By Norm Frauenheim
LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao is back at the bully pulpit like a saint among sinners. Boxing has never been much of a congregation, at least not in traditional terms. Pass the plate here, and you’re liable to lose it and its proceeds.
But Pacquiao is here, talking about his faith and looking as if he knows something no one else does. His convictions are religious in an arena where that usually means a felony.
Pacquiao believes. So does Floyd Mayweather Jr. But the only belief they have in common is that each is convinced he’ll beat the other Saturday night at the MGM Grand. What they hope to accomplish, however, tells just you how different they really are.
Pacquiao wants converts.
Mayweather wants cash.
No wonder Mayweather is favored. Records amount of cash are expected to come out of a pay-per-view fight that could turn a hedge fund into a religious order.
The task is a little tougher for Pacquiao. But don’t disbelieve him. His faith is no feint. He has repeatedly said he hopes world-wide attention on the fight will be a vehicle for his born-again message. His missionary zeal even includes Mayweather.
“I want him to know God,’’ Pacquiao told a roomful of reporters Wednesday before the two welterweights took to the stage for a formal news conference at the ornate KA Theatre.
Mayweather doesn’t talk about his faith as much as Pacquiao. But it’s no secret that Mayweather, who again wore The Money Team acronym on his cap and shirt Wednesday, is well-acquainted with the God whose name is on the dollar bill. In that God, he trusts.
Since the fight was announced on Feb. 20, Mayweather has been strictly business.
“This fight is not good-versus-evil,’’ Mayweather said to reporters after Wednesday’s news conference. “This is about one fighter at the top against another fighter at the top.’’
According to the market place of odds, Mayweather is the best of the two. He’s narrowly favored to beat
Pacquiao. His understated manner and tone throughout the weeks of hype preceding opening bell have been the subject of speculation and interpretation. Is it a sign of confidence? Or uncertainty?
At the first news conference in Los Angeles, Roach noticed what everybody else has seen ever since. Roach sees Mayweather’s subdued manner it as a sign of somebody who really didn’t want the fight in the first place It makes him wonder what kind of Mayweather will be there.
“I wonder if he’s going to show up,’’ said Roach, who says speed will win the fight. “I really do.’’
In the opposite corner, there is no doubt. For a couple of years, there have been questions about whether Pacquiao’s born-again faith softened his aggressiveness, knocked out a so-called killer instinct.
For Roach, that question is gone. He says he has the bruises to show for it from holding the mitts while Pacquiao pounded away at them and often through them, with a powerful impact throughout training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif.
For Pacquiao, it is back, perhaps like a faith he says he abandoned for a few years.
“The killer instinct, it’s back,’’ said the Filipino, who hasn’t scored a stoppage since Miguel Cotto in 2009. “It’s a good feeling.’’
Maybe an old-time feeling.
