Saturday, March 15, 2008 Cagayanons not all diehards for Manny By Lynde Salgados
IT'S not that a good number of true-blue sports-loving Cagayanons have totally lost that kind of feeling spelled as patriotism. It's just that some of them have this penchant to root for the so-called underdog.
And the 50-something Danny Velez obviously qualified as one of the underdog lovers.
In fact, for the upcoming Pacquiao-Marquez fight, the man dubbed as "walking boxing dictionary" in the local sports circle is all ready to put up a good sum of money in favor of the underrated Mexican banger.
"Halos tanan nga mamustahay pabor kang Pacquiao. But like in the past, I'm going to put up a bet for Pacquiao's foe again, win or lose," an undaunted Velez, who can vividly recall past and current sporting events with relative ease, told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
Velez lost precious bucks when both Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera yielded to Manny Pacquiao during previous bouts. But Velez entertains some thoughts of finally hitting the jackpot when Juan Manuel Marquez goes up against the "Mexican Assassin" in a Las Vegas ring on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Manila time) for a grudge rematch.
"This Marquez is different from his two Mexican compatriots. Like Torrecampo, I believe that Marquez's counter-punching and rough and tumble style will make it difficult for Manny to dominate," Velez assessed.
Rustico Torrecampo, whose boxing strategy has semblance to that of Marquez, is a Filipino boxer who once scored a knockout win over the then fast-rising Pacman.
Meanwhile, City Councilor Monching Tabor moves for the passage of a resolution requesting Parasat Cable TV to provide free live TV coverage of the fight at Kiosko ng Kagawasan in Divisoria and other public places.
Tabor said as Mindanaoans, "There is a need for us to support Pacman."
Pacquiao, whose first encounter with Marquez ended in a controversial draw, was born in Kibawe, Bukidnon. The Pacquiao family, however, transferred later to Gensan, which was popularly known then as Dadiangas City and home of another great Filipino boxer, Rolando Navarette.
Councilor Aaron Neri recalled that in the previous fights of Pacquiao, barangays Macasandig, Lapasan and Carmen, the towns provided their constituents free viewing in their respective covered courts, with Parasat granting discounted pay-per-view rate.
A giant screen for free viewing is also to be installed anew at the Capitol grounds in time of the much-awaited Pacquiao-Marquez rematch. (With ELB)
