Saturday, December 9, 2006
On Target: Manny Pacquiao
Filipino Ring Idol Manny Pacquiao is on top of the world at the moment and many are considering him to be the best pound-for-pound fighter today. He has won the admiration of the Filipino people and the respect of the boxing world, a far cry from the world of his humble beginnings from General Santos City, formerly known as Dadiangas, in the island of Mindanao, the Philippines.
Another product of the place is the original Bad Boy himself, Rolando Navarette, the former World Boxing Council (WBC) Junior Lightweight Champion in the 80’s whose career was cut short when he was incarcerated in Hawaii for rape and has since returned to GenSan and lived a life of controversy years after his ring exploits for a variety of reasons.
Anyway, I first saw Manny Pacquiao fight years ago on TV when as a reed- thin flyweight, he traveled to a remote area in Thailand to fight for a world title. I remember him as a lanky but spirited fighter who knocked-out cold the then reigning WBC champion Chatchai Sasakul in his turf, putting the outcome out of reach of the notorious hometown decision mafia which Thailand and another country, South Korea, are notorious for.
Back then, Pacquiao had already shown the promise and the swagger and bravado and the gift of boxing gab in his interview right after the fight with Quinito Henson, The Philippine Star’s Sports Columnist.
When asked about the punch that Sasakul landed on him that obviously staggered him a bit in the earlier rounds before he put the champion on the canvass, he replied without batting an eyelash, “Sinadya ko talaga iyon” or words to that effect. Wink*
After that I watched his rollercoaster journey into the world of pugilism; I saw him lose his title when he defended it unprepared and dehydrated, regain his confidence when he moved up in weight and fight a hodgepodge of patsies and tough ones in rapid succession as he continued to scale the boxing ladder until he took the fight on 10 days notice and took the IBF Bantamweight belt from Lehlo Ledwaba that eventually culminated in his dazzling one- man show and conquest of Marco Antonio Barrera, then one of the most highly- regarded boxers in the world until the whirlwind from across the Pacific that is Manny Pacquiao dropped him on the seat of his pants convincingly.
The Pacman devoured Lehlo Ledwaba of South Africa in the 6th Round for the IBF Super Bantamweight Belt to become a two- time champion.
Then the megabuck fight with Morales and the rest as they say, is history…
The Pacman, Ring Magazine’s Peoples Champion in the weight division, cold- bloodedly ended what was left of Erik Morales’ hope of winning the final chapter of their trilogy by terribly manhandling him in their third and final fight last November 18, 2006 before an evenly divided highly partisan crowd of more than 18,000 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada plus millions more who watched the fight from their TV sets all over the world. It was one of the biggest draws in the history of the lower weight divisions of boxing which just gives you an idea of how far this man has gone into the boxing sphere.
Erik “El Terrible” Morales, the proud Mexican legend on the twilight of his career proved no match to the younger and hungrier Pacman but nevertheless gave a very good account of himself as a fighter, which cannot be said though of another Mexican icon and bitter rival, Marco Antonio Barrera, who made a so-so performance in his last outing with Rocky Juarez. He showed the world why he was a three- division champion and one of the proudest and most accomplished boxers of our time. But the wear and tear of fighting so many great battles plus the fact that he hasobviously overgrown the Super Featherweight limit took its toll on the Mexican great. Still, Morales gained the respect of boxing fans and his peers for going down fighting which is the only way a gallant champion should do in his last and final fight as a Super Featherweight.
Manny Pacquiao, the southpaw with a never-say-die attitude and gifted with a very heavy “manos de piedras” with apologies to the great Roberto Duran of Panama, proved once again that he is the best super featherweight if not the best fighter pound-for-pound in the world today by virtue of his masterful demolition of the proud Aztec warrior from Tijuana, Mexico. He not only showed the vaunted power of his left hand but also the newly acquired power of his right fist as well as the blinding hand speed that baffled every opponent that he met in the ring. His defense have improved tremendously ever since Freddie Roach took him under his wings; his side-to- side movement is getting better fight after fight and his head- bobbing technique makes him an elusive target for everyone. His big heart is a given making him one of the most exciting prizefighters to watch today and a very lethal ring gladiator to tangle with.
The fight as in the first two installments of the Pacman- El Terrible Trilogy will always be remembered as the fitting end of what was one of the most exciting and highly anticipated fights in the lower weight divisions of the sport in history.
The savage fight in this present “ho-hum” world of prize fighting, where fights are being booed by fans for lack of action, really captured every boxing aficionados’ imagination of what a genuine super fight is all about - two proud warriors putting their careers, reputations and legacies on the line and slugging it out in the square ring like there is no tomorrow.
The fight was a classic by all means. It was not one of those “what happened in Vegas stays in Vegas” things for it is the fight that every boxing fan all over the world wanted to see. It was also the fight where the end of what has been an illustrious career for Mexico’s three-division champion and one of the most- loved boxing icon El Terrible became obvious, his camps’ pronouncements afterwards notwithstanding.
It’s a very rare gift for a fighter to have both power and speed in his arsenal and Pacman knows that by now. There is no stopping him now, he is destined for greatness, if and only if he can tame and conquer his inner self and be always wary of the vultures that lurk in the red light district of the sport.
As long as he continues his devotion towards the perfection of his craft, Pacman is on his way to being invincible. As long as he religiously sticks to his training regimen and heeds his trainers’ advice to a tee, nobody can stop him. He is right now the king of the square ring hands down.
At the moment, Manny Pacquiao only has two feasible options; he could retire at the top of his game and enjoy his earnings or continue gobbling up millions of dollars and stopping worthy challengers and insignificant pretenders in their tracks.
Everybody, from shameless opportunists to genuine supporters, wants to share a piece of the pie and the limelight with the Pacman and there is also no shortage of willing fighters out there who want to trade gloves with him and earn a fat paycheck in the process.
So what’s next for him?
He could fight WBC Super Featherweight Champion Marco Antonio Barrera in another multi-million fight and show him and the rest of the doubters that his win over him was no fluke by sending him to retirement this time.
He could again fight another Mexican by the name of Juan Manuel Marquez whom he once knocked down thrice in the first round but survived and had given him a scare as they ended up in a draw after 12 rounds of furious battle. He could settle the score and show the world who is the superior fighter between them.
He could fight Japan- based WBA Champion Edwin Valero of Venezuela, a hard-hitting slugger who pole-axed his way to a record 20 knockouts in his first 20 professional fights, 18 coming in the first round. It could be an exciting fight between two heavy-handed fighters.
He could fight another pretender or a clown like Joan “Little Tyson” Guzman of the Dominican Republic who called out to fight him. His record of being unbeaten in 26 fights, 17 coming via the short route is worthy of considerations though.
So, who’s next for him?
If the prize is right the best thing to do is, and I quote Freddie Roach, his American trainer par excellence,
“Line ‘em up.”
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