Has Father Time caught up with Manny Pacquiao?

By Josef T. Ramos, The Manila Times, Philippines (TNS)

Tuesday, July 4, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Is this the perfect time for Manny Pacquiao to hang up his gloves?

Boxing analyst Ed Tolentino won't be surprised if the 38-year old Filipino ring icon will go for the rematch against Jeff Horn, who was just crowned the new World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion after dethroning Pacquiao on Sunday via unanimous decision.

But can the eight-division world champion rediscover his old self and prove that he's still relevant in today's boxing?

"Can he (Pacquiao) commit himself totally to the sport? Pacquiao has done enough and has nothing more to prove," Tolentino said Sunday at the aftermath of Horn's controversial victory in front of his countrymen in Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.

"I thought he did enough to win and it's clear that the 38-year-old Pacquiao's over 20 years of fighting have caught up with him," he added.

Waleska Roldan scored 117-111 while Chris Flores and Ramon Cerdan both saw it 115-113 all in favor of Horn. The Aussie boxer got the nod of the three judges despite Pacquiao landing more power punches, 123-73, according to ESPN's punch stats.

The fighting senator started slow in the title match witnessed by more than 50,000 boxing fans as Horn dictated the tempo in the early rounds.

But Pacquiao recovered in the latter rounds and almost knocked out Horn in the ninth round before he was saved by the bell.

"Manny was flatfooted and couldn't find rhythm on his punches. He was cut on both eyes. This is father time speaking," Tolentino explained.

Pacquiao fell to 59-7-2 (win-loss-draw) while the 29-year old Horn improved to 17-0-1.

Top Rank Promotion chief Bob Arum was satisfied with the performance of the two fighters in the title bout dubbed as "Battle of Brisbane."

"Horn fought a great fight and the judges decided in his favor. Some of the people watching thought Manny won but it was a very close fight and a good fight," said Arum.

Disappointed fans

In the Philippines, many fans were disappointed with the loss.

"It was a close fight. This is not the old Pacquiao who was fast and threw those power punches. It is time for him to retire," said the editor of Angono Rizal News Online.

"If you look at the stats, Manny got robbed. Stats don't lie," said Latrell del Rosario, a student from Centro Escolar University.

"Our 'Pambansang Kamao' has slowed down. He still shows a good form inside the ring, but it is just that his opponent doesn't play fair," said a local government employee who asked not to be identified.

"Pacquiao only had three weeks of training. I have a feeling he was cheated. His opponent played dirty," said a law student from the University of Santo Tomas.