LOS ANGELES ? He was black and blue all over ? black pants and blue trubenized shirt. He came like a character out of the movie “Men in Black.” His eyes, badly bruised from the fight that dealt him and the people who put their trust in him a bad blow, were covered by the proverbial black shades.
But shades or no shades, Manny Pacquiao was unmistakable. The height, the body, even the charming smile that could have won him the “Darling of the Media” award, though he lost the highly-anticipated HBO pay-per-view fight against Erik “El Terrible” Morales at the MGM in Las Vegas, Nevada last March 19th 2005.
“Erik Morales? speech was even cut short when Manny entered the press room for a press conference after the fight because the press started clapping for Pacquiao,” said Vince Samson, one of the Filipino-American reporters who went to Las Vegas to cover the event.
Without a doubt, the diminutive southpaw from the Philippines knows how to work the media and reach out to his fans. Along with Pacquiao, Filipino and even non-Filipino fans who bet their trust on him also suffered defeat. They were disappointed, but perhaps because of PacMan?s natural charm, he?s able to make them accept the loss.
He himself had already swallowed the bitter pill: “Ganoon sa sports. Minsan may talo, may panalo. Hindi lahat ng panahon puro ka na lang nakangiti. May mga kalungkutan din. Nangyayari talaga yan e. Tanggapin natin,” he told Consul General Marcciano Paynor last week. His last stop before flying back to the Philippines was at the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles.
“All of us are one here in the Filipino community in our support for you. Just prepare for your next fight. Maraming fans mo dito. I?m sure they?ll continue to root for you,” Paynor told the boxer who?s given so many Filipinos one more reason to be proud of their nationality.
Along with wife, Jinky, and the rest of his entourage, Pacquiao stopped by the Consulate at the invitation of officials who prepared a simple tribute for him for what he has done for the country and it?s people.
“Bigyan ng parangal na in spite of the result of the fight, he still made all of us proud. We are giving this certificate of commendation to Manny Pacquiao for bringing pride to the Filipino people and demonstrating to the world the Filipino values of perseverance, courage, fortitude of spirit and good sportsmanship,” Paynor announced to a small crowd that gathered in the Community Hall of the Philippine Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles.
The hero was one-hour late for the 10:30 a.m. appointment, but everyone ? the fans, the press, even some of the officials at the Consulate – patiently waited. And when Pacquiao arrived to give autographs, pose for pictures, and even just to flash them his winsome smile, the long wait was forgotten.
People will always talk about what happened and speculate on the real reason behind the loss, especially since he was picked by many as the sure winner. Pacquiao briefly spoke about it and gave three things that he believes affected his performance that night: 1) The head butt that caused his eye to swell and shut close, which impaired his depth perception and which resulted into 15 stitches to close and will forever be a mark of this bitter experience; 2) The gloves which shouldn?t have been used, had they paid more attention to the clauses of the contract which their promoter signed; and 3) The bad timing of the extraction of blood sample which reportedly rendered him dehydrated at the time of the match.
But the now smarter Pacquiao who undoubtedly learned a lot from this experience admitted that aside from these outside factors that influenced his performance, there was one very important thing that he failed to attend to during his months of training ? mental toughness.
“Malaking natutunan ko. Marami akong pagkukulang dito sa fight na ito. Yung katawan ko, kondisyon na kondisyon, 100 percent condition. Pero yung mind ko, mga siguro 30-40 percent lang,” he said. He revealed that up until that night he stepped in the ring, he had a lot going on in his head, problems he couldn?t ignore. “Ngayon na-realize ko na hindi lang pala katawan ang kinokondisyon, pati rin pala isip, kinokondisyon. So charge to experience na lang. Ngayon alam ko na kailangan din pala yung mind na i-condition.”
This early, people are already talking of a rematch that may take place in August or September of this year. But the date, time and place are of no big deal to Pacquiao.
“Kahit saan naman yung laban, dalawa lang naman kami sa ring,” he said.
Moreover, the subject is not on top of Pacquiao?s list of priorities right now. According to him, there are more important things. Perhaps a case against promoter Murad Muhammad?
“No comment. Mahirap sagutin na tanong,” he said. At the mention of the name, the smile left Pacquiao?s face. And when it did, only the dark sunglasses remained.
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