Tuesday, July 01, 2008 Malilong: Pacman’s evolution By Frank Malilong The Other Side
THERE goes the goat.
Hours before Manny Pacquiao fought David Diaz in Last Vegas last Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported an incident during a news conference in which the fight’s promoters established what the paper described as a new “high (low?) for gimmicks.”
“Diaz, a big Chicago Cubs fan,” wrote LA Times columnist Bill Dwyre, “was told that there would be a goat on hand, that it would represent the famous curse of the goat that Cubs fans often point to as the reason their team has been generally worthless and that were he to win the fight, the curse of the goat would be off.”
Diaz was, however, informed of the plan only minutes before the goat was brought out and, wanting no part of it, headed for the men’s room.
Here is how Dwyre narrated the scene that followed Diaz’s quick escape: “In his absence, Pacquiao welcomed the goat, smiled broadly, petted the animal and uttered the immortal words: ‘Goat is my favorite food.’”
If the ploy’s brains had meant to pass the curse of the goat on to Pacquiao, he was way off his mark and Diaz showed more sense in distancing himself from it. For Manny’s words were prophetic: he feasted on the defending champion with as much gusto as Walk Talk and Eat club members devour Butch Gimarino’s home-cooked kaldereta.
But more than Pacquiao’s masterful conquest of his latest Mexican victim, it was the class that both boxers displayed after they fought savagely in the ring that made the fight memorable. In a sport where gloating is a fixture, you seldom see a boxer immediately coming back to check if his fallen opponent wasn’t seriously hurt.
But Pacquiao did just that; the television screen showed him trying to pull Diaz up even before the referee had begun the count. No wonder when their paths crossed minutes later, Diaz repeatedly told Pacquiao, “God bless you, man.” How can you say that to someone whose wicked cross just sent you to an unscheduled date with the mat? And they say boxing is primitive and barbaric!
Dwyre said that with Oscar De La Joya going “from being the face of boxing to being a face in boxing”, Pacquiao could become the next big thing: “what Tiger is to golf, Federer to tennis.”
“The things Pacquiao has going for him are his boxing skills, his good looks and quick smile, and the well-documented Robin Hood role he has played for the poor in his native Philippines.”
Still, Dwyre said, “somebody needs to explain to him where he might sit in the history of boxing, what he might do outside the ring to keep his sport in the headlines and on the 10 o’clock news.”
If his demeanor during and after his last fight were any indication, Pacquiao’s education may have already begun.
