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Philippines, 30 Apr 2024 |
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The Scene Around: The Longing in Diaz?s Heart By Ed Picson PhilBoxing.com Fri, 27 Jun 2008  David Diaz has his work cut out for him. He realizes even though he is the champion going into the fight Sunday, he is the underdog and Manny Pacquiao, his opponent, is the star of the show. That is, unless he steals the pacman?s thunder when the bell rings. For any which way you look at it, it seems Diaz is in for a licking. Factor in experience (as in quality of previous opponents), power, speed, skill and all these point to a breeze for the Filipino champ. The Mexican-American?s claim to fame, aside from his being the current WBC Lightweight champion, was a sterling amateur career (75W, 16L) which led him to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 as part of the U.S. national team. His only professional loss was to Kendal Holt, who stopped him in the eighth round of their 2005 bout. He is however known as a plodder, who has gained a reputation for being at his best when things don?t seem to be going his way. He earned the interim championship coming from behind (he was down on all three judges? scorecards) and eventually knocking out Armando Sta. Cruz in the tenth. In his biggest fight against two-time Pacquiao victim Erik Morales, he was dropped by the former champion in the first round, but was able to work his way up to a unanimous decision victory. The last time he fought was in the undercard of Manny?s fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. His opponent was erstwhile Pacquiao sparring partner Ramon Montano, and it was all I could do to keep from falling asleep. He had a hard time against the relatively unknown Montano and his unanimous decision win was unimpressive, to say the least. The foregoing notwithstanding, it would be foolhardy for the Pacman to dwell on the points stated above. There was a time when Manny Pacquiao was in Diaz?s shoes. And we have often quoted Manny?s desire which he revealed to us before his last fight, that he wanted to ?feel the hunger again?, an attempt to bring up the motivation he had when he was just starting to climb the stairway to fortune and fame. Evidently, reaching superstar status has taken away some of the oomph necessary for Pacquiao to ratchet up his brand of ring mayhem that bewildered and inundated many of his earlier victims. Understandably, Manny is having difficulty summoning the old fire in the belly. He has achieved so much so unexpectedly that beyond the training and the physical conditioning and the fight strategies, motivation and hunger are becoming hard to come by. Diaz has no such problems. He knows he is the underdog, he realizes many have written him off even before the ink in the contract dried and he is aware people are putting money on when he is expected to fall rather than betting on the winner. Even better, he knows this is his chance of a lifetime. This is the reason why he trained hard and long, under the watchful eyes of a septuagenarian trainer, Jim Strickland, who has seen them all. Diaz has the motivation factor on his side. Of course, being the first Asian to win four championships in different divisions would be a feather in Manny?s cap, but it pales in comparison to the longing in Diaz?s heart. Will this be enough to turn it around for the Chicago boy? Unfortunately, what we?ll have this Sunday is a prizefight. Not a telenovela. Then again, we?ve seen stranger things happen. ***** For the second time, I will be doing a parallel broadcast of the fight for Smartlink Voicemate, the value-added service for seafarers offered by telecom giant Smart Communications. We will be feeding the coverage live to Filipino seamen across the oceans. We had received positive feedback for the one we did for the Pacquiao-Marquez fight and we are happy to be again part of a service that gives our lonely boys and girls at sea a reason to cheer and wear their national pride on their sleeve. Dennis Principe will be working with me as we endeavor to give Smartlink listeners exciting eyewitness accounts of the action. Let your relatives and friends on board ocean-going vessels acquire Smartlink. I?m sure it will make their lonely days and nights more bearable. Find out more on this by calling *777 using a Smart phone or access their website: www.smart.com.ph/smartlink. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed Picson.  |
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