Las Vegas, NV:- Manny ?Pacman? Pacquiao came to this town and took the WBC Lightweight title from a former US Olympian and a gentleman-warrior, David Diaz of Chicago.
Pacquiao did it via a loop-sided and a devastating KO late in round 9 at a fight held at the Mandalay Bay Resort Casino under the auspices of the Bob Arum Promotions and HBO PPV.
With his victory, Pacquiao earned his 4th world boxing title. The win appeared as a foregone conclusion long before the first bell. In fact, the odds lean so heavily for Pacquiao, 5-1 at some point. Pacquiao lived up to everyone?s expectations. He came out blasting and Diaz did not win a round. Not even one!
Pacquiao?s 4th title is new in the annals of Filipino boxing. No other Filipino in any weight class has accomplished what the now famous son of GenSan has done. And it will be years before another Filipino duplicates the feat, particularly Pacquiao?s performance tonight. Boxers like Pacquiao are one in a million, so to speak. There will definitely be more Filipino champions in the future, but not too many will win titles on 4 different weight classes.
Freddie Roach, the famed coach and trainer of Pacquiao predicted a knockout on the late rounds calculating perhaps that by that time, Diaz would have run out of steam and Pacquiao can land his haymaker left straight to end the fight. In fact, he was blunt enough to say that Diaz needs a miracle to win against Pacquiao.
And, Roach was so damn right! Stats showed that Pacquiao connected 180 power punches to 59 for Diaz. Pacquiao threw 788 punches, Diaz ,463.
Diaz was so badly out-classed and he admitted it too. At the post fight press conference, he praised Pacquiao for being strong and fast. ?He was just to fucking fast, he stated.
Diaz promised a good fight but did not delivered. He simply did not have an answer for the Filipino fireball. ?Tonight we lost to a better fighter, but we will be back? he said before he left for the hospital nearby to have his cuts stitched.
Now that Pacquiao has accomplished another awe-inspiring goal, will Ricky Hatton, the 140 pound champion from Britain be next for the Filipino idol?
The answer to that will come sometime on the first part of the year 2009.
That is if the price is right!
It will also depend upon Bob Arum and Golden Boy reaching an agreement similar to the Pacquiao-Marquez concord some three months ago. Pundits state that Pacquiao-Hatton is a distinct possibility as both promoters have deep pockets and HBO always stands ready to back them up.
As the Brits will say:- ?It could bloody well happen.?
So hopefully, the next time around, the Filipino ?Pacnuts? will be facing off with a different breed of fight fans-- the drum-beating and trumpet playing Brits who leave no stone unturned to enjoy a fight night and loudly let everyone know how they support their man.
The Pinoy versus Brits face-off could be nothing but interesting. It could be a beginning of a new love-hate link between the two groups of fights fans, the same one that has been going on between our Mexican brothers and us.
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