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PACMAN IN AMERICA -- PART ONE How Pacquiao Has Changed the North American Boxing Landscape By Pete Escobar PhilBoxing.com Mon, 11 Jun 2007  This is the first in a six part collection of regional anecdotes on how Manny Pacquiao has affected the North American boxing landscape and the Filipinos living in America. I have asked fellow Paclanders pound4pound1 of Southern California, BCngDC of Washington DC, Mod Chups of Northern California, Mirko of Florida and Swingman of Canada to write about their experiences on the subject matter. Minnesota Nice, the land of ten thousand lakes I have a group of guys I play poker with at my buddy John’s house on a regular basis. A collection of sports fans but more on the mainstream, basketball, football, hockey and baseball. The locals call Kevin Garnett “King” and Joe Mauer the “Prince in waiting“. Across the border, the fanaticism for all things green and gold makes for interesting Sundays during the football season. Every now and then, whenever the 'texas hold em' sessions coincide with a boxing event, I spot for the PPV fees, if there are any, so I wouldn’t miss out on the fights I wanted to see. The first time I heard of Manny Pacquiao was for the IBF super bantamweight crown on a Saturday poker night. As soon as I heard the words “late substitute” and “a few weeks notice“, the word that immediately came to my mind was 'patsy'. Lehlohonolo “Hands of Stone” Ledwaba was gaining respect from the boxing pundits and although I have never seen him fight, I have heard of his reputation as an excellent tactician. In Pacquiao’s corner, I see a familiar face in Freddie Roach. “At least he has a good trainer” I remember saying to myself. I laughed at Big George Foreman’s difficulty in pronouncing Manny’s last name as he butchered it several times. After two rounds, I excused myself from the table as Pacquiao had his opponent on the canvas hitting the hyped champion with bad intentions. An upset was in the making. After six rounds, I was on the same page with Larry Merchant, I have never heard of him, but I definitely wanted to see more. I saw Pacquiao fight Sanchez, Eliecer Julio, and Lucero with my Dad. Pacman fever has now two known cases in Minnesota. In late 2003, Manny was scheduled to fight the Mexican ring legend Marco Antonio Barrera. Manny Pacquiao was about to hit the lottery. I was a regular poster at some other boxing site at the time. In the afternoon, the day of the fight, I asked where would the people place Pacquiao in their P4P list if he happened to win against the mighty Barrera who was at that point consistently ranked in everyone’s top three pound for pound and some even had him on the top spot. Most of the responses I got were mixed with laughter and the people who did consider the question answered by saying it was dependent on how Pacquiao wins. A dominating performance earns him a spot in the top ten while a close decision will have him on the outside looking in. Fair enough. The mood at John’s house was of a pickpocket’s convention as we sized each other up and noted the placement of our wallets. John asked me if I wanted to throw down three large on Pacquiao as I told him about Manny’s past fights and the three to one betting odds in favor of Barrera. I politely declined telling him that I would never bet against Marco. A decision I would regret eleven rounds later. As we played poker waiting for the fight to start, I began to feel a slight nervousness that I would later on experience at the start of every Pacquiao fight. The group was nice enough to have the card game put on hold when the bell rang for the first round. The ease on how Manny won the fight was absolutely stunning. I kept waiting for Barrera to do something different, but the one sided beating continued until it was mercifully stopped by his corner. My friends called it a mismatch. Yes, they all liked Manny “Pakyao” but lost on them was the appreciation on who he’d just beaten! Nonetheless, Pacquiao had become a fan favorite within my circle of friends and everyone agreed that he was worth watching. The fights with Juan Manuel Marquez, the first with Erik Morales and Hector Velazquez was viewed by me and my Dad again. I thought Pacquiao vs. Marquez was going to give me a heart attack. How Marquez was able to fend off Manny for twelve rounds with a broken nose is a testament to his boxing genius and his undeniable champion’s heart. How he won most of the rounds after the first to earn a draw gave most of the boxing critics ammunition to call Pacquiao “one dimensional”. The controversies surrounding the first fight against Erik Morales were real issues in my opinion as Freddie Roach loudly complained about the choice of gloves and there were whispers that started right after the Barrera bout regarding how much money Manny was getting per fight. My father scored the fight for Manny in both matches with Marquez and Morales. Naturally, like any good son, I didn’t argue. Morales vs. Pacquiao II was an easy sell. If I paid for the PPV, no one objected in watching the fight. Besides, Pacquiao had now become a household name in at least ten homes this side of the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. And what a fight it was! Afterwards, John was asking to borrow my DVDs of past Pacquiao fights. Several months later, he called to invite me to a poker night to coincide with the final fight in the trilogy between Pacquiao and Morales. I told him I wasn’t going to be in the country and joked about how he was just looking for someone to pony up for the PPV. 
Erik Morales is being counted by referee Vick Drakulich as Pacquiao waits in a neutral corner in this gripping scene during the 3rd fight of the Pacquao-Morales trilogy. Photo by Dong Secuya. Top photo: Pacquiao batters Ledwaba to submittion to break into the American boxing scene. For the 'Grand Finale', I was in Bacolod city Philippines hurting in a bad way to see the fight live on TV and duped to attend a party later on during the day of the event. I saw the fight in a marketplace while malingering, waiting for the lechon and pancit we ordered to bring to the party. All the reports about how the country stops during Pacquiao fights are true and then some. I have never experienced anything like it in my life. I know of nothing that even comes close to comparing the emotions shared by the whole country brought on by a sporting event. On my first day back, I called John to ask his thoughts on how surprisingly Pacquiao made quick work of Morales. He called it a mismatch, and gloatingly told me that he had won a hundred bucks on a full house threes over tens on the same night. I laughed as I called him a river rat, then I hung up the phone. Pacman fever? My friends haven’t drank the kool aide yet. But hey, at least they paid for the fight. It’s a start. To be continued ... Click here to view a list of other articles written by Pete Escobar.  |
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