Steward Predicts Pac-Man’s Demise
By Robert Ecksel January 9th, 2007Manny Steward gives Pacquiao two years on top
Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward predicts that pound-for-pounder Manny Pacquiao will stay at the top of boxing’s heap for another two years before the deterioration of his skills begins.
“I give him 24 months before the intensity starts fading for him,â€? Steward told the Manila Bulletin. “He is so incredibly exciting. He is going to make a lot of money, no doubt about that. He is always exciting and he will leave his legacy in the ring. He is making his mark. But it’s his face-first style that will shorten his boxing career.
“That type of fighter, well, they seldom go past age 30. That type of guy does not age well.”
Steward has a point. Pacquaio’s blood and guts, do or die style, which makes him the “most exciting fighter in the world,� according to HBO’s wise man Larry Merchant, also makes him vulnerable to getting hit, never a good thing for any pro, no matter how offensive-minded or resilient he might be.
That said, maybe the tradeoff is worth it, when one considers all the fistic thrills Pac-Man has already given us, and is likely to give us during the next two years, before the inevitable slide, which Steward predicts, begins.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:51 am
2 years??? To me that sounds about right, if PacMan wants to come out the sport in good health and not be in the long run and end up with mental defects, speech impedements, or overall bad health. Im not sure but didnt PacMan say he only to be sport for like 3 more yrs??? And if Steward is right, it will be 2 yrs of exciting fights and a great treat to the sport to have Manny fight the big fights and being able to witness a fighter with his attitude and destructiveness in the ring.
January 9th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
I think the Pacquiao’s seemingly hectic life outside the ring will derail him before anything catches up to him inside the ring. Arum and Golden Boy are going to go to war over Pacquiao, which is going to keep him sidelined for months and months.
There is always some sort of drama emerging from the Phillipines when it comes to Pacquiao. I think boxing saves Manny from himself. If he had to sit around for a year or more waiting to fight, I’m sure his idle hands could make for plenty of trouble outside the ring.
January 9th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
If he sticks to average competition and throws in one big fight this year I’ll say two years is about right but if he chooses to face top opponents with heavy hands(Edwin Valero, Rocky Juarez) and slick punchers(Joan Guzman, Juan Diaz) right from the open then I give him a year. It seems he’s taking the lighter competition from what I hear he’s lining up a fight with Injin Chi hope he decides against it and fights Valero instead.
January 9th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I think Champeen is partially right talking about Pacquiao’s life outside the ring, but lets not forget that already threatened him before, when he was preparing for the Larios fight, trainer Freddie Roach had to go hunt him down and practically force him to train. At that time it didnt seem to have much of an affect on Pacquao’s performance in the ring, he dominated almost all rounds but one. He looked great in that fight, I think ultimately it will be a combination of both, his face-first style and his outside-the-ring party life. I give him about 2 1/2 more years before he starts to let us down in his performances.
January 9th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Pacquiao keeps himself in great condition when he is not fighting.Stylewise, 2 years at tops is for Ricky Hatton. 2-4 maybe 5 years for Pacquaio. In my opinion.
January 9th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Manny likes fighting only the ones he knows he can beat or have already beaten, When Marco Barrera and Eric Morales were Manny age they were Fighting NOTHING but the Toughest and Best, Manny should fight Guzman, Juarez, Barrios, Valero, Raheem, Mosquera but it looks like his taking on the UNKNOWNS or waiting for the Old Legends to get OLDER,What a WUZZ and they call him the Top p4p, Manny, Mayweather and Jermaine Taylor are Nothing but made p4p sissy’s and little by little the whole Boxing World will is taking note of there FRADULENT p4p status, Is really funny how the top three made up P4P are fighting fighters they pick to make them look good, they need to get a ^$%^$%^ Life.
January 10th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Top rank will be the demise of Manny. Manny is surrounded by so many leeches, it’s terrible. Arum isn’t looking out for the best interest of Manny or the boxing fans. In his own words, Arum stated recently that “he’s a businness man.” In the ring, I think it’s reasonable to say that we will no longer see any pacman fights go the distance. Either he ’s gonna knock out his opponent, or he’s gonna get knocked out. Might sound like a dumb statement, but look at the strategy he used in his last outting… that might be a precurser of things to come. If Arum lines up a list of opponents, like he did recently, the next few fights will be fights that shouldn’t even be on payperview! It would be a shame if Manny goes off into the sunset having his last fights of his career be against competition that his fans don’t want to see!
January 10th, 2007 at 9:48 am
YOU BET!! LIVE BY THE SWORD…. DIE BY THE SWORD….
January 10th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Steward is a fool. He ate his word being biased against PAC and he ate it again. Too bad for him. His stupid mouth should shut up and he should concentrate on making his mediocre Taylor KO smaller guys like Ouma. Either that or he should just shut up.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:54 am
2 years? maybe… but the more urgent thing that the boxing world should be concerned about is the fiasco that the pacman has created with himself… well… maybe because the pacman has been fed up with tons of wrong if not malicious information by the leeches (if i may borrow the word of MannyPacUup) surrounding him… 2 years, 3 years or 5 years? does it matter if pacman cannot anymore step into the ring because of the current mess? the answer is obvious…. pacman should fire his lawyer for not doing his job… there are only two reasons why atty. Gacal failed to properly advice the pacman… vested interest & incompetence.
January 12th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Pacman has already earned enough money for himself, it’s not a question of how long he can still fight in top condition but how he takes care of himself so he gets to enjoy the fruit of his labor with the ones he love. I’ve seen so many of his fights even when he was still in the flyweight ranks. the man’s a gladiator, he went up the ladder as one, he will go down as one. after all is said and done about his glorious cnquests, father time will be the final judge. Stewart is simply expressing opinion on what he has seen through his own eyes.all i can hope for is that pacman doesnt get hurt that bad in his twilight years, for his mother’s sake.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
I think that his style and fast pace will permit him to be at his PEAK, as he is now, for about 2 years, however I also think that Manny will be in the game untill he feels he wants to go. He is a fighter. He can go whenever he wants though, no doubt. I mean the guy has become an icon of his country and will always be famous, recognized, and probably wealthy for a looong time after he leaves the ring.
January 29th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
They should BANNED fighters like Manny, Pbf and Jermaine Taylor for not fighting the real tough Fighters instead of PICKIN fighters they know are easy, old, and slow, especially OLD, instead of been the top p4p they should be label the top SISSY’S of Boxing. Pbf is fighting THE BEST WARRIOR EVER “OSCAR DE LA HOYA” knowing full well that all he has to do is RUN ALL THE 12 rounds and the Judges will give him the UD.