Pacman And The Seven Belts

November 15, 2009 1:51 PM

I tweeted about Manny Pacquiao’s recent boxing win over Miguel Cotto. Another one for the Pacman. Good job!

November 27, 2009 9:00 PM

It’s either the controversy on Manny Pacquiao and Krista Ranillo has died down, resolved or I am just not watching much local news lately (either that or I just do not care).

November 19, 2009 6:00 PM

My officemate sent me a link about a blog which featured pictures of Krista Ranillo and Mocha making out. It was not a surprise to me though as I knew a long time ago that Krista is into the sexy and daring business as she had an FHM pictorial last year and she even writes for another men’s magazine. But man, this girl is really milking in the controversy. Like they usually say, ‘controversy creates cash.’

Some random day and time last week

I was chatting with a friend discussing about the Pacman-Krista alleged affair when he immediately shuddered the thought because he thinks that it is not true and it’s just a made-up scandal.

November 18, 2009 7:30 PM

I was finishing dinner at home when the video of Manny and Jinkee in a church at US was flashed in our TV screen. Jinkee was seen crying. I commented on it and my parents remarked that they think it was ‘all for the show’ because Pacquiao and Krista have a new movie to be shown in theatres. Makes sense but is it worth it to taint a national hero’s reputation? Hmmm…

Some random morning last week

I was driving Mom and Jeriel (my brother) to Makati and I was listening to Good Times with Mo (Mojo and Grace Lee). Mo Twister mentioned that it would be a great business idea to sell ‘Team Jinkee’ shirts just like Hollywood stars wore ‘Team Aniston’ and ‘Team Jolie’ at the height of the Aniston-Pitt-Jolie news. People are really cashing in the Jinkee-Pacman-Krista rumors. Controversy. Controversy. Controversy.

November 18, 2009 9 PM

I tuned in to cable news and realized that the Pacquiao-Krista controversy overshadowed Manny’s recent boxing feat. I know that Manny Pacquiao’s character is at stake in here especially that millions of Filipinos idolize the guy, but isn’t it tiring that we get to witness negative (yet is still uncertain) news more than the actual world-class achievement the guy had?! No wonder a lot of Filipinos are tsismosos and tsismosos. Shame on you media for breeding a generation driven by gossip, negativity and speculations. I know media should not be Disney-ish and all but portray some optimism and hope to the Filipino audience. Heck, Batman even covered up for Two Face in Dark Knight just to give some hope or inspiration for a doubting city. And he was covering up for the truth. In Pacquiao’s case, it was all rumor so far.

Oh wait, I have forgotten that controversy creates cash.

November 15, 2009 12 PM

I could barely hear the sound of tricycles and vehicles passing by the village. Yes, at 12 noon. It’s much silent than it is at 3 AM. This only happens when Manny Pacquiao has a bout. Amazing how Filipinos gather up as a nation to be glued in front of their TV sets just to witness the greatest Filipino boxer showcase his boxing skills.

Summer of 1999

We were in Baguio for a summer vacation and we were watching Saksi. Mike Enriquez ends the show asking Filipinos to pray for young Manny Pacquiao’s victory in his boxing match on that weekend. I could remember myself joking my brother that the reason why he lost his red jacket was because Manny Pacquiao stole it so that he will wear it on his match. Kidding aside, I had the feeling then that Pacquiao was going to be more special than Luisito Espinosa because I like the former’s boxing style.

November 15, 2009 1:40 PM

Pacquiao is on his way to victory in the last round and he is preparing to throw a powerful set of blows at Cotto when the referee stopped the fight to declare a TKO. Hell, it’s about time! Blood is already gushing from Cotto’s face. The guy already earned my respect for dueling that long but let us be humane and stop his torture. He deserves it. Manny Pacquiao makes history as the ONLY boxer to win seven titles in different divisions. As much as I hated Manny’s complacency in his practices for this match, I have to say that I could not be much prouder of being a Filipino when Manny prayed in his corner before celebrating his victory. Yes folks, the Filipino can!

November 15, 2009 1:55 PM

I texted my friend to spoil him of the outcome. Wait, let’s delete this as it is anti-climactic. (Yeah, and I am such an a-hole for doing this hahaha)

July 2007

Jam asked me which event I should choose: watching from ringside in a Manny Pacquiao bout or watching from the Patron section of Ateneo-La Salle Game 3 Finals. I chose the latter. This decision haunts me in the present time.

