LOS ANGELES, California — There was this fellow, a former close-in driver of Manny Pacquiao around here, who told me how close the boxing hero had moved to death when he fought Mexico’s Erik Morales.
Greg Asuncion, who works in the staff of the Sheriff’s Office here, swore he had seen the bloody dangers Pacquiao had encountered in his battle against Morales at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last March.
Pudgy and chinky-eyed, Asuncion was among the so-called LA Boys, a loose group that formed Pacquiao’s informal staff — driver, cook, errand boy, cordon sanitaire, etc. whenever their hero would be in town.
Our informant has since been shipped out of Team Pacquiao. They said the cut in ties came as a result of money matters.
Asuncion had other things to say about the separation.
But we talk about that some other time.
* * *
Before anything else, this is my sign-off column from this city of great contrasts, where the clear path to glory and ring immortality started for Pacquiao.
It’s indeed a most rewarding experience to be here, later in Las Vegas, to chronicle Pacquiao’s golden exploits, a major chapter not only in sports but in our national history as well.
It may be exaggerated, but Jan. 21, 2006, when Pacquiao conquered Morales to avenge a previous loss, could be equal in importance, if not in significance, to Aug. 21, 1983, when Ninoy Aquino was slain upon his return to his beloved country.
While Aquino’s martyrdom stirred the whole nation to clamor and unite for the ouster of a hated dictatorship, Pacquiao lifted the sagging spirits of his countrymen with that sensational revenge victory of his in Las Vegas.
* * *
Anyway, this stint had proved quite trying for your reporter here, not because of the task of chronicling Pacquiao’s path to glory.
It just so happened that, at times, transmitting our stories had bordered on the impossible. Like that point when we got stranded for five hours on our way to Las Vegas after a vehicle in our convoy suffered electrical trouble.
We arrived in Vegas past midnight and, with no available system to transmit our report to Manila — the business center was closed, the Floppy system in my outdated machine would not work — I had to bother Nick Giongco of Manila Bulletin, a very able reporter, in his sleep to beg for the use of his computer.
Before that, there was one night when I had to use my cellphone to text over 30 paragraphs to Manila after the e-mail system in our office bogged down.
No, this is not a lament. But I do apologize for being a nuisance. I would also like to thank my friend Nick Giongco for that gracious act of accommodating a countryman in distress.
* * *
Now, let me share with you what Greg Asuncion claimed he saw in the dugout where he and Pacquiao had rushed after the first fight against Morales last March.
“Noon ko lang nalaman, pwede kang mamatay sa boxing (It was only then I realized you could get killed inside the boxing ring),” Asuncion told me when he strayed into my room at the Vagabond Inn around Hollywood before Team Pacquiao drove to Las Vegas on Jan. 16.
I didn’t have to ask Asuncion. He readily proceeded with his tale and claimed how terrified he was when he saw Pacquiao had blood in his urine. This came, he said, after Pacquiao had absorbed savage body blows from Morales.
“Maitim nga yung dugo sa ihi niya (There was dark blood in his urine),” he said.
Of course, I myself had been witness to boxers suffering this painful, bloody fate after losing fights.
But it was not only the dark blood in the urine that led Asuncion to swear that Pacquiao had been badly beaten in his first match with Morales.
“Si Manny mismo nagsabi talagang nahirapan at nasaktan siya. Malakas, magaling at magulang daw ang kalaban (Manny himself confided he felt terrible. Morales was great, big and foxy),” Asuncion explained.
* * *
Based on reports, there may never be a reunification between Pacquiao and Asuncion, his closest aide in the first fight against Morales.
But, to those who may have been wondering about the true impact of Pacquiao on the lives of Filipinos, listen to what Asuncion had to say.
“Alam mo naman dito sa LA, second class citizen tayo. Pero ‘pag nalamang kababayan tayo ni Pacquiao, gumaganda ang tingin sa atin (We’re second-class citizens here in LA, but others see us in a different light because of Pacquiao),” he said.
Pacquiao, needless to say, is a mighty, gifted boxer.
But he would have been stuck in the bakery, where he first worked, or in any construction site, if not for his warrior’s heart.
Hemingway is right. War is the province of danger and therefore courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.
Don’t ask anymore why Manny Pacquiao is extra special.
