It landed hard on target.
But that knockout shot that Manny Pacquiao delivered when he said he planned to retire from boxing failed to gain a unanimous nod here at home.
Responses out in the streets were ambivalent at best.
The strongest sentiments were of disbelief and discomfort.
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If, for example, a random poll of his fans hereabouts were conducted, retirement would’ve been swamped 10 to 2.
A pulse sampling Wednesday at the Mandaluyong City wet-market area where there’s undying adulation and faith in Pacquiao bared the exit plan was both unkind and untimely.
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“Unang una, sino kapalit (So who’d take his place?)” asked Carding Salazar, a retiree who walks to the market area from his place every morning.
Street-toughened Salazar was not alone.
In fact, majority, if not all, of Pacquiao fans from the big cities and the sleepy countryside look up to him as a beacon of hope.
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Then they suddenly woke the other morning to hear Pacquiao was quitting the boxing scene.
So the next question was raised: Hasn’t Pacquiao done more than enough for his country with his sensational achievements in boxing?
Of course, he has played the superhero many times over.
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But if his fans, mainly the rat-poor souls, swoon and sing with each Pacquiao win, it’s for a deeper reason.
They always identify with him, obviously feeling that, like the Pacman, they would one day also score big and rise from poverty.
Pacquiao Power helps the poor Pinoy to spiritually squeeze out of squalor.
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OK, but has Pacquiao got some unfinished business?
Or does this mean he cannot step out without a worthy successor?
Not necessarily, explained multi-awarded artist Danilo Dalena, he with a keen sense for principles and values.
“If he’s entering something noble, kung hindi pulitika, it’s alright,” Dalena said.
Now that it has become clear he’s only venturing into dirty politics, Dalena said Pacquiao must be shaken up.
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“The best Pacquiao can do now is step out, if indeed he must, and attend to his kids,” said Joseph Dumuk, sports analyst and statistician from La Union.
“Unfortunately, all those people who rake in big profits through him would push him to stay on indefinitely,” Dumuk surmised.
“Wala naman kasing kampeon na nagretiro sa kasiglahan ng career niya (No true champ quits at the peak of his career),” explained Dennis Filart, a young artist who’s set to mount his seventh one-man exhibit this weekend.
Pacquiao, indeed, has nothing more to prove.
“Or has he also started to feel the big punches, now that he’s already very rich?” Filart wondered.
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(ART INVITE: The seventh one-man exhibition of Carlos D. Filart will open on Friday at the Ayala Museum Artist’s Space, 2nd floor Glass Wing of the Greenbelt Park in Makati City. Cocktails start at 6:30 p.m. Pacquiao fans are invited.)
