MY IDOL Recah Trinidad?s column entitled ?Please don?t harm Manny,? which came out yesterday on philboxing.com, grabbed my attention.
You see, sometimes I tend to be totally self-absorbed in the fistic universe and so my tunnel vision was honed in solely on Nonito Donaire?s defense against Nicholas Walters this Sunday.
So much so that I nearly forgot that on that same day, the country?s premiere fighter will be making his official debut as a professional basketball player.
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Well, Freddie Roach?s plea for Manny Pacquiao not be harmed is understandable being the avuncular trainer that he is, but in the play-for-pay league, nothing is assured.
GAME. I recall the time when our local sportswriters team played against Pacquiao?s team here in Cebu and I got the chance to guard the Pacman alone on the basket as he made his way for his fast-break attempt.
The next day I got ?posterized? when incriminating photos of me standing haplessly while Manny got his two points came out. I could only grin sheepishly when my colleagues ribbed me for ?helping? Manny get his two points.
I?m not that good in basketball, but those who have played against me will probably admit that at least I play pretty decent defense.
However, in Manny?s case, I could not risk endangering his rematch against Marco Antonio Barrera.
A nick here, a cut there, even a sprained pinkie could very well spell doom for a championship match.
At the highest level of the sport, any minor infirmity will affect a fighter?s chances of winning, and potentially cause the cancellation of a match.
We all know a lot can happen inside a basketball court. You have ten sets of wayward hands, elbows, knees and feet, all in fluid motion with one dedicated direction- getting at the ball.
Sometimes you even get into hard physical contact with your own team-mate and well, that?s just part of the game.
It can be worse in the PBA with professional players going all out to prove they are worth every million peso paycheck they are getting.
It might not even be farfetched to anticipate that some players would want to specifically target Manny just to show him up for daring to don a basketball jersey instead of boxing trunks.
Freddie?s plea could very well fall on deaf ears. But I do hope Manny gets through his debut unscathed.
To put things in perspective, let me cite the example of my good friend and columnist-colleague John Pages. In that game we played, he and Manny got entangled in a struggle for a loose ball and John gave as good as he got, and irreverently tried to wrestle away the ball from a boxing god.
John-who is also an athlete- stands about 5?8 and comes in probably at a trim and sexy 150 lbs.
Imagine a guy like June Mar Fajardo standing lecherously at 6?11? and a heart-stopping 280 lbs pulling with all his weight against Manny.
Even if he didn?t try, a guy like that could still unintentionally ?hurt? Manny.
Ergo, much of the responsibility will have to fall on his Manny?s shoulders too. He tends to get carried away and play to the crowd just like in his fights.
He just has to keep in mind that this is a whole new ballgame (pun intended), and he has more to lose and nothing much to gain by exposing himself to unnecessary risks.
It?s not like he?s in the running for the MVP title, anyway.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on Chuck, Jam, Don, and Edison of AC/W for giving me the opportunity to jam alongside them last Sunday. These guys are mean athletes, too, as they participated in the Milo run just a couple of hours before they were dishing out power chords at the Handuraw. Not only is Don a machine with the bass, he is known to possess superhuman powers when he runs ultra-marathons. Cheers!
