COMMENTARY | Former WBO welterweight champion, Manny Pacquiao, suffered a brutal knockout during his Dec. 8 outing against Juan Manuel Marquez, prompting some to question if the Filipino congressman will ever return to previous form.
Former WBC light-middleweight champion, Oscar De La Hoya, has his doubts as well, and he shared his thoughts during an interview with “Power 106.”
“That’s going to be the million dollar question because psychologically he [Pacquiao] is always going to be feeling that punch,” De La Hoya said, per Boxingscene.com. “He’s always going to be looking out for that punch. He will be doubting himself [and telling himself] ‘can I do this again.’ — even in training [he will be doubting himself]. History shows this, and I’m not making this up…history shows that it’s impossible to [fully] come back [from that kind of a knockout]. Can he come back? It’s up to him. You look at Paul Williams [at how he got knocked out]. Back in the day, Thomas Hearns knocked out Roberto Duran and he landed face first. You look at Ricky Hatton at how he got knocked out. You look at history in boxing.”
It’s easy to understand where De La Hoya is coming from, considering the fact Pacquiao’s knockout loss to Marquez was as brutal as it gets. “Pac Man” had to be hospitalized after the fight, and things could have been tragic if Marquez’ punch had a little more power behind it.
Besides the psychological trauma Pacquiao must be going through, he’ll also have to deal with a lot of pressure if he decides to continue boxing. With his loss to Marquez, Pacquiao has now lost consecutive bouts for the first time in his professional boxing career, and a third straight loss will propel him into irrelevancy.
To make things worse, Pacquiao’s trainer, Bob Arum, thinks a fifth fight against Marquez is a good idea, but it’s probably the worse matchup possible for Manny right now. Marquez seems to have Pacquiao’s number, and the latter would better off going after Timothy Bradley — who isn’t a hard-hitter — and the WBO welterweight title.
If he ends up getting knocked out by Bradley, then Pacquiao will have irrefutable evidence that it’s time to hang up his gloves.
David is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing practitioner who has watched and studied MMA for the past 7 years. Follow him on Twitter @davidkingwriter and check out his blog.
Sources:
Fight and fighter information from BoxRec.com
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