As the nation continues to ponder over what went possibly wrong in Manny Pacquiao’s fourth fight with archrival Juan Manuel Marquez, there is no denying that the Mexican deserves credit for working hard for the win and devoted at least four months of training for the fight.

Two things were very obvious prior to the fight—Marquez trained like a man possessed, while Pacquiao stepped up his training only a few weeks before the fight. It was like a student cramming for a major examination.

Marquez even employed “new school” strength training techniques that the Pacquiao camp discounted when it came to increasing the punching power of the Mexican. When fight night came, it was obvious that Marquez finally had the power to send the Filipino to dreamland (unlike in the past fights).

Nonetheless, Pacquiao still gave his best and even landed more punches (92 versus the 56 of Marquez) prior to eating the death punch of the Mexican.

Now the Pacman has to make a decision—to retire or continue working as a boxer.

We in The Times are still in two minds about what we think is best for him. Unless his brain was damaged and the US hospital’s report about the CT scan of his head was a mistake, there is nothing wrong with Manny Pacquiao. He is still young, and will be only 34 next Monday. Marquez is 39. If the Mexican can still bring down the PacMan, how much more can Pacman continue to be the world best pugilist? But this can only be if he stops being an unfocused amateur and returns to the rigorously disciplined way of the true ring warrior.

Those who think he should retire—including his mother, his wife and, reportedly, his constituency—believe that at this point, Pacquiao has done enough for the sport and continues to be the only boxer to win eight division titles. He also achieved enviable fame in the sport usually reserved for Latinos, African-Americans and white Americans.

While Marquez can boast that he is the only man to knock out Pacquiao on a major stage, the Mexican’s overall body of work in the sport still pales in comparison to the Filipino. Marquez has beaten only two future Hall of Fame inductees: Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera.

On the other hand, Pacquiao has beaten then future inductees Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar dela Hoya, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto.

Also, there are lots of great boxers who hit the canvas but were eventually venerated to be among the greatest: Joe Louis (stopped by Rock Marciano); Mike Tyson (decked by Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis); George Foreman (stopped by Muhammad Ali); and even dela Hoya (career ended by Pacquiao himself), among others.

It is also no surprise that Louis is usually ranked higher in the list of all-time boxing greats than Marciano even if Marciano knocked out Louis in their only fight.

But if Pacquiao wishes to go on fighting, and insists on meeting Marquez a fifth time, he should get his camp in order and train, and live as a full-time boxer.

He simply has to stop being a truant congressman (his neglect of his job as a lawmaker is more disgraceful than his defeat by Marquez), a Protestant pastor and an apostate Catholic who gives his mother a heartache, a pop singer, TV personality, a nouveau riche caricature, and whatever else he is.

But he must not stop being generous to the needy.

Plyometrics training program
Perhaps one of the few things that were very wrong with the latest training camp of Pacquiao was his lack of a plyometrics training program, the same that Marquez employed to develop his physique and punching power.

Is it true as bruited about that there were intramurals between Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and his conditioning coach Alex Ariza?

Also, the two-month training he devoted to fight Marquez a fourth time paled in comparison to the time, intensity and focus he used to give before each fight—especially when he was scheduled to face dela Hoya.

He must realize is staying on top of the game—or specifically preserving his status as being the first or second best pound-for-pound boxer in the world—deserves 101-percent dedication.

And if he wants to face Marquez a fifth time, he must devote at least six months of intense and focused training, because for sure, the Mexican will train equally hard just to make sure that the Filipino doesn’t get his sweet revenge.

Sycophantic media
If there is one group also to blame for Pacquiao’s shocking loss (besides the hanger-ons and useless members of his official entourage), it is the media that formed part of his circus in fights in the US mainland. A close scrutiny of all the reports by Filipino mediamen from the United States prior to the fight shows that no one honestly reported that something was amiss. Like sycophants to a feared dictator, they all said there was absolutely nothing wrong with Pacquiao’s preparations, even when in fact it was very clear that he was way behind in training compared to Marquez.

All those rosy reports must have made Pacquiao believe that he was superman.

It’s not yet too late for Pacquiao to redeem himself because at 34 years old, he still has two to three more fighting years, and a chance to avenge his loss to Marquez.

But if Pacquiao couldn’t devote his full attention to becoming the great boxer that he was before, and put his camp in order, he might as well hang up his gloves before he racks up more losses.