When Manny Pacquiao takes on Marco Antonio Barrera once again this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, there is actually no major title on the line. But that isn’t to say that there isn’t a lot at stake for Pacquiao – oh, except perhaps the health and happiness of 88 million of his countrymen from his island nation that is located in Southeast Asia.
When ‘the Pac Man’ performs, the Philippines literally come to a halt. It’s because he’s perhaps their most important citizen. He’s not just a boxer, or a celebrity, he is the international face for all Filipinos, a source of pride, a national treasure and a two-fisted ambassador.
“Manny Pacquiao is more popular than even the president of the Philippines because of the way he fights, and whenever he fights in the Philippines everything comes to a standstill,” says Nick Giongco of the Manila Bulletin, who has covered the fighter for years. “It’s usually lunchtime in the Philippines when his fights are held in the US and it’s a Sunday. Its family day, everyone goes home or goes to the cinema, just to watch the live coverage. Everything stops whenever he fights.”
It’s been reported that the crime rate hits zero in the country when he’s fighting. Even the nation?s burglars are Pacquiao fans, it seems. It’s been said in the past that in the Philippines that he is not just their Michael Jordan, but also their Beatles. As beloved as he is, armed guards have been known to circle him as he goes about town for his protection.
“The closest I’ve ever seen to it is with Ali in this country, in the later stages after he beat Foreman. How every place he went he was mobbed and idolized. And it’s even greater in the Philippines for Manny,” said his current promoter, Bob Arum, who also promoted the heavyweight legend. “It was almost like d?j? vu for me having experienced that, gone through that with Ali, now to experience it with Manny in the Philippines.”
He’s so famous that those who are associated with him enjoy celebrity status.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Freddie Roach, his trainer, last week at the Wild Card Boxing Club. “Just being around him, it makes me famous in the Philippines. I used to be ‘Coach Freddie’. Now, I walk down the street and they call me ‘Idol’. I said, ‘Why do you call me Idol?’ Because you’re my idol.’ The one thing about the Philippines, I get treated so well there, it’s hard to come home.”
If you scan the internet, you see there are entire websites dedicated to the fighter, and if you log onto youtube, not only are there a multitude of highlights and montages of Pacquiao, but even more interestingly, there are quite a few postings of Filipino gatherings of friends and families that show them watching his fights and the ensuing hysteria they go through as he comes up victorious. Yes, there are actually clips of people filming themselves watching a fight on television. Being a Pacquiao follower, it seems, is a must in the Filipino culture and they have no qualms in advertising it.
Pacquiao has led a revolution of sorts in the boxing world, where it seems now that the Philippines is the next great importer of boxing talent. But it’s not as if he’s the first standout performer. From Pancho Villa to Flash Elorde and even Gerry Penalosa, there have been other Filipinos to make their mark in boxing.
But none has ever resonated with his people and transcended his own culture quite like Pacquiao. There are other fighters today that can be considered bona fide stars and have a hold on their countries? loyalty, but not to this level.
Arum promotes Miguel Cotto, who has become the latest in the Puerto Rican pipeline that has become a boxing beacon, but he notes: “There’s a different mentality in the country. The Puerto Ricans are part of the United States and they’re much more temperate people in their enthusiasm – they’re enthusiasts and they’re fans – but they’re more temperate than the Philippines. Also, the Puerto Ricans have had great fighters and great athletes; y’know, baseball players, boxers like Benitez and Trinidad, so it’s not something that is unusual. But with the Philippines, this is very unusual to have a real superstar, perhaps the best fighter in the world from their country.
“So yeah, it’s a lot more pressure on him.”
Pacquiao seems to comprehend what is on his shoulders, and after his last victory over Erik Morales, he would use a quote from Spiderman, stating that with great power came great responsibility.
But on the flip side, the public is very critical when he seems to abuse that trust or not uphold his end of the bargain. Pacquiao doesn’t just make the sports pages, he makes the front page. And reports of his personal or professional strife are treated as a national crisis.
Earlier in the year, when he ran for political office, there seemed to be a backlash against him.
“Manny is just a boxer; they just couldn’t accept him as a politician because of the nasty image of politicians in the Philippines,” states Giongco. “They say that if you’re a politician in the Philippines, you’re corrupt. That’s the general idea.”
It seems that anything that takes away from his focus as a boxer was something the Filipinos were not going to endorse.
“That’s the way they see it,” says the writer. “They would just rather him fight and make people happy. The Filipino people don’t want him to engage in anything other than boxing.”
Pacquiao would eventually lose his election to the incumbent, and a man that could sway elections with his endorsement could not win his own. Perhaps a vote against Pac the politician was a vote for him as the iconic boxer who should not be sullied by the treacherous nature of politics. But Arum, who traveled overseas and basically acted as his de facto campaign manager, doesn’t see it that way.
“I don’t believe that at all. What happened was they stole the election. I know that’s what happened. The people that he had hired to watch the polls didn’t show up. Her people showed up, only her people were in there when they counted the paper ballots. In effect, it was as if they had five United States Supreme Court judges determining the election.”
But make no doubt about it, the nation is highly protective of Pacquiao as a prizefighter and his image. Those who utter critical things or shed light on some of the negative aspects of his life can come under the intense glare themselves.
“I’ve experienced it many times,” says Giongco, who is actually being sued for libel by Pacquiao for writing that he was a compulsive gambler. “They expect you to write good things about him. But 95-percent of the things I write are accurate. The thing is, there are some who don’t want to read negative things about Manny Pacquiao – especially his extracurricular activities or any other things not related in boxing, so they get mad. But some people do understand the nature of journalism.”
