Road to Redemption

Today’s one of those ‘unofficial’ holidays in the Philippine calendar, courtesy of the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz fight.  The streets will be mostly devoid of pedestrians and vehicles, people will be dropping whatever they’re doing, and businesses will grind to a virtual standstill (for as much as it can on a Sunday).  As millions of Filipinos glue their ears and eyeballs to whatever radio/television/public screenings/live streams (God bless the Internet!) that they can find showing the said fight.

And the Pacman did not disappoint, cruising to a 9 round annihilation of his opponent.  Never seriously challenged, Pacquiao used his superior speed to hammer out the slow-footed but game Diaz.  The fight only lasted as long as it did because Diaz managed to weather the barrage of punches he absorbed, without being able counter-attack with much effectivity.

Diaz himself was fully self-aware of the lopsided result and in awe of Pacquiao’s speed, particularly when interviewed post-fight by a British channel.  Using the term “what the f***” to describe the punch that put him down on live television before embarrassingly correcting himself by changing that last word to ‘heck’.

This victory pretty much moves Pacquiao to another stratosphere of boxing, one that makes him the only Asian to have won world titles in four different weight classes.  That the fight was somewhat entertaining, again due to the willingness of Diaz to mix it up and go toe-to-toe even when obviously overmatched, only helps to boost Pacquiao’s cachet after this fight.

Is it just me, or is the growing sentiment to see Pacquiao lose among his fellow Filipinos (!?) one of the least talked about subplots in the sport?  I’d like to hear from anyone who doesn’t know of a relative/friend/acquaintance say ‘Sana matalo si Pacquiao’.  With reasons ranging from perceived arrogance, to claims that he’s losing focus (and no, I personally don’t think his decision to run for Congress in the last election was the brightest move), to the constant presence of unpopular political figures on his corner during his fights.

Hopefully, this fight starts him off on his way to cement his reputation once again as the premiere pound-for-pound fighter of this era and the greatest boxer ever produced by the country.  Which should help keep most Filipinos, especially the non-supporters, squarely and rightfully behind him in future matches.