The Wild Card draws aspiring fighters, and actors who think they're fighters. They train together democratically, but when Pacquiao arrives the gym is his alone.
"I started this because I thought you never know when the next Muhammad Ali is going to walk through the door," Roach said. "Next thing I know, here comes Manny Pacquiao."
Their time together is inevitably drawing to a close, because no fighter escapes the ravages of age. Just like Mayweather no longer seems to have the legs to stay away from an opponent for 12 rounds, Pacquiao showed in recent fights that he might be becoming beatable, too.
He'll make millions to fight the unbeaten Bradley, though he knows it's not the fight fans really want to see. Not much he can do about that, Pacquiao says, as long as Mayweather insists on getting the lion's share of the purse when they should be splitting it equally.
"If he wants to fight it's up to him," Pacquiao said. "I'm ready to fight."
No doubt, because Pacquiao always seems to be up for a good fight.
The real question now is how much longer he will fight.
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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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