Manny Paquiao : The Titanic Sinking of Ricky Hatton

May 04, 2009

Hey, I wasn't a fan of Manny Paquiao until after I saw the replay of the 'Battle of the East and West' yesterday afternoon. I am not a sporty person and I couldn't understand the hullabaloo about winning a non-productive physical activity like boxing ( I mean compared to planting rice and getting the fishing nets in and collecting the garbage , etc ..)..

What made me fan of Manny Paquiao is not only the physical winning against Hatton, which by the way was spectacular , but the kind of human being Manny Paquiao has evolved through boxing . Intuitively, I would say, that he has spiritualized his being a boxer/sportsman..

Notice this, the way he was grinning and smiling like a small boy who was anticipating getting into a playful game , on his way to the ring; the way his eyes and face took on a serious,flinty, almost feral, laser-like look once he stepped into ring; the way he immediately knelt down in his corner to pray ;
the way he retreated back like a schoolboy to his corner after the first round with Hatton still sprawled on the ring ; the way he , after getting his bearings after knocking out Hutton in the second round , went back to his corner and knelt down and prayed ; the way one of his supporters ruffled his hair while he was still on his knees praying ...

Notice this, upon his arrival , I think, in Las Vegas , one of the first things he did was to attend a mass.

Notice this, when a reporter was asking Roach about his reaction to what the camp of Hatton and Mayweather have been saying (not nice) and Roach couldn't answer immediately Manny Paquiao egged him on to say 'Ewan' (could be translated as ' I have no idea ') which Roach did .

And well, with a mother like 'Aling' Dionisia holed up in a hotel room praying, how can Manny Paquiao not win ? Which reminds me of what I read about what one of the owners or engineers of the Titanic pridefully said --

By the way, congratulations and hats off to Martin Nievera and whoever made the upbeat,forward-looking, with-an-attitude, modern arrangement of 'Lupang Hinirang' ... a rendition worthy of a 'First-World Philippines under God' ... my personal vision of what this country of mine should be ...

Some cute quips I heard from guys who were frustrated about the shortness of the fight ... "Asan ba si Aling Dionisia? Siya ang may kagagawan nito!" (Where is 'Aling' Dionisia? She's the one behind all this!);
"Isunod niyo na kaagad si Mayweather. Sayang ang bayad at ang practice!" (Get Mayweather in the ring at once. Let's not waste the efforts and the opportunity!)
And heartening to note that the Filipino knows that Manny Paquiao's faith in God was the foundation of his sterling win, as the Monday flag ceremony prayer leader showed.