November 25, 2009 11 PM

I was reading Bill Simmons’ mailbag and I found out how he is happy to witness Manny Pacquiao’s victory. Here is the excerpt of it:

Q: If the boxing higher-ups had any sense whatsoever they would give us Pacman/Mayweather in six months. I would stop everything to have a fight night party for this event. I have not paid for a boxing event since Holyfield/Lewis in 1999 but I would spend at least $300-$500 to see this. What is the holdup?
-- Seth Johnson, Middletown, N.Y.

SG: It's going to be disappointing. Just warning you now. Floyd Mayweather Jr. could never in a million years trade punches with Manny Pacquiao. He will be on his bicycle for 12 rounds. There is no way that, at this point in his life, Mayweather wants any part of Pacquiao, a concrete-headed, indefatigable freak of nature who can finish with either hand from every angle. If Mayweather gets in the ring, he'll end up doing more laps than Steve Prefontaine did for the University of Oregon. Just keep your guard up when you're spending that $64.95.

(Important note: Will I be spending that money? Of course! Happily! I made the decision during Pacman's glorious evisceration of Miguel Cotto that he finally had reached the exalted "I Don't Care Who You Are Fighting, I Am Watching It Live & That's That" status, which puts him in the following company: Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Tyson. My own personal Mount Rushmore. Pacquiao hit Tiger/Federer status about a year ago, and nobody cared. That's why he needs the Mayweather fight so badly. We've seen dominant pound-for-pound guys these past two decades, but nobody with finishing power anything like what Pacman has. He's like a coked-up Aaron Pryor, only without the coke. Insane. If he's fighting, I am watching.)

I have been watching lots of NBA and ESPN lately and I have to attest that several American media guys have shown their utmost appreciation to Manny Pacquiao. Even Kevin Garnett idolized the guy. Commentators in NBA games sometimes use Manny Pacquiao references whenever a dominant team is beating the hell out of their opponents. Just like what Simmons stated, Pacquiao is in legendary status just like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer currently are. Yet, people sometimes poke fun at the guy because he is unattractive, he barely can speak straight English, you know (I have to admit that I also poke fun at this. His post-match interviews are always part of the highlights) but guess what, does the whole world care? Some people cannot even speak English when they are talking in front of an international audience. And yes, some are just like Manny (or even worse) when they try to speak English without an interpreter.

November 15, 2009 11 AM

I went outside to buy some Coke in the nearby sari-sari store as the undercard matches were ongoing. I realized that time that there was barely a vehicle passing by the streets in our village. As I hurried back home to catch up what is happening (even if I knew that the undercard bouts were still ongoing), I had a sudden realization. Our generation was a bit spoiled in boxing. We were able to witness Filipino glory in boxing for more than a decade already. We have Onyok almost winning the Olympic gold (if not for the stupid judges… yes, I am still bitter on it until now). We have Lusito Espinosa having the belt in the ‘90s. We have Manny Pacquiao punching out every boxer he faced. Simply put, we are in the golden age of Filipino boxing and we somehow get spoiled expecting a Filipino boxer to win whenever there is a match. Watching Manny Pacquiao seemed to be an automatic W for us through the years (except when he dueled Morales). I am sure that some have taken Manny’s feats for granted.

However, I also realized that the Filipino that Manny unseated as the best Pinoy boxer of all time then was Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde. The guy achieved his glory several decades ago. Do you know what this means? It means that it is just once in our lifetime that we can experience witnessing something legendary as Manny Pacquiao is. I had alarming thoughts then of ‘what if Pacquiao loses to Cotto? (since the latter is known to be a strong puncher)’ It would stop all of our annual Pacman celebrations and the guy might retire (thus depriving us of witnessing boxing achievements). We are so accustomed to winning that we may have forgotten to value it. It is only during the time when we do not enjoy this convenience that we will learn to realize its worth. And that would be very sad because we are not certain when the next great Filipino boxer rises up to the occasion. It may come or it may never come.

As a sports fan for several years, I have witnessed my favorite teams become champions and I can attest that the years that followed showed undesirable results. It was then when I realize that I was fortunate to see them succeed as a lot never did.

In my books (and in several experts too), Manny Pacquiao belongs to the top ten greatest boxers of all time. To be honest, he can retire any time from now as prolonging it might just taint his legacy. Manny Pacquiao is a phenom. We are so accustomed to seeing him win but we must also remember that we must value his current achievements as well. This is because it will not be easy to replace. This does not just go for Manny but for everything that is valuable to us: what you have in the present cannot be easily replaced.

As for now, let us savor the moment.