MANILA, Philippines — Manny Pacquiao’s scheduled conquest of New York City failed to fully materialize after younger brother Bobby was knocked out Sunday at the historic Madison Square Garden.
It would have been a perfect feast for the visiting Filipino boxing hero had Bobby, say, survived and made a good account of himself.
Sorry, but the moment Humberto Soto shook BobbyPac with a hefty left hook north of the breadbasket early, before sending him to the floor later in the first round, there was no doubting the gory outcome.
There were actually too many punches that the defenseless BobbyPac had to absorb at will, but a thudding spear of a right straight to the head ended the mismatch in the seventh.
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At least BobbyPac showed the heart and determination of his illustrious brother, who, hours earlier, was bestowed the greatest fighter on the planet award by an esteemed group of American boxing writers at the Copacabana.
OK, it was not a perfect New York stint for the Pacman, but don’t tell that to Bob Arum. If Soto didn’t next call out Manny Pacquiao to a big-money clash, Arum should fire his scriptwriters.
In fact, Rex “Wakee” Salud, a trusted Pacquiao ally who was at ringside at Madison Sunday, had been quoted as saying a Soto-Pacman encounter is 70 percent certain.
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No, nobody could openly say Arum was there praying for a Soto win.
But then, what could be a better sales rocket for a Soto-Pacman fight than the perfectly designed revenge motive.
As things stand now, Manny Pacquiao cannot wait to lay his blazing hands on his brother’s conqueror.
There’s a blood debt to settle inside the ring and this angle can only be battered and bloodied to cheap perfection by Arum’s Top Rank.
If New York did not prove totally great for the Pacman, Arum’s latest visit to the Big Apple was perfect for the grizzled Top Rank bossman.
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Filipino fight fans, inborn sentimentalists, can only be expected to clamor for that fight.
But, using an objective scale, would Soto be the best fight for Pacquiao to sustain his greatness?
“Soto can’t win, Pacman’s too quick, too strong,” says Philippine Daily Inquirer chronicler Salven Lagumbay, an international boxing judge.
Did Jorge Solis, gutless and unworthy, help enhance the Pacquiao image after the lanky Mexican decided to sleep too early in their last bout?
Well, it cannot be said that figuring in that sordid mismatch against Solis tarnished Pacquiao’s image.
However, it goes without saying that it’s now incumbent upon Pacquiao to again fight combatants in the level of Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera if he’s to continuously boost his drawing power.
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Sunday, the Soto that boxed Bobby Pacquiao was definitely not the sort of challenge the Pacman needs at this point in his career.
Soto is definitely crafty, he throws a perfect right — short, airtight, snappy — the kind of spear the slamming Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista should aspire to copy.
But Soto happens to live inside the ring on a short armory and limited artillery.
He’s, in short, easy to hit and, this early, appears a perfect picnic package for the fire-breathing Pacquiao.
Of course, Bob Arum can always counter that Soto did not bother to bring out the best in him Sunday because there was only mediocre challenge.
Even that, you bet, can help the Pacman fume, to the smiling approval of the foxy Mr. Arum.
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(HEARTBEAT: So what’s in a name? A lot, says reader Darry Cruz, who took me to task for doubting the total dedication of half-Filipinos in the RP national basketball team. Sorry, it was my fault. Will the RP National team find its true name? The message was lost in the title of that column. So, late as it may be, permit me to rephrase: Will the RP National team find its true heart? You see, there were actually suggestions that the half-Pinoys in the RP team could only be expected to be half-loyal to the Philippine flag, but then that’s another topic for a wholehearted debate.)
