AFTER one typical Saturday night in college, one that ended in early Sunday morning, a couple of kababayans came knocking.
It was around 10 a.m. on Sunday when our kababayans came, not to continue the previous night?s escapade, but to hijack our barely 14-inch telivision.
?Pacquiao?s fighting Barrera today,? Richard, the elder of the Falcon brothers, told me.
He was a fan before most of the Filipinos have heard of the boxer from Gen. San and of course, before 90 percent of his entourage learned of him.
?Lingaw ni kay underdog kaayo.? He said. A line that would define the boxer?s career.
I admit, I wasn?t really impressed of Manny those days. I?ve heard of him, of course. Ever since he won and lost his first crown as a boxer barely off his teens. And when he demolished the tough Lehnhonolo Ledwaba in six rounds on two weeks notice, his stock skyrocketed.
But before taking on the legendary Barrera he was just an impressive Pinoy boxer. Promising, yes, but in those days, we never really thought there?d be one of us who could walk among the giants of the sports.
Of course, we screamed ourselves hoarse that day as Manny, the underdog, beat the crap out of Ledwaba. The commentators, heck the referee himself, was for Barrera, ruling a knockout a slip for the Mexican and giving him a knockout when Pacquiao slipped.
That?s Manny. The underdog who defied the odds.
Against Floyd Mayweather Jr next Sunday, it?s going to be the same Manny who?ll fight in the ring again. One who most people think can?t beat the undefeated Mayweather. And that?s why I like this fight. In his previous bouts against Chris Algieri and Timothy Bradley, I didn?t bother to watch because he was expected to win those fights. This time around, with the odds stacked against him, perhaps we?d be reminded of that 2003 version of Pacquiao.
People ask me all the time who I think will win the fight. And I say the same thing. Pacquiao has the advantage because everyone thinks Floyd will win.
I?m not really a fan of the 2015 version who?s a part-time politician, singer and what-have-you and whose entourage would shame that of a Mafiosi—for its size and its notoriety. I like the old Pacquiao better, the one who?d punch his gloves together and barrel in for a response when he gets tagged.
Not the one who?d showboat and raise his hands as if to show, ?is that all you got?? when he gets hit.
Which Pacquaio will show up on May 3? I think it?s going to be the 2003 version, the one we all learned to love.
While checking his fight against Oscar dela Hoya on YouTube, I heard one of the commentators point out that the champion in the division was the freakishly-large Antonio Margarito and he asked the one who envisioned the Pacquiao vs Oscar fight, Larry Merchant if Manny would ever fight Margarito.
He said no and that it would be an impossible fight. He also pointed out that Manny himself said he was going down to the 140-pound division after facing Oscar.
Well, seven years later, Pacquiao is five years removed from re-arranging Margarito?s face in 12 rounds.
Remember what all the experts say coming in to the Paquiao vs. Mayweather fight? Well, you really don?t have to listen to them when it comes to Manny, the experts sometimes aren?t sure of what they?re talking about.
