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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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PINOY POWER AND PINOY PRIDE? EAST COAST STYLE PhilBoxing.com Fri, 21 Oct 2011  NEW YORK -- I have always been envious of the Filipinos in the West Coast, particularly those in the Golden State. They were the first ones that get a taste of what reminds me of the Philippines. From food, fashion and entertainment, the West Coast gets it initially. The popular restaurants and unique fast food joints that I frequent at growing up in the Philippines like Jollibee, Chowking, Max's and Goldilocks all found its way to California first then to its neighboring states, all in the West Coast. The Filipino Channel started its operations in California and they were the first homes to get their news and TV shows straight from its mother studio, ABS-CBN in Manila. And as a boxing fan, I think of what could have been if the late Rod Nazario brought Manny Pacquiao to New York instead of San Francisco first. What if he first ventured in say, the Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn instead of the Wild Card Gym in L.A.? We all here in the East Coast will have the pleasure of seeing Manny jog in Central Park instead of Griffith Park during fight camp. But that's all wishful thinking. Because of their proximity to the Philippines and because the largest population of Filipinos can be found there, they were the ones that take a bite of the things that reminds us of home. When Manny Pacquiao became the face of boxing and the Philippines as well, we make our biannual trek mostly in Las Vegas to watch his fights. We not only watch his fights but also enjoy what the West Coast has to offer that we surely miss here. Jollibee's first store in the East opened only in 2009 in Queens. Max's opened its door in Jersey City only last year. We still do not have Goldilocks and/or Chowking. We shop at Seafood City for products that can't be found here. Pacquiao or the show girls of Vegas aren't the only ones we feast our eyes on when we get to Sin City. Manny Pacquiao will never fight here in New York because of the taxes they charged here. Arum himself said, "Pacquiao will never talk to me, if I bring that idea to him." Las Vegas and Texas where he fought twice are tax free states. Eight percent of 20 million dollars, which is what is guaranteed Pacquiao on his forthcoming fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, is a heck lot of money. That is why Las Vegas, besides its attractions and its aggregate of hotel chains attract the biggest fights of recent times, including Pacquiao. We will never see Pacquiao fight in the mecca of boxing, the Madison Square Garden. But we will see Nonito Donaire though. When I was in Dallas for the Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito bout in 2010, I chanced upon Nonito at the Gaylord Texan the night before the fight. I asked him, "Will you ever fight in the East Coast? We will support you there." He just smiled. He does not have an answer for me then. He is about to face Volodymyr Syderenko less than a month in his home state of California. He just nodded and said, "Maybe, maybe." That came close to fruition last May. Talks are he will fight alongside Philly boxer Mike Jones in Atlantic City. But that soon fizzled out after his much publicized disagreement with Top Rank. And here we are in the autumn of 2011, just a day before Donaire Jr.'s stint in the Big Apple. Top Rank brings him here for the first time after they settled what they described as a "misunderstanding." Here is the number 4 best pound for pound fighter in the world. Here is the second best Philippine boxer of our present time, headlining an event in front of the eyes of my family and friends in our own backyard. Here is a fighter who because of his talents and skills is primed for great things to come and he is going to display it come Saturday night in a ring in the middle of Manhattan. When I cover fights here in the East Coast I smile when I see a big ethnic audience show up for their respective countrymen and fighters. The Puerto Ricans arrive in force to watch Miguel Cotto fight during the Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend here in the city. The Polish people turn the Prudential Center into red and white every time Tomasz Adamek fights there. I wonder in the back of my mind, if I will see the same scenario if a Filipino fighter fights here. I dream to see the same atmosphere of a Pacquiao fight happening in the Tri State area. The colors of red, white, blue and yellow will be a pleasure to see at MSG. Indeed the images of the Three Stars and the Sun will be a sight to behold in Atlantic City. I dream of that day as fan of the sport and as a Filipino in the East Coast. That moment is now my "kababayans" in the East Coast and beyond. Boxing is our sport. Yes Pacquiao opened the door for Filipino boxers in this decade, but we have excelled at this sport even before Pacquiao. Pancho Villa, Gabriel "Flash" Elorde, Ceferino Garcia, Rolando Navarette, Luisito Espinoza are just some of our world champions before Pacquiao. Five out of the nine medals we won in the Olympics are from boxing. Boxing is indeed seeing its glory days in the Philippines as there is a major event being held every month. This is our source of national pride. Our champs are our sporting and cultural heroes. Nonito Donaire complements the great Manny Pacquiao as we have a pair of the best in the world as our own. We go into discussions comparing them two, but all of them are for naught. They are two different men with two different stories to tell and two different paths to success. They share though, the same race and color that we ourselves possess. They share our culture, our food, our entertainment and our sport. Two of the best of the sport are Filipinos like us. Pacquiao and Donaire represent the best in us. They like us persevere, perspire and sacrifice in order to give the best in what we do. This is our trait. We value industry, humility and success. We appreciate diligence, hard work and sacrifice. We dream of success and we work for it. Their success is our pride. So today at the weigh-in at the Affinia Hotel and tomorrow night at the Theatre of the Madison Square Garden, let us not only show our support to one of our own but also display our heritage. Let us don our jackets, our shirts, our hats and shoes that exhibits our being uniquely Filipino. Yes, the pasalubongs that we asked our relatives and friends when they come visit or return from the homeland. Let us wave our flags, big and small as we walked the streets of Manhattan. Let us stand tall and sing proud when Tiffany Viray leads us in the singing of our Lupang Hinirang. Believe me? it will give you goose bumps. Let us be proud of our heritage, our race, our skin. Let us be proud of our sport, our fighter and our countryman tomorrow night. Let us represent our homeland in the greatest city in the world this Saturday. Yes, this is PINOY POWER and PINOY PRIDE? East Coast style. You can reach Rich Mazon for any comments or reactions at rrmaze24@aol.com regarding this piece. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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