More often than not, fight fans either troop to the exit before the verdict is announced or shout their displeasure when watching lop-sided boxing matches.
Sunday?s fight between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, however, was not lacking in thrills and excitement even though the fight offered little to suggest competition.
Over 12 rounds, Pacquiao peppered Margarito with dizzying array of shots delivered with the ?baddest? intentions while adroitly avoiding the big bombs of his opponents or taking the best the Mexican could land which were either far and few in between or reduced to ineffectiveness.
I have never seen Pacquiao so dominant over his opponent while worrying he might get hit by a wayward Sunday punch.
Perhaps because Margarito was decidedly huge ? some 17 pounds bigger than Manny. And it is the nature of men to see how a David slays a Goliath over and over again even if the Bible already said so.
It was also perhaps the anticipation and thirst of seeing Margarito flattened on his back that kept the crowd in Arlington, Texas stay on their seats despite watching an inordinate mismatch in the reverse – a small man humiliating the bigger guy.
Come to think of it, despite the runaway scores of the judges, nobody complained because it was the leprechaun who vanquished the titan.
And the small guy happened to carry the name of Pacquiao, today?s best pound for pound fighter in boxing. You can add to the argument perhaps the greatest fighter of all time.
Perhaps because, despite the total domination, Pacquiao never was the villain in the fight. He was always the hero and no matter how the movie ends, they always knew that the script will call for good to triumph over evil.
And in this age of technology where image is everything, Manny Pacquiao ? or at least the people around him ? have managed to picture himself as the good guy inside or outside of boxing. If you don?t buy that, you have a big problem. After all, nobody can dispute and disagree with success.
Frankly, I was as entertained as when I saw Pacquiao clobber Marco Antonio Barrera into submission in 2003 in a similar convincing and lopsided fashion.
The only difference is that while in both occasions Pacquiao went up in weight, I never saw Manny so small against any of his previous 56 opponents.
That is why the 45-minute trip to Lemlunay was worth the ride. You even can afford to smile to yourself on your way back despite going home knowing that you just saw what you entirely expected.
Ah, the sweet science of boxing.
