WASHINGTON, D.C.: Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao’s planned return in the ring by the third quarter of the year looks in serious jeopardy as two respected Filipino neurologists raised serious doubts about his fitness to fight again, a negative prognosis which gained widespread attention in the United States.

Neurologists Rustico Jimenez and Racquel Fortun have suggested in separate media interviews in Manila that Pacquiao would be at grave risk if he decides to return to the ring because of what they considered the serious damage he has absorbed from fighting, particularly in his brutal one-punch knockout loss at the hands of Mexican rival Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez which rendered him unconscious.

Jimenez, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, said he has seen “early signs of Parkinson’s disease” in Pacquiao, particularly his stuttering and shaking of the hands—the telltale signs of Parkinson’s disease, the same affliction suffered by boxing great Muhammad Ali and Pacquiao’s famous trainer Freddie Roach.

Pacquiao, who is currently vacationing with his family in Israel, was aghast at the reports and insisted it is him who knows if he is fit or not to return to prizefighting.

“There is nothing to be worried about. I am 100 percent healthy and right now I’m enjoying this memorable vacation with my family in this beautiful country of Israel,” Pacquiao was quoted by the boxing website BoxingScene.com.

“I will return to the Philippines on January 14 and in early February I want to get to the gym because I want to have a fight in April and in September I want the fifth fight with Mar- quez,” stressed Pacquiao, who called the doctors’ assertions irresponsible.

“The statements by the doctors show a total lack of ethics and it was irresponsible [for them to say this]. This was just personal opinion and there were no medical tests.”

Already, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended Pacquiao for four months which prevent him from as much as going to the gym or get involved in contact training until after April, as a precaution from his crushing knockout in which he fell face first to the canvas and was unmoving for almost two minutes.

All of Pacquiao’s last 14 big-money fights were held in the US, and any doubts about his fitness to resume fighting could prevent him from getting a license to fight again in America.

Fortun, a respected forensics expert, had earlier said she is not convinced with the CT scan results clearing Pacquiao following his knockout loss to Marquez.

Fortun warned that severe head trauma suffered by boxers and other athletes involved in contact sports could lead to Alzheimer’s disease or a form of dementia that worsens over time.

She observed that the brutal punch that hit Pacquiao was like a double whammy: when he walked right into Marquez’ solid right hand to the jaw and when PacMan fell face down in a heap.

“Delikado yun. Pag naalog yung utak mo kasi . . . May mga small hemorrhages ka, [That’s dangerous. When the brain is shaken that badly, there could be small hemorrhages],” Fortun said.

She said a severe blow to the head could damage the membrane that surrounds the brain, which could in turn lead to “subdural hematoma,” or the collection of blood in the space between the outer and middle layers of the covering of the brain.

The legendary Roberto Duran, a five-division world champion and considered the best lightweight boxer ever, did not fight for one-and-a-half years after being knockout in the second round by Thomas Hearns in their June 1984 light middleweight world title fight in at the Ceasar’s Palace Las Vegas refereed by Carlos Padilla Jr.

When he did return to the ring, Duran literally fought two patsies in succession just to get back his confidence, and it took him almost five years to get a title shot, which he won by unanimous decision against Iran Barkley on February 24, 1989 to snatch Barkey’s World Boxing Council middleweight crown by split decision in Atlantic City.

In the face of perceived dangers to his health, can Pacquiao do better than Duran, who by the way did not suffer as brutal a KO as PacMan did?