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Philippines, 18 May 2024 |
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It?s high time they blame Manny Pacquiao By Epifanio M. Almeda PhilBoxing.com Fri, 26 Dec 2008  The ?they? refers to those who up to this time still could not accept a Filipino is better than the rest of the world. Except for billiards maybe, Filipinos are expected to lose in any athletic competition they are in. When Manny beat the then rising star Lelo Ledwaba for the super-bantamweight IBF title, Ledwaba himself put up an excuse of his devastating defeat for having prepared for challenger Enrique Sanchez instead of an unknown substitute fighter. When Manny badly beat up then featherweight top dog Marco Antonio Barrera, the ?they? came up with excuses like an interrupted training due to a fire which made the Barrera team change training camp venue. When Manny twice avenged a close decision loss to Eric Morales by knockouts, the ?they? say Eric was drained in making the junior-lightweight limit to really be his old self. These excuses diminish the credit Manny deserves for the unmatched dedication he puts into his preparation for his fights. When the Oscar de la Hoya-Manny Pacquiao fight was sealed, no excuse could ever be entertained by the ?they? for them to use. After all, 18 out of 20 so called boxing experts picked the bigger Oscar to just easily run over the smaller Manny as a truck does to a stray tin can on the road. The dust in the Oscar-Manny ?dream match? has settled. Pacquiao showed the world how fearlessness, dogged determination, thorough preparation and what have you can make seemingly insurmountable odds can be overcome. The ?they? have long awakened from their ?dream? but still refuse to give Manny due credit. They considered the weight drain as an excuse. But Oscar has been around 145-lbs weeks before the official weigh-in. They decided this blame is overused. Ah, the diet. Now ?they? blame the innocent kangaroo, the buffalo and the ostrich. Anybody and anything are to blame but the Pacman. In these times when America has elected a black man president by a landslide, the ?they? still refuse a Filipino can be the best in this sport. You might say why should I mind the ?they? who are few? Well, the ?they? includes those who can influence the many to lessen the credit Pacquiao deserves. Just figure out how Dan Rafael ranks Juan Manuel Marquez higher than Manny in his biased rankings at espn.com. Manny is just #2 to JMM. Rafael gives JMM higher credit for beating 37-year old Joel Casamayor. After all, Casamayor allegedly held the linear lightweight title. Never mind if Joel struggled against Juan Santa Cruz and Michael Katsidis. Never mind if Manny beat JMM twice and has beaten the suddenly ?old? Oscar de la Hoya just this month. JMM is better than Pacquiao, period. But the reality is that Manny is on top of the boxing world. He is now the better P4P than Floyd Mayweather was because, as a commentator aptly puts it, ?Manny fights what boxing fans want a fighter fights?. Ledwaba still fought after his loss to Manny and so did Barrera. Barrera beat Eric Morales to win their trilogy and even scored a knock down over JMM in their fight last year which is years after Manny unseated him as the linear featherweight champion of the world in 2003. Many, even Filipinos, mistakenly go with sportswriters who don?t recognize the crown Manny won over Barrera. Cliff Rold of Boxingscene.com recognizes this 126-lb championship for Manny though he doesn?t count the 122-lb IBF title which he calls an alphabet belt. Rold counts Manny?s championships at four. The others also count four by including the 122-lb IBF title but excluding the 126-lb linear championship. I go with Joaquin Henson?s count of 5 world championships for Manny Pacquiao. Manny earned the 122-lb title as much as he did the 126-lb crown. Or, Manny Pacquiao. Manny earned the 126-lb crown as much as he did the122-lb title. When Manny struggled to make the junior-lightweight limit in his fight with JMM just last March, he was a few more pounds over the limit a day or two before the fight, his camp did not raise this blame for his not having scored a convincing win over JMM. It?s high time the blame on interrupted training, old age, diet, and weight drain should stop when Manny beat the best out there. It?s high time to put the blame on somebody responsible for their defeats. The ?blame? is none other than Manny Pacquiao. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Epifanio M. Almeda.  |
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