Will Manny fight or not?

Three Filipino fighters are confirmed to compete at the AIBA World Men’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 7-19 and not one of them is named Manny Pacquiao. Booked to bid for tickets to Rio are flyweight Ian Clark Bautista, bantamweight Mario Fernandez and welterweight Eumir Marcial.

So far, two Filipino boxers have qualified for the Olympics - lightflyweight Rogen Ladon and lightweight Charly Suarez. Nesthy Petecio tried to qualify out of the AIBA World Women’s Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, this week but was bundled out in her first bout by Morocco’s Zohra Ez Zahraoui on a split decision.

ABAP executive director Ed Picson said yesterday Petecio’s loss was a heartbreaker particularly as one judge from Germany scored it a shutout for the Filipina, 40-35. The two other judges had it 38-all. Under AIBA rules, a judge must decide on a winner if a scorecard is even. The two judges from Argentina and Australia both voted for Zohra in the end.

“I spoke with Nesthy after the fight on the phone,” said Picson who stayed in Manila to attend to the male fighters training for Baku. “I was told it was a close fight and a lot of the spectators felt Nesthy should’ve won. But there’s nothing you can do. Nesthy should’ve dominated from the start. She’s our best boxer only she has difficulty with her diet. She’s had sessions with our nutritionist and psychologist. She doesn’t like to eat vegetables. She doesn’t eat healthy. I remember once, I gave her a cucumber to munch on so she doesn’t crave for junk food but she got nauseous. I heard the morning after she lost to Zohra, she had breakfast of rice and dried meat. Her tendency is to crash-diet when a competition is around the corner. (Coaching consultant) Dodong Donaire told me Nesthy looked like a tarsier with her eyes bulging before she left for Astana.”

At the 2012 London Olympics, the Philippines was represented by only one boxer Mark Anthony Barriga who is now out of the ABAP pool. So qualifying two for Rio is a 100 percent improvement. Still, Picson said the goal is to send four more - the three who’ll fight in Baku and Pacquiao.

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“I visited Manny at his Forbes home last week,” said Picson. “He wants to fight for the country and try to win our first Olympic gold medal but he’s not sure how our people will react. He’s even asking for a survey to guide his decision. I think it’s because since he was just voted and sworn in, he feels an obligation to start working as a Senator right away. If he fights in Rio, he’ll have to take off from the Senate to train then to go to the Olympics.”

Picson said Pacquiao isn’t worried about the competition. “He told me fighting for three rounds is easy because he’s used to fighting for 12 rounds,” said Picson. “But I told him it’s different in AIBA boxing. You could fight every other day for a period of two weeks and you have to make weight on the morning of every fight. Also, the fighters in the Olympics won’t be kids. Many of them will be veterans who’ve fought many years and who are experienced in the AIBA style. It will take some adjustment on Manny’s part to get used to the system. It won’t be a walk in the park.”

Picson said May 27 (today) is the deadline to submit entries for Baku. He would’ve preferred for Pacquiao to decide by today so AIBA president Dr. Ching Kuo Wu of Taipei could be advised. Dr. Wu invited Pacquiao to join the Olympics when they met at the AIBA World Championships in Qatar last October.

Picson said it’s likely that Pacquiao will be awarded a TIC (Tripartite Commission Invitation) spot to fight in Rio. The TIC is more popularly known as a wildcard ticket. AIBA will award five TIC slots in Rio for male boxers - one each for 56 kilograms, 60, 64, 69 and 75. If Pacquiao fights in Rio, he’ll compete in the lightwelterweight division with a weight limit of 64 kilograms (141 pounds).

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Picson said pros bidding to fight in Rio should qualify through the AIBA Pro Boxing (APB)/World Series of Boxing (WSB) next month, tentatively in Sofia, Bulgaria. But if Pacquiao is required to go through the qualifier, he’ll probably turn it down. “Dr. Wu didn’t promise a wildcard ticket outright but told us once Manny decides to fight in Rio, he’ll do his part to make it happen,” said Picson. “The first step is to get Manny to agree to fight. That’s the decision Dr. Wu is waiting for.”

Obviously, Pacquiao’s presence as a competitor in Rio will give credence to AIBA’s campaign to open its doors to pros. Last month, Picson said he spoke with Dr. Wu who disclosed that Ukrainian heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko phoned to express his intent to fight in Rio. The problem is a wildcard ticket is unavailable in the +91 kilogram division so there will be no free ride for Klitschko.

“Manny is concerned about what the people may think,” said Picson. “Personally, I think we, the people, love Manny for what he’s done and is doing for our country. There’s no money in the Olympics so Manny’s motivation to fight is strictly for our country, to bring honor to our nation. I don’t think his absences in Congress were an issue because he was voted to the Senate by a big majority. If he fights in Rio, it won’t be for himself, it’ll be for all of us. He’ll try his best to win our first-ever Olympic gold medal. Surely, that can’t be wrong. He knows if he fights, he must be in tip-top shape because the competition will be tough.”

Picson said Donaire will play a major role in getting the fighters ready for Rio. “I was at the training camp in Baguio the other day,” he said. “It’s important that our coaches open their minds to Dodong’s inputs. We brought in Dodong to fine-tune our fighters. He’s doing punch-mitts, demonstrating and even sparring with our fighters. Right now, it’s all hands on deck, everyone’s got to be on board. Dodong provides us with a fresh look and new techniques that could push us over the top. I’ve spoken with our coaches, particularly Boy Velasco. We want everyone on the same page, helping each other out. We’ve got a common goal – to qualify more fighters to Rio, then once we get to Rio, we’re going for gold.”