Pacific Rims author and Internet heartthrob Rafe Bartholomew joins us in the latest installment of Sparring Sessions, a series of interviews with pundits, bloggers, and boxing fans that discuss issues that affect Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxing, and combat sports in general, veering into topics that mainstream media rarely talk about. Rafe discusses Pacquiao’s foray into politics, Margarito’s surprising likability, and the distractions surrounding the Filipino champion’s camp.



Fire Quinito: Last year, you wrote an article for Slate.com saying that Manny Pacquiao winning would lead him to suffer the same fate as Robert Jaworski, whose reputation built on sports actually lost some of its shine after a lackluster stint in politics. Do you still feel that way?

Rafe Bartholomew: I think it's still too early to say exactly how Pacquiao's political career will affect his legacy in the Philippines. He hasn't done anything but give a privilege speech and help sponsor the Freddie Roach citizenship bill. (As an aside, the chance of Roach becoming a Philippine citizen rubs me the wrong way. There's a point to be made that his role in training Pacquiao to become the world's best fighter has brought a lot of honor to the Philippines, but Roach has earned millions of dollars for it, and that seems like enough. From what I understand, foreign sports figures like Norman Black, Tim Cone and Alex Compton are still not Philippine citizens, but legal residents. It's hard to argue that Roach, great as he is, deserves it more than any of them. And yes, I'm jealous that I still have to fix my own visa when I come in and out of the country.)

Anyway, back to politics. I encountered two schools of thought when it came to analyzing Jaworski's political career. Some said his public image dropped when he voted not to open the envelope in Erap's impeachment trial. Others said that his slippage was more general, that athlete politicians were not much different from showbiz politicians -- they won because of fame and popularity. Only with basketball players, people are used to seeing them on the court every week, while Bong Revilla only needs to make a Resiklo once or twice a year to maintain his fame. Boxing seems better suited to the political schedule, so perhaps Pacquiao could hang onto his fame by continuing to fight and win, but that may be easier said than done as he gets older. Also, Pacquiao is, for now, at least, a local politician. If he spends the next three years building his political machine in Sarangani, perhaps he won't need the spotlight as much anymore and could continue as a regular trapo. Lucky us!

So there are differences between Pacquiao's situation and Jaworski's. So far, I don't think that politics has damaged his reputation much. I think the chances of that happening are still greater than the chance of Pacquiao's political career improving his public image. Still, nothing would be as damaging as a loss in the ring, which sounds more possible against Margarito than it has in the past.

FQ: Is there any change in the pound-for-pound champ’s demeanor since he became the honorable gentleman from Sarangani? More assured, perhaps?

RB: It's borderline blasphemy to say this, but I think that the ever-humble Manny Pacquiao seems less humble than before. He's still generous and friendly with fans, but Pacquiao's joking response to the question about Margarito's supposed lack of awareness of his illegal hand wraps in episode one of HBO's 24/7 seemed like something he wouldn't have said in the past.



Now, I agree with Pacquiao's point: How could Margarito not feel the difference in his wraps? But Pacquiao used to be almost overly deferential to his opponents before shredding them in the ring. He's definitely not doing that this time. Is that because he's taking the fight less seriously? Is it because he's a congressman? Who knows.

FQ: Antonio Margarito looks like a character from an ultraviolent Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino film, and he’s actually training by chopping firewood like Rocky Balboa. Shouldn’t Pacquiao be more scared of him?

RB: You said it. Margarito might be the meanest-looking sumbitch in boxing. Brandon Rios's hilarious spiel in episode two of 24/7 hit it on the head -- looking at Margarito, it's hard to shake the feeling that he probably moonlights as a torture specialist for a Mexican drug lord like Chapo Guzman. Getting to know Margarito has been my favorite part of this latest installment of 24/7. He looks like he'd just be the stoic killer type with no personality, but the guy seems genuinely pretty funny and likable.



I think Pacquiao should be more scared of him than Josh Clottey, yes. It's hard to second-guess Pacman since he's been so consistently brilliant. But Margarito has a world-class chin and isn't going to cover up like Clottey did. He'll let Pacquiao hit him so that he can hit back. The question, I think, will be if Pacquiao's speed and power can be consistent enough to overwhelm Margarito like Mosley did, or if Margarito will gobble up Pacquiao's shots like he did Cotto's and then try to walk him down over the course of the fight.

FQ: Do you find the conflicting reports about the distractions during Pacquiao’s training camp a little overstated? Can the distractions actually be more distracting than, say, Jinkee raising hell over Ara Mina or Krista Ranillo?

RB: I think what you mean here is that the mainstream sports media is full of crap, and you're right. I don't expect the HBO team that has access to Pacquiao to understand the context around his history and the country to really pick up on your point, and the local journalists who would understand it don't have access and probably would never dream of reporting on it, lest they offend Pacquiao.

The distractions may not be much worse this time around, but Pacquiao's reaction to them has been different than in past training camps. Before, despite tsismis over this and that affair, he never seemed fazed in the gym. This time, judging by comments from Freddie Roach and Alex Ariza, he's not performing with the same level of concentration or commitment. Who knows precisely why? Maybe being P4P has gotten to his head. Maybe the distractions are getting to him. It could be anything. But Roach seems alarmed and Ariza seems freaked. He actually compared Manny's training in Baguio to the early scenes of Rocky III, before the Champ gets clobbered by Clubber Lang. If that isn't a kiss of death, I don't know what is. And, if Pacquiao does end up losing to Margarito, I only hope that the Rocky III thread gets played all the way out, with Manny rededicating himself to boxing, teaming up with Shane Mosley (the only man who can show Pacquiao how to defeat Margarito), and the two of them engaging in an epic bromance that culminates in them racing on a deserted beach in Zambales and then giving each other giant man-hugs.



FQ: What’s going to happen in the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight?

RB: I don't know. I think it's going to be Pacquiao's power versus Margarito's chin. Pacquiao shocked a lot of people, myself included, with the way he rocked Miguel Cotto. I thought he might win on points but that he wouldn't have Cotto either wobbly or running for most of the fight. If Margarito tastes a few shots and is surprised by how strong they are, he might clam up and Pacquiao can pick him apart. If Margarito eats a few punches and decides he can take them, then he'll look to wear Pacquiao down, and he might be able to do it. This is the scariest fight he's had since Marquez II, but I'm picking Pacquiao. If he hasn't lost in five years, then I'll stick with him until he does.

Rafe’s seminal book about Philippine basketball, Pacific Rims is still available at your favorite bookstores and on Amazon.com. You can follow him at his blog, on Twitter @Rafeboogs, and on Facebook.