By Norm Frauenheim-
They call him Senator these days. The hope is that they can call him Senator Champ in about 10 days. Manny Pacquiao is seeking what is believed to be an unprecedented combo.
Senators get called a lot of things and as — Donald Trump keeps proving at an ad nauseam pace – most are a lot more insulting than honorable. But even a Filipino version Trump might have to use the double honorific when addressing Pacquiao if he beats Jessie Vargas on Nov. 5 at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack for the WBO’s welterweight title.
Titles of every kind are nothing new to Pacquiao, who has already been a Filipino Congressman. He also jumped from Command Sergeant Major to Lieutenant Colonel in his nation’s military reserve.
The leap in rank from enlisted to officer had to have been something of a battlefield promotion. Pacquiao’s battlefield has always been the ring. Eight world titles on that front have been the storyline and the propellant in his phenomenal rise from impoverished street kid to high political office.
It’s hard to even hazard a guess as to where it will all lead. There have been times when even the Filipino presidency has been mentioned as a Pacquiao possibility. For now, it’s just safe say it depends on how the 37-year-old Pacquiao fares against an improving Vargas, who is a decade younger and appears to be more dangerous than the 9-to-1 odds against him suggest.
Throughout the buildup for a pay-per-view fight that Top Rank will telecast, much of the talk has been about Pacquiao’s job as one of 24 Filipino Senators. The questions are there, of course, because there is nobody in any Senate like Pacquiao.
“Manny has always been a busy person but because of the Senate he seems to be a lot more serious than anything else he has done,’’ Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said during a conference call this week when asked about how training went while their camp was still in the Philippines. “He is in Senate sessions on some nights until 7:30 or 8:00 at night and, when he is done, we go right to the gym.’’
There was no distraction, Pacquiao said when repeatedly asked the inevitable question. There was only time management and the discipline to sustain it.
“The most difficult part of training in the past has always been when I do a bad job of managing my time,’’ Pacquiao said. “This time I managed my time and disciplined myself from going to my work to my training and that’s what I did in the Philippines. I don’t have any time to spend with my friends – just time for hard work.’’
The real answer, of course, won’t be there until opening bell. That’s when we’ll know if a full-time Senator can still be a full-time fighter.
To be sure, Pacquiao has been busy with a legislative agenda and issues that have confronted his country.
“Right now I am pushing for the establishment of a boxing commission in the Philippines,’’ he said.
He added that he is “also sponsoring the restoration of the death penalty.”
Then, there is the Philippines new president, Rodrigo Duterte, who has begun to generate some Trump-like controversy. Duterte told U.S. President Barack Obama that he “could go to hell” after Obama’s criticism of his push for draconian penalties for drug pushers.
Duterte also went to China and Japan, saying he wants to split with the U.S., a longtime ally. Then, Pacquiao landed in Los Angeles for the final stretch of training. Yeah, that question was inevitable, too.
“He has clarified everything about the relationship between the United States and the Philippines and it is a healthy relationship,’’ Pacquiao said when asked about Duterte early in the conference call. “We all respect his statement and he clarified it already.
“The bond between the United States and the Philippines is one of longstanding and there is a great kinship between the people of our two countries.’’
Pacquiao’s career has always been about multi-tasking. But tasks outside of the ring have gotten a lot bigger since the days when basketball and karaoke were the potential distractions.
He’s older now, which means wisdom and more discipline, yet also potential erosion in the physical qualities that have made the legend. We know about the power outage. He hasn’t scored a stoppage since 2009. That might be because he’s at 147 pounds instead of a more natural 140. But time is an inescapable factor.
He is a young Senator. But is he an old fighter? Against Vargas, we’ll find out.
