The De La Hoya-Pacquiao bout meant an opportunity for food and fellowship for local Filipinos
Boxing still breathes in this country only because of the involvement of the major pay cable networks, HBO and Showtime. HBO has created a wonderful method for promoting major pay-per-view bouts: the 24/7 series, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at both camps in the buildup to a fight.
The work done leading up to last weekend’s Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya bout served to raise the level of fascination with the emotional bond between Pacquiao and his home country, the Philippines.
And when Pacquiao pummeled De La Hoya into submission after eight rounds, an effort was made to track down some Twin Cities Filipinos to check the enthusiasm level for this warrior/champion.
This is a strategy recommended for future generations of journalists, for when you make contact with an active woman such as Lita Malicsi, soon you’re going to be enjoying a Filipino smorgasbord in a home warmly decorated for Christmas.
The hosts on Friday night were Tito and Becky Sumangil. There were dinner tables in two rooms to handle the crowd. The sportswriter wound up with Tito, Lita and three men of Pacquiao’s generation: Robert Mariano, Darwin Yusis and Ramon Hough.
“When you dine with Filipinos, if you take one plate you are a guest,” Tito said. “When you take seconds, we like you. When you take a third plate, you’re special. And when you take a fourth, you’re a relative.”
That’s why Sumangil is now my cousin Tito.
What was discovered in the search for a local Filipino connection is there’s not a central neighborhood, with grocery stores and restaurants, that you find with other ethnic groups.
“There are 10,000 Filipinos in the Twin Cities,” Malicsi said. “We’re assimilated into this area. We live all over the Twin Cities, but there are things — social events, holidays — that bring us together.”
In recent times, Pacquiao fights have become both social events and holidays for the 90 million Filipinos on the islands, and for their relatives around the world.
