LAS VEGAS ? At 8:53 p.m. last Saturday night, Manny Pacquiao made his habitual sign of the cross in his corner before the fight started. He hugged Freddie Roach, made his way to the center ring, and made history.
Throwing punches like there was no tomorrow and dealing a longtime rival with a career-ending defeat, the Pacman last Saturday was, for all his fans, a superhero.
It?s easy to count the ways by which our Brown Superman does the impossible: He unites us Pinoys, prone to fracture as a group, into one pride-filled cheerleading team wherever we are the moment Manny gets his gloves up.
During his fights, we leave our schadenfreudal tendencies at the door, we pack up our sometimes crabby claws, and we pray that he beat the crap out his opponent.
It was noteworthy that while Erik Morales? fans proudly chanted ?Me-hi-co, Me-hi-co, Me-hi-co,? Pacquiao?s Filipino supporters screamed ?Ma-nny! Ma-nny! Ma-nny!?
Many did wave Philippine flags. But more than being patriotic, last Saturday night, we were something else: We were Pacquiaotic.
One intrepid flag-waver said it all through the patches on his RP flag: ?Pacman?s Country?.
Here?s how manic Pacmania has become: When a Manny dead ringer was spotted by some fans, he was besieged and asked to pose for photographs like he was the real thing.
But it isn?t just Filipinos who adore Manny. After singing along with fervor when the Mexico?s national anthem came on, an enthusiastic boxing fan in front of me shouted ?Pacquiao!? at the top of his voice before his seatmate calmed him down in Spanish.
Manny also makes people who are not boxing fans turn suddenly into knockout enthusiasts. Many of us still don?t consider ourselves boxing fans and may be revolted by the sport?s violence but we do love our Manny so we stomach the blood and gore.
The first time I watched boxing was when he lost to Morales. It is embarrassing to admit that I was such a girl the whole time it was unfolding: I watched it with my hands partially covering my eyes and wincing each time a punch lands. A fellow reporter who taught me how boxing judges score fights was laughing at me that night. Last Saturday, our fourth time covering a Pacquiao fight together, he barely made fun of me. There was no time for snickering at one?s seatmate because this time Manny was on a rampage the moment the bell rang.
I thought it would be a longish fight like the punishing 12-round slugfest the last time they met in the ring. Morales was in great condition, his camp said, despite his gaunt appearance. He looked the same as when he defeated Manny so I didn?t write him off. Between them, the tough Mexican also was the boxer with a lot to prove, coming off of consecutive losses. As a colleague put it, ?A desperate man is a dangerous man.?
But as it turned out, Manny is the one equipped with dangerous moves.
By now, most of the boxing world have seen or heard how he pummeled Morales in their third fight billed as the ?Grand Finale?.
Pacquiao sent Morales to the floor and scored knockdowns in the second and third rounds before the Mexican fighter stopped himself from getting up 2:57 minutes into the third round. It was heartbreaking to see a once proud victor seemingly staring into nothing as he sat on the ring floor but it was clear from the beginning that it was Manny?s night.
If he retires after this fight, Pacquiao can do so knowing that he has already done the fight of his life. Not that a Pacquiao retirement is on anyone?s mind.
As announced by Bob Arum, big boss of boxing?s Top Rank, Manny has signed a deal with him to promote the boxer for the next four years, effectively quashing talks that Pacquiao has gone with boxing great Oscar dela Hoya?s company.
The ugly business side of Manny?s victory is expected to hog the boxing world? headlines once more as details of this deal gets out eventually.
Speaking of ugly, some of those who have been covering Pacquiao?s fights from the beginning have expressed disappointment over how increasingly difficult it was to get to Manny now.
?For a second, I even wished he?d lose so that some of his people will get a bit of lesson in humility,? a reporter said, after suffering another brush-off from the boxer?s thickening entourage.
After the press conference, a lot of reporters wishing for a minute of face time with the hero just looked on while Manny was interviewed by TV reporters in a cordoned off part of the media center. On his way out, Manny made a slight move towards the barrier where someone was shouting a question, but he was whisked away almost instantly when the clamoring began, as the reporter shouted, ?I?m getting trampled here!? He regained his footing and packed up his recorder without a quote but still with a lot of material for a story about Manny, no doubt.
As I?ve said to a friend whose fondest wish is to get to know Manny in person, she is better off not meeting him. Don?t misunderstand me, I said to her, I?ve talked to Manny many times before and we even stood as godparents at a friend?s baby?s christening, and he is a very sweet, humble and lovable person, but I maintain that the best way to meet him is when he is in the ring where he is most accessible.
When he is in his fight mode, when he is wearing nothing but shiny shorts, when you see his eyebrows arched as he sizes up his opponent, when he fights with all his heart and gives us an opportunity to think of nothing else except how great he is at what he does, that is when you?ll get the gratification of meeting the real Manny Pacquiao.
