After struggling for 12 rounds against the underrated challenger Timothy Bradley, Jr., the verdict on Manny Pacquiao’s physical capacities and capabilities as a boxer was almost unanimous: Speed and dexterity were absent, proofs that Father Time has caught up with the PacMan.
The cruel conclusion was justified.
Watching Pacquiao in action against Bradley was like watching the PacMan’s old fights against Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito—in slow motion.
Visibly gone were the cat-like quickness, the dexterity and the agility that he displayed in his previous fights which earned the “oohs” and the “aahs” of the boxing fans and the nod of the ringside judges.
In the Bradley fight, Manny Pacquiao was like a cart following a horse and an aging gunfighter who could no longer pull the trigger.
In the many instances where the Manny Pacquiao of old would have rained his opponent with a staccato of punches coming from all directions, the boxer who was in the ring with Bradley could only throw at most a three-punch combination, two of which missed the target.
Was Manny Pacquiao’s performance against Bradley a tell-tale sign that he is old?
The Philippines’ leading musculoskeletal expert, Dr. Isagani Leal of the Center for Musculoskeletal Science, Asia, who closely observed Pacquiao’s movements in his fight against Bradley, says leg muscle problems which the PacMan earlier complained about, not age, slowed him down in his fight against the American challenger.
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