DALLAS/FORTWORTH AIRPORT ? We?re on our way back to Manila via San Francisco as we write this column some 14 hours after Manny Pacquiao annexed his eighth world title in a brutal unanimous decision over Mexico?s Antonio Margarito.
As Mexico?s national anthem was being played, Margarito was spotted smiling and crossing his arms signaling an execution ? of Pacquiao of course. Mind games, such as this were aplenty hours before the opening bell. Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach accused Margarito of having taken ephedrine which contains stimulant combinations for weight loss. It was marketed with claims that it would aid weight loss, a curious feature considering Margarito?s alleged problems of making the catch weight of 150.
I scored the bout 120-109 with all 12 rounds going to Pacquiao except for the second that I scored even mainly because Margarito managed to corner the Filipino boxing idol momentarily. The judges? scores were: 120-108; 118-110; and 119-109, all for Pacquiao.
Immediately after the fight, we entered Pacquiao?s dressing room but not after being blocked by overzealous security personnel who were already told by Pacquiao himself to let me, Mike Ochosa and Sev Sarmenta through the throng that gathered outside this dressing room door. Sarmenta, as lead anchor, Ochosa and I did the television broadcast for GMA-Solar Sports.
Inside Pacquiao?s dressing room, in the company of lawyer Franklin Gacal Jr., chief of staff of Congressman Pacquiao, the victorious warrior showed his swollen knuckles, the most prominent of which were on his left hand.
Soon the topic shifted to his initiatives as Congressman, rather unexpected, especially after a fight which was billed as his toughest because of the size and weight difference between him and Margarito. Within minutes after getting into his congressional activities, I was able to get in touch with President Benigno Aquino III who was then in Japan for the APEC Summit. Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who is with the official delegation to APEC, called earlier and asked me that if I was anywhere near Pacquiao, the President wished to personally congratulate Pacquiao. After Pacquiao had undergone the usual urine tests, the President commended the new WBC super-welterweight champion for a job well done.
Just before the 10:30 a.m. mass at the Gaylord Convention Center on Saturday, I handed over to Pacquiao photographs taken of his courtesy call in Malaca?ang on President Noynoy the day before he left to train in Los Angeles. In his message written on one of the photos, the President said that ?every fight you have gives honor to our country?.
During our post-fight conversation, Pacquiao expressed concern at the state of health of Margarito whose injury in the right eye was described by writer Johnny Benz as ?(looking) by the end of the 12-round like a hamburger with an extra helping of ketchup. It was completely closed and swollen.? Pacquiao said he wanted to drop by Margarito?s dressing room before attending a press conference which Margarito obviously would not be able to join.
Lee Samuels, spokesman for Bob Arum told Reuters that Margarito is scheduled to have surgery at the Dallas Methodist Hospital on Tuesday (yesterday) to repair a fractured right orbital bone.
Why Margarito was allowed to continue from the eighth round on, when he looked all banged up, will be the subject of debate for quite some time. Actually, at the end of the fifth round, Margarito was bleeding in different parts of his face. I had expressed to Ochosa and Sarmenta that the referee, Laurence Cole, should probably halt the fight or Margarito?s corner should insist on calling it quits.
Cole is the son of the Texas state boxing commissioner (according to blogger Gordon Marino), a fact that could create awkward moments and complicate any inquiry, should there be one, over the lack of adequate safeguards given Margarito?s condition.
A major part of the blame, should Margarito suffer any permanent damage, falls on his corner headed by the immature Robert Garcia who said, in justifying his refusal to thrown in the towel as Margarito was being pounded from post to pillar, ?We have a warrior here and he (Margarito) would never let me stop the fight.?
InteliHealth says that an orbital rim fracture is caused by a direct impact to the face. Because a great deal of force is required to cause these fractures, they often occur with extensive injuries to other facial bones and sometimes injuries to the brain, a consequence that emboldens proponents of a ban on boxing.
Regrettably, there are many like Garcia. They?re brave but it?s not their blood and gut spilling all over the ring. As someone once said, ?They want to fight…to the last drop of my blood.?
