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Philippines, 24 Nov 2024 |
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PACMAN IN AMERICA -- PART FOUR The Pacquiao Experience PhilBoxing.com Fri, 15 Jun 2007  This episode was contributed by Pacland's pound4pound1. It was the winter of 1998 on one of my annual trips back to the homeland that the name ‘Pacquiao’ crept onto my boxing radar. My cousins were my Philippine counterparts as far as boxing followers go. While I was deep into the American boxing scene, they kept an eye out for locally produced talent. I never really paid much attention to the boxers they hyped up. At the time the only Filipino fighter that I had known and rooted for was the original Hawaiian Punch, Jesus Salud. But this time there was an extra gleam in their description of this rising ‘superstar’ as they called him. ‘As ferocious as Duran, ‘hands as quick as Sugar Ray’s. I was skeptical. They had one specific fight that they had recorded: the Sasakul fight in Thailand. I watched it (twice), saw a one dimensional Flyweight get dissected by a more polished opponent for the majority of the rounds. Truthfully, even with his dramatic comeback, I wasn’t overly impressed. After all, I was at the pinnacle of my Roy Jones and Pernell Whitaker worship and anything less than their skill set made other fighters below elite. I thought he’d be a great Asian product that would do well competing against the Thais, Japanese and Koreans. Despite the glowing endorsement from my cousins, the image of Pacquiao never really stuck, completely forgot about the guy the moment I got back to LA. Fast forward to 2001. I was in the backyard of my friend’s house helping with the bbq when another buddy comes running out and says ‘hey, one of your people is about to fight’. Hearing this come from a white guy, I instantly thought that I would see some Asian boxer marching to the ring. I grabbed my beer, sat on the couch and I stared. I stared hard and wondered why this guy (with his butchered highlights/streaks) looked so darn familiar. On a side note, it sure as hell felt good to see the flag of the motherland flying on the way to the squared circle. It didn’t hit me until the introductions that this was the same guy my cousins had been raving about. My first thoughts were of happiness. I was glad to see him get to the US for a title fight. I didn’t know how he got here, who he beat, his rank, etc., but the important thing was he got here. Initially, I thought he would get out boxed. I dropped that thought after the 1st round and knew it would be a matter of time before the upset completely unfolded. The former champ was brutalized and my friends were congratulating me as if I was related to Manny. But you kind of feel like you do in a setting like that. It was a proud moment and it was good to see my countryman with his hand raised. The next time I saw Pacquiao was when he applied a demolition job on Jorge Julio (I believe that was on the Tyson-Lewis card). Same setup, same people, same house. This time I was already on the couch awaiting Manny’s intro. After finding two suckers to bet against ‘that crazy Filipino dude’, what we witnessed was a display of a fighter riding a hot streak. He was definitely on my radar after this fight. Whether he was the real deal or a flash in the pan, I was firmly seated on his bandwagon. He followed up and reinforced my new found belief with another devastating display against Lucero. 
Pacquiao hits Barrera with a right during the memorable Nov. 15, 2003 fight. Top photo: Referee Laurence Cole raises Pacquiao's hand in victory after Pacquiao stopped Barrera in the 11th round. After Lucero, I wondered when I would be able to see this guy fight again. When word got out that Barrera, yes THE mighty Barrera, wanted to tune up and that Manny would be moving up in weight to give him that ‘tune up’, I saw $$$$. I didn’t start betting online until 2005 so this was old school style betting. Everyone knew who Barrera was and it was the EASIEST pitch to throw at bettors with intentions of taking my money. ‘Hey Barrera’s LOSING this weekend, I’ll take the Filipino guy’. It was like taking candy from a bunch of babies. I was even had the nerve to double my bets should the fight end in a knockout. If Manny got knocked out, then I’d pay double and vice versa. Throughout the fight I must admit that I was a ball of nerves. The supposed knockdown in the 1st that was actually a slip had me sweating bullets until I saw the mid round replays. By the 6th round, I was watching a bona fide star in the making. The stoppage in the 11th put the exclamation point on Pacquiao’s entry into the elite. This was no fluke. I had witnessed the path of destruction he had laid down before and this fight confirmed his status. In that victory, I saw the potential of a Manny express as my non-Filipino friends made it clear who their new favorite fighter was. From that moment on, every fight he had was greeted with anticipation by everyone I knew. It suddenly became a big deal for my fellow fight buddies to know his next steps. From a budding under card star to full fledged main event fighter, he had finally arrived. Since then it has been a roller coaster of emotions. The anger and confusion of the Marquez draw to his defeat and heartache with Morales, he literally made it almost impossible to stay seated during his bouts. This type of excitement rivaled that of playoffs in the NBA, and NFL. We had not felt that type of energy since the heyday of Tyson and his path of bloody knockouts. Even then, we would have never had more than 20 people all tuned in and wired into the fight as if their houses depended on it. The difference was, Manny had rivals to add more spices to already intriguing match ups. Manny Pacquiao is what boxing needed. He was the shot in the arm that helped push the interest levels of fans that were on the fence when it came to this great sport. My white, Mexican, and African American friends all wanted to know about him and the sport. They knew about his legal blunders, they knew about champions pricing themselves out to avoid him. Their interest level had more than doubled. It was fun to finally talk boxing and not have them look at me as if I was speaking Martian. I have had the pleasure of watching friends develop into fight fans from simply watching Manny do his thing. It’s a wonderful feeling to see them want to see other fighters because they wanted, needed, to feel that same rush. Even my more esteemed boxing aficionados whom rarely agreed and rooted for the same fighter, it was a sight to see them all cheering for the same guy. Personally, as a fight fan since the mid 80s, to have a fellow Filipino being regarded with such respect and admiration, it makes watching the sport just a little bit more special.  |
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