From the videos of his early fights when he was still a 108-lb. fighter trying to make a name for himself and earn a living in the boxing circle, Manny Pacquiao already showed exemplary and excellent fighting prowess in the ring. By always exhibiting the true spirit of sportsmanship, such saying that goes like this, “When the great scorer pens your name, he writes not if you lost or won the game but how you played the game.” fits exactly his kind of an athlete. In analyzing his fights, he always dish out his best every time and gives everything he had to the delight and money’s worth of fight fans, be it in a small time boxing matches to title fights anywhere in the world especially in the US. Always a relentless fighter and exciting in every fight, his kind of a sportsman can be likened to many past and present great athletes that his legacy as the “greatest” sports figure his country has ever produced is now secured. Just like Muhammad Ali who has always claimed that he is “The Greatest” and boasts, “I am BOXING!” that seems to have gave meaning that he (Ali) is what boxing is all about, it can also be said as well that Pacquiao is the embodiment of everything about “boxing” in the country. And it’s getting bigger and louder that the world even gets notice.Pacquiao>

With his fight against Oscar De La Hoya now sealed to take place on December 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, many of his countrymen have expressed skepticism if ever he has a chance of winning. This is not surprising since De La Hoya is very popular, well known as a great fighter and a very refined champion in the eyes of many Filipino fans who have followed him from the time he won an Olympic gold medal in 1992. And this is beside that he is credited for promoting the many Pacquiao fights in the US that makes Pacquiao a prized and popular fighter in the world today. That also makes Filipinos feel indebted to him, however, since both fighters needs each other bad to put their respective name on top of the sport, then, beating the other will just be its own excuse for being – that he is better or superior over the other. With many Filipinos having reasons to be skeptical, this writer somehow, doesn’t. He never wavers in his beliefs and admiration that Pacquiao will get through this.

On watching Ali for the first time beat Floyd Patterson in defense of his title in 1965, this writer saw in Ali an awesome and terrible “boxer” in every sense. After humiliating and mercilessly knocking out Patterson in 12 rounds in their 15-round title fight, this writer was so awed and impressed by Ali’s superb speed and superior boxing skills he never changed his views and idolization of Ali since them. But what was most amazing that he saw in Ali’s arsenal as a fighter were his unlimited stamina and the unbelievable speed of both his feet and hands to throw all kinds of accurate punches and elude or duck his opponents’ punches. Such that up to the time Ali retired, his face hasn’t suffered any cut or marked by scars which are the usual trademark of the brutal game of boxing. So much so that even up to the time Ali was exiled from boxing, this writer remained a loyal and faithful fan already believing and concluding that Ali was really the greatest fighter ever who can never be dislodged in his beliefs.

When Ali fought and lost for the first time to Joe Frazier in 1971 after three and a half year layoff and just two comeback fights, this writer did not lose faith in his adulation but even strengthened his beliefs in Ali despite losing all the money in his thrift cans he bet on Ali. He believed then that Ali was the better fighter of the two and saw that had there been a 16th round, Ali would have won the fight by knockout as Frazier was too exhausted already by the end of the fight. What this writer saw, however, as the biggest reasons for his loss were his “over confidence” that he (Ali) is the better fighter than Frazier and that he could not last 15 rounds.

As Ali studied Frazier’s record prior to their fight, Frazier wasted only two rounds in knocking out then light heavyweight champion Bob Foster who challenged him for his world heavyweight title. With that, Ali believed that since many of Frazier’s fights end early as they are mostly by KOs, he could hardly fight up to 15 rounds, so unlike him who was used to fight for 15 rounds. Besides, prior to facing Frazier, he went 15 rounds in knocking out Oscar Bonavena. And despite that taint in Ali’s record, this writer still believed in his greatness as a fighter having not seen a fighter like him. In losing again to a virtual unknown Ken Norton later and blamed on “over confidence”, this writer as usual, did not lose faith in Ali.

Now comes world champion George Foreman, KO artist with 39-0-0, 36 KOs record, 1968 Mexico Olympics champion and to most sports writers and so-called boxing “experts” – invincible. As history now tells us, Ali kayoed Foreman in the eighth to wrest the heavyweight title and again reigned as the second man to win it the second time with Patterson being the first to do so. But are all these facts and stories brought about by that “historic fight” enough? To many writers, Ali’s win was an “upset” but to this writer, No. It was “written” all along, he insists.

Just like this writer’s view on Ali, he also sees the same in Pacquiao that despite having witnessed him lost to Erik Morales in March 2005, he also did not lose faith in his idol. This time, with Pacquiao relegated to the role of being the underdog being shorter and lighter than De La Hoya, many Filipinos now believe that only “luck” can help him overcome De La Hoya’s advantages in all departments of the fight. And as a true believer in Ali, this writer disagrees.

While Ali’s fists were being taped prior to donning his gloves in 1974 in his challenge of Foreman’s world heavyweight title, a journalist friend visited him for a pre-fight interview before climbing the ring to face the champion. When the interview was through and was about to leave, the journalist bade him goodbye and said, “Ali, Good luck!”. On hearing this, Ali shut back. “No, man! Skills!”

(To be continued…)

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Maree cartujano
Sports Pundit staff writer
Sports writer and editor....

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