the weight in his fight against Marco Antonio Barrera.
* * *
This year, however, there’s no denying Pacquiao has been training hardest in a bid to be at his very best.
OK, there were reports on the ever-growing number of people in Pacquiao’s apartment, how the place has become a virtual theme park.
But Pacquiao, so says the keen-eyed correspondent, has refused to be distracted.
The correspondent added that Pacquiao has assured him there’s no reason to worry about his weight.
No problem whatsoever, everything is going splendidly, on schedule.
* * *
This in itself -- meaning the lingering fear of excess poundage -- has been licked ahead.
Indeed, we’ve got to believe what Pacquiao has sworn -- that he would breeze through the weighing scales this time.
No, he did not claim he has a better training camp than Marquez, who checked into his mountain hideaway in Mexico a full month earlier than Pacquiao did (at the Wild Card Gym) in Los Angeles.
Despite the one-month gap, Marquez cannot be expected to have an edge in physical preparedness -- if we are to believe what Pacquiao and his handlers have been claiming.
Add to this the fact that Pacquiao, as shown in his recent outings, has also developed into a two-fisted wonder, a far cry from the one-track southpaw who got peppered bloody and was forced to a draw by Marquez four years ago.
* * *
Pacquiao, at 29, could be at his peak while Marquez at 34 may, well, not be too many years away from retirement.
Of course, we also have to take note of what Marquez has claimed that, at 34, he now feels as young and strong as he was when he was only 25.
Meanwhile, odds favoring Pacquiao are expected to soar as the big fight nears.
Still, there remain sharp, seasoned fight fans who have stuck it out with Marquez from the start.
Their reason: Pacquiao may have indeed learned and added new shots and moves to his arsenal.
But, at the same time, there are crucial mistakes he has not managed to correct and may not be able to unlearn until March 15.
These flaws, these same experts noted, are serious defensive lapses.
These are shortcomings that could inevitably leave Pacquiao leading the role of a raging bull against Marquez, a master matador.
The bull, as his assigned role, must charge, connect and gore early in order to reverse the time-honored tradition in the usually uneven contest.
“The bull, as he should be, is dead. The man, as he should be, is alive and with a tendency to smile.”
That’s one of the memorable passages in Ernest Hemingway’s “Death in the Afternoon,” an all-time classic on bullfighting and, yes, life as a whole.
These words by the great American writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, came to mind Tuesday morning following a live radio report on dzBB from California by a Filipino correspondent who has covered Pacquiao’s big bouts in the United States.
* * *
It’s trite, it has become almost a cliché, said the correspondent, how Pacquiao trains incredibly hard for yet another fight.
This was the case last year, the year before last, and much, much earlier.
Pacquiao doesn’t mind killing himself in preparing for a fight.
Of course, there were times when he would check in late for training in California.
There were times when he would cram, like last year when he failed to conveniently make the weight in his fight against Marco Antonio Barrera.
* * *
This year, however, there’s no denying Pacquiao has been training hardest in a bid to be at his very best.
OK, there were reports on the ever-growing number of people in Pacquiao’s apartment, how the place has become a virtual theme park.
But Pacquiao, so says the keen-eyed correspondent, has refused to be distracted.
The correspondent added that Pacquiao has assured him there’s no reason to worry about his weight.
No problem whatsoever, everything is going splendidly, on schedule.
* * *
This in itself -- meaning the lingering fear of excess poundage -- has been licked ahead.
Indeed, we’ve got to believe what Pacquiao has sworn -- that he would breeze through the weighing scales this time.
No, he did not claim he has a better training camp than Marquez, who checked into his mountain hideaway in Mexico a full month earlier than Pacquiao did (at the Wild Card Gym) in Los Angeles.
Despite the one-month gap, Marquez cannot be expected to have an edge in physical preparedness -- if we are to believe what Pacquiao and his handlers have been claiming.
Add to this the fact that Pacquiao, as shown in his recent outings, has also developed into a two-fisted wonder, a far cry from the one-track southpaw who got peppered bloody and was forced to a draw by Marquez four years ago.
* * *
Pacquiao, at 29, could be at his peak while Marquez at 34 may, well, not be too many years away from retirement.
Of course, we also have to take note of what Marquez has claimed that, at 34, he now feels as young and strong as he was when he was only 25.
Meanwhile, odds favoring Pacquiao are expected to soar as the big fight nears.
Still, there remain sharp, seasoned fight fans who have stuck it out with Marquez from the start.
Their reason: Pacquiao may have indeed learned and added new shots and moves to his arsenal.
But, at the same time, there are crucial mistakes he has not managed to correct and may not be able to unlearn until March 15.
These flaws, these same experts noted, are serious defensive lapses.
These are shortcomings that could inevitably leave Pacquiao leading the role of a raging bull against Marquez, a master matador.
The bull, as his assigned role, must charge, connect and gore early in order to reverse the time-honored tradition in the usually uneven contest.
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