MANILA, Philippines?I must admit I had an ulterior motive when I finally decided to accept my friend Jack Ruby?s invitation to visit his office along Timog Avenue in Quezon City.
Jack, who used to work as marketing director of The Astra Group and before that, the PBA, had extended the invite months ago when he was appointed president of Makisig Television, but it was only very recently that I became strongly motivated to pay him a visit.
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?Will Hermie be there?? I asked Jack, after he had set the visit for Thursday afternoon.
Hermie is Hermie Esguerra, top honcho of the Makisig Network. He is also known as a racehorse owner, shipbuilder, and the chair of the Herma Group which is into petroleum trade and transport, maritime and environmental protection, thoroughbred breeding, waste management and IT among others.
Most recently though, Hermie has come to be known as the only Filipino to accept a challenge from light heavyweight boxing champion Bernard Hopkins. The other hero, so to speak, of The Dream Match in Las Vegas apart from Pacquiao.
I had accepted Jack?s long-standing invitation in the hope that I would be able to get a blow-by-blow account of the much publicized weigh-in incident straight from the man himself.
Jack said he would make sure Hermie would be at the Makisig Studios.
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?I won?t even call it an incident. Let?s just use the word excitement,? Hermie blushed when I opened the topic. He was with Herma Group execom chair Manny Viray and consultant Reli De Leon, who was also in Vegas for The Dream Match.
?Actually tension had been building up between the Pacquiao and De La Hoya camps way before the weigh-in. At almost every turn, the Golden Boy supporters would openly insult, scorn and belittle Manny and the Filipinos who were severely outnumbered and outyelled by the Mexicans. Everything came to a head during the weigh-in,? Hermie said.
?As usual, the Mexicans dominated the event,? Reli seconded. ?They brought in a noisy band that continually sang, chanted and cheered when no one was talking at the podium. They even hired Latino comedian George Lopez who was very rude and contributed greatly to the debasement of the Filipinos.?
According to Hermie, even Pacquiao?s manager Bob Arum, who was not Filipino, was not spared. After the world boxing champs (Ricky Hatton, Mosley and Marquez) had delivered their short speeches, Lopez and Hopkins took turns in hurling the insults.
To the surprise of the Filipinos, Hopkins stood up and delivered a grandiose, haughty pronouncement: ?My partner will knock out Pacquiao in seven and whoever disagrees, see me outside!!!?
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?I felt the blood rush up to my head. I felt offended as a Filipino,? said Hermie who instinctively stood up to take up Hopkins? challenge.
?We don?t have to go outside,? he said, as he took off his designer sweater.
Hopkins also took off his jacket.
By this time all eyes were on the two protagonists, including the camera men.
The match was just about even, according to Reli.
?In one corner, weighing 170 pounds was Hermie Esguerra, Filipino challenger. In the other, at 175 pounds, and now about to take off his shirt, was Hopkins.?
Hermie was about to follow suit and reveal his muscles, when the emcee announced the entry of Manny Pacquiao through the PA system.
That broke up what could have been a very interesting undercard.
What they don?t know, said Manny Viray, is that Hermie has his own gym at home and in Batangas.
Hermie admitted he has been a boxing fanatic ever since he was a small boy.
He remembers saving money from his baon so he could buy a ticket for the ?Thrilla in Manila? at the Araneta Coliseum back in the mid ?70s.
?That?s not all. I would also go to the Folk Arts Theatre to watch Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier prepare for the fight,? he recalled.
?I?m not a hero. I?m just a boxing fan and a good friend of Manny.?