Roach felt that scrutiny in light of their loss to Morales, which came with the surrounding controversy of the selection of gloves, the fight strategy and allowing an open door policy at his gym that affected their preparations for that bout. In the aftermath of that loss, Roach became message board fodder.
He understands the pressure he’s under.
“That’s always the way it is,” he says. “It’s no problem. If we lose this fight, I’ll be blamed for having training camp in the Philippines and for letting that happen. But I have no worries about that because I know he’s in as good a shape now as he has been for any fight he’s ever had.”
Back in 2001, when he burst onto the scene by blowing out Lehlo Ledwaba to capture the IBF jr. featherweight title, he was the local boy made good. But as he engaged in a classic series of bouts against the Mexican trio of Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales, he became something much bigger.
“When he first fought Morales, we thought there was going to be a national mourning when he lost that fight,” recalled Giongco. “But when he came back, there was a parade held for him as if he won the fight. Maybe because he fought a gallant fight, that’s why the Filipinos didn’t mind him losing to Morales.”
But expectations have been heightened. Icons don’t get credit for moral victories.
“If he loses to Barrera,” continued the scribe, “it’s probably a different story because a lot of people don’t think Barrera’s going to win. He’s expected to win, so if he loses the fight, the whole country will feel the pain of the loss. Nobody wants to see him lose.”
PRESSURED?
Much was made over the summer regarding Pacquiao’s training location and whether he was distracted coming into his bout with Barrera.
Of all this, Pacquiao would tell Maxboxing, “I understand that a lot of people are worried about my training situation, but on every fight that I have, I need to get in shape and to train hard because a lot of Filipino people are hoping for my victory. I want to make them happy on every fight. So that’s what I’m trying to do, to give a good fight and make people happy.”
A VICTORY FOR BOXING
Kelly Pavlik’s knockout win over Jermain Taylor for the middleweight crown was about a real fighter with a real manager and a bona fide promoter, who was properly nurtured and developed as a prizefighter.
Pavlik is what boxing needs. He’s a pleasing fighter who will bring fans wherever he fights. Unlike his fallen foe, he’s not an HBO creation who has a glorified booking agent for a promoter that was just living off their network annuity to line their pockets twice a year.
The bottom line is this, you can’t develop a fighter on a network. Taylor’s development has been forever stagnated by a series of puzzling matchmaking decisions and his relative inactivity the past few years. As much as some powers-that-be try and expunge promoters from the scene, Pavlik and Bob Arum show why they are absolutely necessary. HBO tried to shove Taylor down the public?s throat and it eventually came with a strong backlash. He went backwards as a boxer and an attraction.
But on this night, no amount of HBO cheerleading (sans Larry Merchant, who seemed to be the only who was grasping what was going on), the crutch of Punch Stats and questionable judging (more on that later) could save Taylor. What Hopkins, Wright and Spinks couldn’t do versus Taylor – which was leave it out of the judges? hands – Pavlik did. There were no question marks here, just an exclamation point provided by the native of Youngstown, Ohio.
It’ll be interesting to see the fallout from Taylor’s loss. Will Lou DiBella and Emanuel Steward, who were so dismissive of Pavlik coming in, take turns throwing each other under the bus as they did this past May after the Spinks fight?
But none of that is really necessary. Pavlik is just the superior, more polished prizefighter. No, he’s not the better athlete, but last I checked, this was professional boxing, not the NFL combine, American Gladiators or the Superstars competition. When it comes to fundamental skills and having a certain feel in the ring, Pavlik is a cut above in almost every category.
Outside of the second round, Pavlik would out-jab Taylor consistently, his right cross was much straighter and sharper, he parried and rolled with many of Taylor’s incoming shots, while Taylor took shots square, which eventually wore him down and out.
But Taylor has to be given credit. In this defeat, in the eyes of many observers he earned more plaudits for this performance than his other subsequent title defenses. It’s just a shame he was never fully developed. He’ll always be a better athlete than boxer.
In a month that was filled with postponements and cancellations, boxing needed a fight like Pavlik-Taylor.
But what boxing really needs are a few more Kelly Pavliks.
‘BAD DECISION’ AVERTED
You gotta hand it to Taylor, if he does have one great skill in the ring, it’s the ability to turn every judge that sits ringside at one of his bouts into Eugenia Williams or Dalby Shirley.
The reality is that Pavlik didn’t just stop Taylor by landing a few hard shots in round seven; what took place there was the residual effect and build-up of the consistent work that was done offensively by Pavlik.
It was work that obviously was given no credit by judges Guido Cavalleri, John Stewart and Julie Lederman, that had Pavlik down by three, three and five points, respectively.
FINAL FLURRIES
Seriously, Daniel Ponce de Leon, who knocked out Reynaldo Lopez in five this Friday night, should be on a Geico commercial with the way he clubs his punches like a caveman….Featherweight prospect Eduardo Escobedo, who looked impressive in stopping Jose Mendoza in six, boxes a lot like Juan Manuel Marquez, which is no surprise given the fact he’s trained by Nacho Beristain….A source tells me that the November 3rd show featuring Marquez against Rocky Juarez will take place at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona…..I’ll say it right now, DeSean Jackson of Cal is the most explosive wide receiver in college football….Who out there would hire Norv Turner as their head coach?….After two shows, ‘Back to You’ on Fox has earned a place on my rotation….Just for the record, if Pacquiao and Marquez win their next bouts, there should be a public outcry for that rematch….
