The definition of a winning performance has also changed, as pointed out by Evander Holyfield. The courage to slug it out is a rare commodity more readily available in mixed martial arts than in the boxing ring, which is so ironic, it?s almost funny. Boxers who claim to be champions have just found clever ways to survive fights and skirt real challengers, as Mayweather has done. Of course, as I?ve said, this is within the rules now. But that is why boxing has been in a slow decline, and as I mentioned in last week?s column, the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight had the spectacular potential to disappoint. Now, the question of subterfuge has overtaken the actual quality of the fight, and it pulls so many others down with it. Fights have been postponed because of injury before, from Ali-Foreman?s ?Rumble in the Jungle? to Hagler-Hearns and so on. The honorable thing to do is guarantee a good product. This magnified the disappointment of fans who have waited five years for what turned out to be a sham.
Next, the NSAC may suspend Pacquiao from fighting in the state. This, I feel is at worst, meaningless for Pacquiao and at best, a blessing in disguise. Think about it. If Pacquiao will need at least six months to recover and go through rehab, then campaign for senator for the elections in May, a one-year ban would be pointless, mere flexing of muscles by NSAC. Also, with the fragmented nature of state athletic commissions, Pacquiao can fight anywhere else: Atlantic City, Japan, the Middle East, even the Philippines. This may be the real reason Mayweather changed his mind about a rematch. He will no longer be on his home turf where he can manipulate things. I find it hard to believe that NSAC would close the door on an opportunity to earn hundreds of millions of dollars more for Pacquiao?s next fights, whether or not there is a rematch.
Also, some international media outlets like The Examiner have asked why the injury was never revealed in the three weeks prior to the fight. This raises a serious question of integrity among the media covering Pacquiao. If Mayweather, who was training hundreds of miles away in Nevada, says he knew everything going on in Pacquiao?s camp in California every day ? even the injury ? then why did no one write about it? Manny was surrounded by dozens of media every day, some chronicling his every move. Is it possible that not a single one of them thought anything was wrong when Pacquiao skipped training and sent his sparring partners home? If everyone knew even what he was having for dinner and with whom, how was he able to get an MRI and injections when all the working media were around? If we knew all the fluff, why not the substance? And this does not just apply to Filipino journalists, mind you. American media were there, too.
On any beat, there is a natural trade-off between media and their subjects in exchange for access. Generally, it implies not saying anything negative, or protecting their privacy and security. That?s why Mayweather selectively banned reporters from the fight, because he didn?t like what they said about his history of battering women. When Pacquiao shifted training to UCLA, his handlers supposedly asked the media not to reveal the change of location so as to avoid drawing crowds. Did they do the same thing with regards to the injury?
As a sports journalist, I?ve been painted the bad guy by revealing things people say I shouldn?t have. But not revealing a major injury to a Filipino athlete in a global sporting event is a breach of responsibility. True, you have to build a relationship with your source, and that includes a certain level of trust. But a journalist?s primary duty is to the public, to keep them informed of what may impact them. Some of the media were only there to cover the fighters? training for a couple of hours, but others were with Pacquiao from morning till night. How could this fact not see the light of day for three weeks leading up to the fight? This is the objective question that foreign media and those of us at a certain distance from the story are asking.
In the meantime, Manny Pacquiao will heal, go through rehab, win a seat in the Philippine senate, then have a tune-up fight before deciding on the type of finale his career deserves. All of that will take at least a year. A lot can happen from now until then. And perhaps, the ill feelings raised by hiding his injury will not be forgotten.
