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Transforming power of Pacmania By Granville Ampong PhilBoxing.com Mon, 05 Jan 2009  LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - Through the pages of the news prints and through the lips of self-glorified prophets of boxing, praise-building phrases swarm like bees around a cider mill. All these happen just since current Pound-for-pound King Manny Pacquiao clearly dominated Oscar de la Hoya and put him in a momentary stupor on the stool after absorbing eight rounds of neuro-vascular paralyzing shots to the body and upstairs, aborting the scheduled twelve rounds of boxing last December 6 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Meanwhile, I was not practically surprised at the outcome of the ?Dream Match?. It came to pass as per revelation of the article which I wrote dated December 3, 2008, to which, of course, I offer no consolation nor reservation, to wit; ?Pacman?s Mighty Fortress, bolstering his aura of invincibility.? The same article was criticized by one of my good friends. His reason was plain: ?Your article touches too much on religion.? I respected his judgment. In fact, I respected the man: He is a brilliant editor in his own right. But, what fascinated me was that, days before fight night, my said friend was verbalizing his own prediction that Manny Pacquiao will face a total demolition in the hands of Oscar de la Hoya. He was so loud about it. And then when the outcome turned out to be the opposite, he started editorializing his reception of Pacquiao about how close he is to Pacquiao ever since the latter launch his sweeping campaign in boxing in the U.S., intimating even to the point that many thought he is the brother of Manny Pacquiao or that he is ?Manny Pacquiao? himself, as a matter of resemblance. What a big difference of change in perspective Pacman?s aura brings! But, my said friend is not alone. In fact, many have become converts in the spell of Pacmania. Sure, I am just appalled at the intricacy of the human mind?s response, at least in terms of emotional level of these so called, ?sycophants.? They claimed objectivity of their judgment based on vital statistics of both fighters but not based on basal metabolic index, nor the degree of muscle wasting and lessening of muscle tone, nor the non-therapeutic level of magnesium in the blood, nor the neuro-vascular intricacies resulting from less nourishment and much more nor the simplicity of faith, gifts of power and speed of the other. In fact, they can flip from side to side anytime. And the same ?sycophants? on fight night gambled by thousands for a De la Hoya win. I can attest to that. And these were Filipinos. Very sad, indeed! ******* Conversely, the dehumanizing gruesome prospect of boxing does not dwell in the periphery of one?s thinking. But, it transcends to the very life itself of entertainment. The stimulus it generates gives so much pleasure to the superfluous-seeker of pastime. The same stimulus, nevertheless, fills up the emptiness of one in the realm of inspiration, which, in this case, empowers an emotional observer to subconsciously overrule his judgment, if not becloud the same. That?s the mystery of inspiration. Pacman somehow draws his discernment to light which, in this case, bolsters Pacman?s aura of invincibility against De la Hoya. Pacman can never separate faith and performance. The confluence of both, as for him, was just amazing to behold. This, I do not need to claim having a third eye to discern such transforming influence of Pacman to many. But, for one thing, what encouragement can Pacman take from the fact that, despite his extravagance in gathering up and partying with the elites (politicians, actors and actresses) and his occasional lack of faith, God used him anyway, even mightily? I just hope that Pacman is not beholden to these elites in as much as he is trying to close the relational gap between the rich and the poor. In fact, that is quite of a noble man of him to do. How can he learn not to let his lapses turn him away from continuing to press on ahead in faith? No one can divine. In fact, weeks before the fight Manny Pacquiao?s website campaign centered on ?Spread the faith?? And so the leading newspapers all throughout the world bearing their headlines left no doubt to the same line of thought from the theme when they landed on their respective news stand, and I quote: ?RP idol: Lord, it?s You, not me,? Philippine Daily Inquirer dated December 11, 2008; ?Pacman?s faith from above prevails,? Valley Sun Chronicle dated December 8, 2008; ?Pacquiao?s faith brings the difference,? Philadelphia Oracles dated December 7, 2008; ?Pacman?s faith spellbinds De la Hoya,? Washington Chronicle dated December 7, 2008; etc. Rightly so, I e-mailed my said friend informing him about the headlines of these different leading news prints. Since then, I have not heard from him nor have I received responses of my e-mails. Then, I saw the same sycophants marched in high esteem and started to sing halleluyahs to the newly crowned Pound-for-Pound King who clearly lifted the clouds in their minds about prospect of dominating the fight. Then, I saw these same sycophants closing the distance with the king from one corner of the world to another. There, I saw the conversion process, a clear-cut vindication of what has just transpired. Still, I am not surprised, nay, nor dumfounded. Yes, Pacman convincingly silenced his armchair critics. Top photo: Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao (C, on vehicle) waves during a parade in his honour in Manila December 11, 2008. Pacquiao stunned 10-times world champion Oscar de la Hoya with an eighth-round TKO in their non-title fight in Las Vegas on December 6, 2008. REUTERS/John Javellana (PHILIPPINES) ******* Note: Granville Ampong is an L.A. journalist regularly writing for Manila-US Times and Maharlikan Times. You may visit his web site at www.maharlikantimes.com. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Granville Ampong.  |
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