Silvio Berlusconi’s trainer has admitted that he is not yet ready for his long-awaited match-up against pound-for-pound boxing king Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, after the Italian suffered a one-shot knockout in front of a home crowd in Milan on Sunday night.

The well-groomed PM-cum-pugilist was caught off-guard by 42-year-old opponent Massimo Tartaglia while distracted by adoring fans. The showboating appears to have cost Berlusconi, with spectators saying he went down like a bin bag of Napolitan potato peelings.

The humiliating knockdown casts doubt on a trumpeted fight against seven-weight champion Pacquiao. Boxing commentator and former heavyweight title-holder Lennox Lewis said: ”No-one can question Silvio’s heart, but there are serious questions about the strength of his chin, not to mention his nose and teeth.”

Berlusconi’s corner wasted no time in pulling him away from his tormentor, not waiting for a second blow before throwing in the towel. Only his wife tried to stop them. Media speculation suggests she is happy that her estranged husband will now be receiving less female attention owing to his bruised visage. Italy may be on the brink of constitutional crisis, however, as it appears to have shut down the country’s main avenue for recruiting prospective parliamentary candidates.

‘Pretty Boy’ Berlusconi is no stranger to the plastic surgeon’s knife, having undergone procedures for hair plugs, botox and breast reduction, and he won’t be fazed by the prospect of facial reconstruction surgery. More galling will be the public dressing-down he received from the man known to many as ‘Madman’ Massimo, thanks to his tragic history of psychiatric conditions.

Though the bout was immediately called in favour of Tartaglia, his apparent use of a weapon to deliver the knockout blow was criticised by some. Observers called his wielding of an alabaster model of Milan’s Duomo cathedral ”dastardly”, “dishonest” and “downright allegorical”. Rumours of a pre-fight blessing by Pope Benedict XVI have yet to be confirmed.