HE was definitely defeated — but his worshippers have refused to look at Manny Pacquiao as the real loser in his last fight.
The beating dealt by Mexican legend Erik Morales on the so-called national sports treasure was cruel and clear as the heat wave now stalking the Manila of our disaffections.
But there are people here, mainly in wet markets and in the endless rows of sidewalk stalls, who claim that Pacquiao either got cheated or he took a dive.
Meanwhile, other fans in other places continue to wonder if the mafia had had a hand in the Pacquiao defeat.
They’ve all been misinformed.
Pacquiao lost that fight, pure and simple, because he was not ready enough to face a superior foe.
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No, correction, that conjecture was rather tame.
Pacquiao, eager and brave, lost because he was incompetent.
He willingly took a crucial test for which he was not technically prepared.
That moment of truth at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on March 19 had called for Pacquiao to soar high, develop wings on his heels, and surpass himself.
He stayed flat on the floor and, although able to connect with his punches, there was nothing of the blazing attack he had bragged to mount.
In fact, when the need came for him to slug it out, he would turn his back from his foe and beat a frantic retreat.
He was very awkward doing this.
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The raging Filipino hero that met Morales was dull, shallow, often lost.
Maybe sports authorities, like those from the Games and Amusements Board, should conduct an information drive to set the record straight.
Look, if people continue to live with the absurd idea that Pacquiao, despite his inferior stand, had passed his big test, this could have a terrible effect on the hungry masa (masses).
Our poor countrymen, using that faulty Pacquiao model, could just continue walking into ventures and challenges with the blind belief they could succeed despite inferior basics.
The Pinoy could just plod on and do a Pacquiao, without first properly preparing for the big test
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It could be silly as jumping into a swimming pool without checking if there’s water in it.
Pacquiao had drowned in his own ignorance.
He came to the Morales fight improperly prepared, convinced that he could indeed do it swift and easy.
Yes, he had wrongly suspected that Morales would be easier to beat than Marco Antonio Barrera, the reigning WBC super featherweight champ whom Pacquiao mauled and stopped in 2003.
It’s odd but Pacquiao had an entirely wrong idea of what exam he would be taking.
“Kung si Barrera, pinaglaruan ko lang, si Morales pa kaya (If I had toyed with Barrera, what more with Morales),” Pacquiao told this reporter in a taped interview last January in California, when he started training for his last fight.
That statement brought goose pimples for its shallowness, the reason we had refused to make it public.
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This could only mean that, although he trained hard enough, Pacquiao had all the while thought he would be going on a picnic versus Morales.
He paid dearly for it.
He proved incompetent against a sharp macho machine who came at his best.
Pacquiao walked into a massacre.
In its singularity, the fight would often resemble a session between a teacher and pupil, with Pacquiao repeatedly failing to provide answers to on-the-spot quizzes.
Later, it became clear that the fight was also decided on the quality of manhood and deeper character.
Pacquiao may indeed be fiery, flamboyant, but Morales was decidedly magnificent.
Anyway, the painful lessons Pacquiao had learned for his incompetence should reach all the way to Malaca?ang, where the top tenant (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) obviously believes she’s championing the cause of the masa, who are either dying or getting sick due to hunger and crippling national mismanagement.
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(MR. CRISPA: We got this text message yesterday from kumpadre Jun Nonato of Pasig: “Gud day pare, happy birthday ni BOSS bukas, 82 na sya.” Boss, of course, was the legendary Danny Floro, manager of the fabulous Crispa Redmanizers, the first great team in the PBA. Danny was the bigger, bubblier half of the winningest coach-manager partnership he had formed with the great Baby Dalupan. We offer a thank you — prayer, grateful to the Lord for a guy of Mr. Floro’s unforgettable kindness.)
