Pacquiao served ‘divorce papers’ before fight vs Marquez

MANILA, Philippines – Manny Pacquiao was served divorce papers on the eve of his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez in November 2011, his trainer Freddie Roach disclosed on Thursday, May 10.

Quoting Roach, the Los Angeles Times said, “All the distractions caught up [with] Manny in his last fight,” referring to Pacquiao’s narrow win over Marquez. Pacquiao keeps a 54-3-2, 38 knockouts record. He is presently preparing for his next fight against Timothy Bradley on June 9.

Pacquiao, now a bible-quoting boxer, managed to save his marriage to his wife, Jinkee. Prior to his conversion, he led a frivolous life that included, according to Roach, “girls and everything that goes with it.” This, on top of late nights of gambling and excessive games of basketball.

“Now, he’s back with his wife, reading the Bible every day, and he’s given up basketball,” Roach told the LA Times at Hollywood’s Wild Card Boxing Club, where Pacquiao has resumed training after completing a round of intense workouts in Baguio City.

“He’s given away his cockfighting farm, sold his casino and his nightclub,” Roach said.

The 33-year-old Pacquiao said he was drawn to the bible which was presented to him as a gift just before his fight with Marquez.

Fight vs Bradley

The 28-year-old Bradley said Thursday, “In Pacquiao’s last 4 fights, he’s looked lackadaisical.” He added that Pacquiao will “have to dig down deep to beat me. This is my only chance to be a superstar.”

Roach said his boxer “needs a knockout in this fight,” to which Pacquiao said,  “We’ll see, I’ll do my best.” He acknowledged, “It’s an important fight. I want to … prove I can still fight.”

The LA Times said that when asked about transgressions of the recent past, Pacquiao replied, “My other life is now the Bible. I follow the Commandments of God. When I read the Bible, I found the manual of life.”

Of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s victory over Miguel Cotto on Saturday, May 5, Pacquiao said it proves his tough-talking rival is still fast. He however remains skeptical about Mayweather’s pronouncements he intends to make real the super-fight that boxing fans have been dreaming of. The much-awaited bout is expected to easily generate at least $100-M from US pay-per-view revenues alone.

Quoting Pacquiao, the LA Times said, “When he offered me only $40 million, I knew he didn’t want the fight…And when he says the fight will never happen now, that’s because he doesn’t want the fight.” – Rappler.com

Click on the links below for more. 

• Rappler’s top 10 pound-for-pound Pinoy boxers
• The gospel of Manny Pacquiao
• Pacquiao slams Obama, same-sex marriage
• Manny Pacquiao, Bible ambassador
• David Beckham on Manny Pacquiao: I’m a huge fan