THOUGH he rooted for the Pinoy boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, Cebu boxing patron Antonio L. Aldeguer said Juan Manuel Marquez deserved to win in their rematch.
In his assessment, Aldeguer had Marquez winning and retaining his WBC super featherweight title.
“In my scorecard, Marquez was leading by two points after the fight. That’s the way I see it,” Aldeguer told Sun.Star Superbalita.
“The most Manny could muster is a draw. I didn’t see what I expected to see from Manny during the fight. But we should consider also the courage of Manny, grabe gyud,” said Aldeguer, who owns the famous ALA boxing stable.
Aldeguer believes that Pacquiao was greatly affected by his effort to make weight and said it is time for the Filipino puncher to move up.
“Manny should go to 135 na, maglisod na gyud siya’g kuha sa 130,” said Aldeguer.
On the other hand, sports patron Jonathan “Atan” Guardo, who was in Las Vegas to see the fight, said Pacquiao deserved to win.
“Marquez was a very tough fighter, he deserved a standing ovation. I salute him. But Manny landed the punches that count,” Guardo said in a text message to Superbalita.
Cebu City Councilor and boxing fan Jack Jakosalem also lauded Pacquiao for his courage.
“Marquez was unbelievably strong, fast and indestructible. Pacquiao was just more constantly powerful till the end. I guess that, plus his heart, spirit and passion to win conquered Marquez then finally the judges,” Jakosalem said in a message to Superbalita.
For their part, sportsman Lorenzo “Chao” Sy and City Hall’s Nagiel Banacia believe the fight should have been a draw.
“At most, it should have been a draw,” Banacia told Sun.Star. “At least it will make a third fight interesting.”
Commentators
Meanwhile, though the judges were split in their decisions, majority of the Pinoy fans thought the fight between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Marquez was an explosive one.
However, what had a lot of room for improvement was how the commentators handled their duties.
“Pwede i-mute, saba kaayo, pataka ra ug sulti,” fight fan Jun Rodriguez told a waiter prior to the showing of the main event at the Marriott Hotel, which attracted some 300 patrons.
Compounding the woes of the fans was how “ads” were spliced into their commentary at the start of each round, linking a product’s strengths to Pacquiao’s abilities.
A fan at the Mannypacquiao.ph forums posted he got irritated every time one of the commentators said, “ Manny lakasan mo loob mo suportado ka ng Ginebra san Miguel or ang laki ng puso ni Manny gaya ng Kape Puro 100 percent pure taste, pure aroma.”
Irritant
Aside from the animated comments of Quinito Henson, which drew the most flak from those in the audience, the commentators’ confusion regarding their own scores was an added irritant.
In the 12th round, Chino Trinidad said, “I have it 104-104, pwede ba yun?”
Also just before the official scorecards were to be read, Trinidad was heard saying, “I think I have it 114-113 for Marquez.”
Meanwhile, Joan Danao, Marriotts’ PR manager, said there was a remarkable increase of people who watched the fight in their ballroom despite the growing number of establishments that aired the fight.
“We had to add lots of tables. In his previous fights, we weren’t full,” said Danao.
After the fight, it was Pacquiao’s stint with the microphone that also drew a few laughs from the crowd.
When asked whether he is open to a third fight with the Mexican, Pacquiao came up with a classic, “I don’t think so, the business is over.”
Remark
However, that witty remark was lost when he was asked whether he was mad at himself in the eighth round when he got hit by Marquez. replied:
“It’s psychological, you know.”
Meanwhile, as usual, fight fans who opted to view the telecast on free TV had to endure a barrage of commercials.
The telecast over GMA 7 started at around 2 p.m., some two hours after the fight ended.
The station went to break in between the singing of the three national anthems and had six minutes and 20 seconds of ads, including one that praised the station’s integrity, at the end of round one, another 6:30 at the end of round two, dragging the conclusion of the fight further. (ML, ESL)
