The Philippines has often been compared to the world of Eugene O?Neill?s Broadway play The Iceman Cometh: a cruel place where despair is a constant presence and relief comes in pipe dreams.
But for one night, March 19, 2005, the despair of poverty and strife in the Philippines was replaced by a dream of greatness when Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao went into the ring in Las Vegas to fight Mexican boxer Erik ?El Terrible? Morales in a nationally televised superfeatherweight non-title bout.
Pacquiao lost a unanimous decision (115-113), but his valiant effort won universal praise for his skill and guts. He also succeeded in accomplishing something more: He united the Filipino people as no one had ever done in the history of the Philippines.
For one night, there were no bombings or armed skirmishes reported anywhere in the Philippines. There were even no reports of crimes, as seemingly everyone was engaged in the fight on TV or on the radio.
Eid Kabalu, spokesman for the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, told reporters he was proud of Pacquiao as a native son of General Santos City in Mindanao. ?It?s sad because most of us expected he would win by knocking out his foe. It?s good he did not fall because that would have been more painful for us,? he said. New People?s Army spokesman Gregorio Rosal proclaimed his undampened pride in Pacquiao and said if there were doubts about his defeat, Filipinos could seek a rematch.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan declared, ?No matter what, Manny will always be the hero of the Filipino masses. He makes us proud. We are behind him all the way.?
I watched the HBO pay-per-view fight from the South San Francisco home of my friend, Gloria Navarrette.
When diva Lani Misalucha stirringly sang the Philippine national anthem, we all stood up at attention from our potato couches, placing our right hands over our hearts. If we had flags, we would have waved them.
So many Filipinos bet on Pacquiao that he had become the odds-on favorite in Vegas. Filipinos would have had to bet $140 on Pacquiao to win $100. Conversely, Mexicans had to bet only $100 on Morales to win back $140.
The Pacman won the first round convincingly, but Morales made us realize that this would be a long, difficult fight when he rebounded to win the second round. We thought Manny won the third round, but the TV judges saw it differently and awarded it to Morales as they did the hard-fought fourth round.
It would be that kind of fight, it dawned on us: a technical one. With this as the framework, it would be difficult for Manny to win. He would need to score a knockout.
But a knockout of a sort occurred in the fifth round when Morales head-butted Pacquiao and caused a cut over Pacquiao?s right eye, which streamed blood all over his face. The referee did not see the head-butt that television viewers saw on slow-motion replay.
The fight was briefly stopped as a physician from the Nevada Athletic Commission rushed to the ring. He asked Pacquiao, ?Do you want to continue the fight or to stop the fight?? The Pacman responded, ?I want.? The physician was confused. Pacquiao would later explain that he couldn?t hear the question. Eventually the matter was cleared up, and Pacquiao would fight on until the bell?s final ring.
Manny Pacquiao?s shoulders are big enough to carry tens of millions of his fellow Filipinos, anxious and eager for the Pacman to win his next fight. The dream lives on.
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