Wakeup Call: This area closed … Manny Pacquiao abstains from sex for three weeks before a fight

Fun Manny Pacquiao facts: He once beat Lady Gaga … in the ratings (one of his fights was up against her HBO special). When he began his boxing career, his hero was Bruce Lee. When he trains for a fight, he runs 10 miles per day. Another training regimen: no sex for three weeks.

Yep, Pacquiao, like many fighters, believes that sex weakens a fighter, robbing testosterone and making him meeker. Some fighters abstain for a day or two before bouts, but like most things, Pacquiao totally commits. It’s all in the piece on the fighter in the Nov. issue of Playboy.

Believing the old adage that sex saps strength, Pacquiao follows a strict no-[wife] policy during training. “We’ve talked to doctors about it,” [trainer Freddie] Roach says. “Sex lowers your testosterone, so you’re not as mean.” Most boxers abstain for a week or more before a bout. “I ask my guys for 10 days,” Roach says. Of course Pacquiao beats the others even when it comes to abstinence. He stays chaste for 21 days before a bout, husbanding his energies for postfight festivities.

But one of the most surprising things about Kevin Cook’s article is the way he unabashedly goes after Floyd Mayweather.

Mayweather worries that Pacquiao will ruin his perfect 41–0 record, if not his ribs and jaw. Why else would Floyd “Money” Mayweather turn down the biggest payday in sports history?

“I’m the best ever, and I fight only the best,” Mayweather told me. He was getting a facial at the time, talking big while a Vegas beautician thumbed his zits. … “Pacquiao’s a southpaw, unorthodox,” he went on. “He can punch, but I’m more precise. I’ll fight Pacquiao and I’ll beat him.”

That was two years ago, and Mayweather has been ducking his Manny-fist destiny ever since. Maybe he’s afraid he’ll lay an egg.

Or maybe Mayweather is afraid that no-sex thing really works.

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ABOUT LAST NIGHT

Moss Man still on the loose …

• Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden throws and interception and is caught for a safety on the same play. Well, at least he didn’t fumble.

• Well, if the Dolphins aren’t going to tackle Shonn Greene, this ref will try.

• Fake shooting your teammate in the head? Not the best idea for a goal celebration.

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TODAY IN MARK TRAIL …

We’ll return to Condescending Toward Women Theater after these messages …