What drives this new version of Pacquiao?

There are times when we have to drag ourselves to wake up in the morning to start the day off heading out to work. Monotonous, drudging and uneventful, the daily repetition coupled by the morning rush hour traffic, could truly test one’s will, not to mention aching bodies.

Not on a typical Manny Pacquiao day.

On his third session of sparring against an unbeaten prospect and a local veteran Saturday night, October 1, Pacquiao was a new kind of an elemental fighter. He was virtually untouched, calculating, dangerous but forgiving enough not to punish his partners in the ring. Not this early yet.

Heading towards the more tedious stages of training, the coaching staff has seen enough reason to have the boxer “slow down” a bit, feeling that Pacquiao is peaking too soon ahead of his November 5 championship match in Las Vegas opposite champion Jessie Vargas.

But what drives the new “Pacman?”

He starts his day jogging, sometimes even drenched by the light drizzle, characteristic of Manila’s September mornings. When monsoon rains come a-pouring, he has to improvise or call off training sessions in the morning and double-up in the afternoon.

He has thus far successfully juggled work and boxing with much success.

He used to be a full-time boxer, period, and part-time this or part-time that. Now, he is a full-time senator of the Philippines, a full-time father and a full-time servant of God.

His fight against welterweight champion Jessie Vargas of the United States is no picnic either and has turned out to be one of the most difficult. In terms of sacrificing for a fight, this one looks like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle and a nightmare for his appointments secretary.

Doing things simultaneously has made this fight hard and taxing. Sometimes, he finishes training sessions at past 10 pm, signs autographs for fans who keep on queueing up, before he could step into a makeshift dining table inside the gym. His entourage would still have to weave through traffic and call it a day before midnight, preparing once again for the next day, and the next.

‘Grand daddy’

He is no longer young. At 37, he could very well be considered the grand daddy of the sport. In terms of boxing “mileage,” he is an overworked veteran of 66 fights, fighting at an average of 3 fights a year going into his 22nd year of boxing. Imagine driving a 2003 model sedan with a 400,000-kilometer mileage on your engine: that could very well be a good comparison to Pacquiao’s condition, including the bumps and dents and cuts, and yes, days in the repair shop.

Pacquiao has just recently gone under the knife, repairing a torn rotator cuff only last year, right after he fought Floyd Mayweather using virtually one effective left hand with no significant right hook or a jab to boot.

Always looking for an exciting fight, his style of boxing has endeared him to fans the world over. By opting to make the match into your phone-booth type, end-of-your-seat and nail-biting affair, he would go on a prowl and mix it up, go for the kill, rather than get into a boring encounter directly the opposite of Mr Defensive Fighter of the Year’s style. 

More or less, he has sparred with more than 400 boxers of all shapes and sizes and styles and nationalities: bigger, faster, stronger, taller, smaller, slugger, amateurish, wild, disrespectful, ugly, stinky, and hairy, among many others. Throughout his career, his boxing intelligence quotient has continued to grow immensely so, learning and maturing in every battle.

He took the Vargas fight because of his love for the sport and that the American fighter has taken his old WBO welterweight belt. Pacquiao believes he can still give something to the sport, not the washed-up, punch-drunk type of fighters who have to make a comeback because they have no other choice.

“I think I still have more to show (in the sport). I feel great, energized and inspired,” said Pacquiao on Friday after hitting the mitts with long-time trainer Freddie Roach, who just came in a few days ago from the United States.

His was an understatement, if one had to ask Roach or assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez, who have directly felt the brute power of Pacquiao’s punches. Both Roach and Fernandez agree: Pacquiao has upped the oomph in his punches.

“Tumatagos sa mitts, manginginig ang buong katawan mo. Hindi ganyan ang lakas niya dati,” said Fernandez, who has been with Pacquiao for the longest time as kids roaming in the streets of General Santos City. (It runs through the mitts, your body shivers. He wasn’t as powerful before.)

His sparring partners would not lie either. “He is a totally different fighter from the last time I sparred with him,” said Jose Ramirez, an young and unbeaten prospect with great credentials.

“He has new firepower in his arsenal,” added Ramirez, who first sparred with Pacquiao in 2014. Homegrown lightweight Leonardo Doronio has tried to contribute in support of Ramirez until two more sparring partners will plane in this week.

Don’t peak too soon

Assistant trainers Raides “Nonoy” Neri, who is also helped by the Penalosa boxing brothers – Karl, Jonathan and ex-champ Dodie Boy – believe that it is important for Pacquiao not to reach peak form too soon. “That is the last thing we want, having our boxer coming in burned out on fight night,” said Neri.

Personally, having been with the Fighting Senator from Sarangani province for more than a decade and a half, the decibels of his gloves meeting the heavy punching bag has truly gone a notch up. And this is the same guy, the senator, who has worn a suit, a different wardrobe just a few hours ago.

During one of those “hard” training days, he had to go jogging at 10 am because the rains came earlier. He skipped a noontime siesta to catch a Senate session involving an apparent witness of extra-judicial killings. On those days, he would try his best to gather, interpellate, and search for the truth from an apparent confessed mass murderer and get kudos for not just stepping up to the plate but coming out slugging. On other days, he would join other Senate committees where he is not just a member, but a very active senator.

He finishes the day in secret, reading the bible before he sleeps at night, a 180-degree turnaround from his being carefree. This time, his days, divided into hours and minutes, are spent well. Quality time for a doting father and a public servant as well as a servant of God.

Pacquiao has not changed much since. He is still that young kid eager to show his new toy to everyone. His demeanor is now more subdued, as he shows off his new gadgets: a pair of fists, exclusive and limited edition, probably one of the most pricey pair of fists available out there.

At the end of the day, Pacquiao does find joy and satisfaction in serving his fans, his constituents and God, a newfound elixir that has brought his career to new highs. – Rappler.com

 

Winchell Campos is writing the final stages of “Pacquiao,” the official Manny Pacquiao biography. Campos has been an insider in the Pacquiao camp from his humble beginnings to date.