MANILA – Manny Pacquiao’s technical knockout win over Mexican boxing legend Erik Morales in Las Vegas Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) caused another round of Pacman Fever to flare up, uniting the Filipino people like no other event in recent memory.
Politics and crime took the backseat as jubilation was felt nationwide following Pacquiao’s 10th-round stoppage of Morales, who only 10 months ago dealt the Filipino boxing hero the worst beating of his career.
The euphoria of his win exceeded that mood felt nationwide just two months ago, when the Philippines won the general championship in the Southeast Asian Games.
This time, it was a one-man show put up by Pacquiao, and at the end of the 10-round slugfest slated for 12, the Filipino may have ended the career of the 29-year-old son of Tijuana, a three-time world champion.
Pacquiao had more than lived up to his battle cry, “Para sa bayan ito (this is for my country).”
Boxing experts were unanimous in their analysis that for this fight, the Filipino had developed a solid right hand punch, much better footwork, and the stamina of a bull. Pacquiao attacked without let-up from the opening bell to the final minute of the 10th round when he knocked Morales down twice, resulting in the referee stopping the fight.
In Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City, the crime rate dropped dramatically, but this was overshadowed by the City of Manila, where the Philippine National Police reported that no crime occurred at all throughout Sunday.
GenSan police chief Senior Supt. Alfredo Totoctocon told reporters there were only two untoward incidents that day, a stray bullet from the police firing range caused slight injuries to one person, while the other was a snatching incident in the Pendatun area.
The country’s politicians made sure that the boxer known worldwide as Pacman would receive a hero’s welcome when he comes home by the end of this week.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan filed a resolution on the first working day of the week lauding the sportsmanship and” display of skills” of the country’s biggest sports hero.
“The brilliant and masterful defense and the successful display of skills by Manny Pacquiao during the said fight brought honor and worldwide recognition to the potentials and capabilities of Filipino athletes,” Pangilinan said.
Senator Bong Revilla proposed that Malacanang declare Pacquiao’s homecoming this Friday as a special non-working holiday.
Not to be outdone, the House of Representatives also set the stage for a hero’s welcome for the 27-year-old fighter, considered by ring experts as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world, and tops in the 130-pound category.
Speaker Jose de Venecia said the House would again invite Pacman to receive a second congressional decoration, plus an unspecified “financial reward” for the boxer who has already become the richest Filipino athlete of all time.
“Touched by the unity of the Filipinos, he just could not afford to fail,” de Venecia said of Pacquiao, adding, “He raised the morale of the Filipino and the Malayan race.”
The House is also set to declare this week in time for his arrival Pacquiao as “People’s Champ” for having “conquered the (boxing) world.”
The 236-member chamber, often divided, is expected to unanimously pass the resolution in a plenary session.
Accolades came from all corners.
The Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army sent their congratulations for his masterful victory, but advised Pacquiao to be wary of big businessmen who were out to use him.
Born again businessman Mark Jimenez cut short his spiritual retreat in Bukidnon. As proven by Manny, “we can be world-class if we forego our divisive ways and if we will rediscover the path to spiritual and moral uprightness,” he said. Jimenez returned to the Philippines recently after serving a two-year prison term for his illegal contributions to the campaign of U.S. President Bill Clinton.
And while the political opposition also gave their thumbs up for the boxing sensation, they refused to heed Pacquiao’s call for unity, made while talking to President Arroyo in a cell phone call arranged by First Gentleman Mike Arroyo who was in Las Vegas to witness the fight.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said that while it was the wish not only of the boxing great but also the entire Filipino people for unity and reconciliation to reign in the country, “it would not be right to be united behind something that is wrong.”
Unity, Escudero said, “does not mean going ‘Yes, ma’am, yes, ma’am’ even if we don’t think it’s right.”
Even the son of incarcerated former president Joseph Estrada, San Juan Mayor Jayvee Ejercito, got into the act, offering his congratulations to the people’s champ, but slamming the First Gentleman and Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson for “wasting the people’s money” in attending the fight.
Ejercito reiterated the unsubstantiated claim that Mr. Arroyo was staying in a $20,000-a-night hotel suite in Las Vegas just like he did 10 months ago in the first Pacquiao-Morales fight. He also failed to mention that there were a number of opposition lawmakers and local executives who attended the Las Vegas event.
While speaking in the vernacular, Pacquiao’s “Can’t we all just get along?” spiel should sound familiar to Americans, coming as it did shortly after he and his opponent had taken turns beating one another.
Unlike their first meeting, however, this time around it was Morales who was bloodied and beaten, getting knocked out for the first time in his illustrious career.
A southpaw, Pacquiao showed media his swollen left hand after the fight. His right hand also had some swelling. The most swollen part of Pacman, however, was his wallet, as he stood to receive $2 million before taxes. His share in the pay-per-view income was not revealed as of press time.
Hours after the fight, Morales and his camp did not seem too eager for a rubber match between the two. Pacquiao, however, said he was willing to meet Morales again, although Marco Antonio Barrera looms as his next opponent, possibly as early as March, this year.
