PACQUIAO NOT A SURE GOLD MEDALIST HAD HE DECIDE TO FIGHT IN RIO OLYMPICS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 29 May 2016
Senator-elect Manny Pacquiao had opted not to disappoint the 15,735,079 Filipinos who voted for him in the May 9 senatorial elections by turning down an invitation to fight for the Philippine boxing team in the 2016 Rio de Janiero Olympics. But had the fighting solon decided to slug it out at the light welterweight division in the Summer Games boxing competition it won't be that troublefree to win the first gold medal for the Philippines.
He was a pro boxer since 1995 and for all these years his style of fighting was designed to last 10 to 12 rounds. While in the amateurs, pugilists are trained to box for three rounds to land as many punches as possible.
In the pros, he had only one opponent in months whom he chose and whose boxing techniques he studied carefully. But in the Olympics, he has to fight five times up to the gold medal event - the preliminaries, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and then the finals.
He will know who his next opponent is after the result of the other fights. And in Olympic boxing, he could not select his foe, unlike in the pro fights. Adversaries were selected by drawing of lots.
The last three phases will be fought every other day and Pacquiao has to endure of being weighed in every morning of the fight. In the pros, weigh in is one day before and his weight balloons during fight time. So he has to control his weight since training up to the day of the final bout, that is August 21.
Pacquiao is already 37, at the sunset of his career, and in the Olympics, his opponents are usually aged 20 and above. They may lack in experience but they are hungry for fame and they are full of of energy to last until the finals. And they are used to fighting with the amateur rules for many years.
The senator-elect could not concentrate on his training with lots of critics hounding him for abandoning his new mandate at the start of his term. Although it is a service for the country because he would not receive any renumeration for the courageous act in representing the Philippine Olympic team. But he was used to receiving huge amount of greenbacks as a compensation for risking his life and limb atop the ring.
And if Pacquiao losses the Olympic gold, he losses the opportunity and the possibility of another gold mine, the multi-million dollar rematch with arch rival Floyd Mayweather.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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