Limlingan: The Real Winner

Monday, November 14, 2011

SUNDAY’S boxing match is haunted by controversies. It was the worst and most questionable win that the Pambansang Kamao had in the years of his boxing career.

Manny Pacquiao was said to have thrown pound-for-pound punches on his latest ring nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in their third match. The latter however was observed to have thrown “more” punches to the Filipino pride.

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As usual, boxing fans were watching and Filipinos all over the world were glued to their boob tubes to enjoy the telecast of the fight from MGM Las Vegas, Nevada. In the Philippines, there was not much traffic jams in the metropolis as well as in other build-up areas. The crime rate was almost zero according to the police. Time seemed to have slowed down last Sunday, as people gave time to watch their idol either on live or delayed telecasts.

Some politicians made themselves famous too, by hosting the viewing of the pugilists’ match in public places like gymnasiums and public plazas -- part of making Filipinos happy, and forms part of the public service they promised to give to people.

While we do not have a pay-per-view channel or cable television at home, I managed to sneak out on live streaming at a supposed discreet internet website that provided me a free live viewing of the boxing game.

The game started with a nice and unadulterated rendition this time of the Lupang Hinirang and the usual preliminaries. Shown were the usual boxing personalities like Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s seasoned trainer. In the first round came the fury to fight each other. The Pacquiao Team belligerently predicted a knockout of the Mexican opponent in the first few rounds.

While I am not really a boxing expert, we saw during the course of the fight Marquez’s determination to beat our bet and end their boxing trilogy with victory on his side. The Mexican fighter wanted to be vindicated from their previous matches.

Marquez is older than Pacquiao and is manifestly tougher. His physique and punching stance is a thing to behold even though his opponent is more popular.

Came round 12 and no there was no knockout. This only shows the fighters’ stamina and resiliency. Breaths were held momentarily as the winner was announced. It was Pacquiao who emerged as the victor.

While we Filipinos are definitely for the Pambansang Kamao, many were not quite happy with the scores. Two were for Pacquiao while the remaining one decided a draw that gave our man the edge.

As noted, Marquez scored more than Pacquiao. He threw in more punches that hit the face and body of “Pacman”. Although they were still standing until the 12th round, Pacquiao received more punches than Marquez. Boxing analysts, enthusiasts and even laymen who watched the fight were aware of this. At the middle of the rounds, Filipinos already surmised that if the game would not end with a knockout and it would be the decision that would determine the winner, Pacquiao would be at the losing end.
This can be determined by the number of punches from both pugilists.

Many are pondering if boxing would lose its fame and patronage the moment Pacquiao is doomed in a fight. Boxing, aside from being a sport, is also an entertainment nowadays. Many of those who are fond of watching Pacquiao’s fights are not really sports buffs.

Boxing is also a big business. Ever since Pacquiao had been blessed with a colorful boxing career, he became too a product endorser of more than a dozen commercial products. Endorsements earn him millions of pesos. His pair of boxing shorts alone has a number of products he endorses. I have observed that.

In the delayed telecast of the fight, commercial breaks were timed at more than five minutes while each round takes only a couple of minutes to be shown on the screen.

Las Vegas is made more than alive every time Pacquiao is there to fight. The gambling capital of the world earns a lot from hotel accommodations, to different modes of transportations to gambling money. And of course, the state earns from taxes being paid.

After the big fight that ended in disappointments, a lot were thinking as to who the real winner is and who has really scored the most points.

While the two boxers respectably earned their worth from the fight, it was the promoter of the boxing match who really won from the game.

Bob Arum must be a million dollar richer by now and he must have made Pacquiao win so that the latter can again fight every boxing challenger in the coming years ahead under his boxing promotions outfit. He is the real winner.