Friday, September 05, 2008 Wenceslao: Pacquiao-Darlene, Pacquiao-Oscar By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
MANNY Pacquiao has taken his oath as member of the Arroyos’ Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), a political party.
Meaning, he has gotten over the whipping he got from Darlene Antonino Custodio in the 2007 congressional polls. In Pacman, one can say a politician is in the boxer and a boxer is in the politician. A loss didn’t deter him.
There’s another analogy there: Pacquiao vs. Oscar de la Hoya. That bout, set for Dec. 6, has been dubbed by some sportswriters, local and international, as a “mismatch” because Oscar is heavier and taller. A David vs. Goliath matchup.
Just like Pacquiao in the country’s political arena, where almost all the odds seem to be stacked against him.
But the elections will be held in 2010 yet, and all we have are conjectures of what will happen by then. Pacquiao-de la Hoya, meanwhile, is but three months away. And it has the makings of a world boxing spectacle, the first time in the history of Philippine sports that a Pinoy roams, although momentarily, a major international sports stage.
Much of the criticisms hurled so far, though, has been on de la Hoya, for picking a fight against a smaller man (Pacquiao is lightweight champion, at 135 lbs.; de la Hoya weighed 151 lbs. when he fought Steve Forbes recently). De la Hoya has agreed to trim down to 147 lbs. during weigh-in for the Pacquiao bout. Pacman hopes to meet him there.
I was one of those who wished the bout would materialize even at the time when negotiations for it got stalled. It would be Pacquiao’s biggest payday (estimates pegged it at a maximum of $30 million, that’s billions in pesos). He would be in win-win situation. Wether he triumphs or not, he would take over as the biggest name in world boxing.
“Mismatch” is a matter of theory. If what so-called boxing “experts” spread around were to be listened to every time a match is being set up, many of the great fights would never have happened. A match is fought in the ring, not in the minds of writers and experts. We will only know if Pacquiao-de la Hoya is a mismatch after the bout.
Many international boxing sports writers have been predicting Pacman’s doom since he burst into the American scene with a win over Lehlo Ledwaba. They called him one-dimensional and he was not given a chance against Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, even David Diaz. Others insisted Pacquiao lost twice to Juan Manuel Marquez.
But fights between a smaller and bigger fighter have been done in the past, and many have been competitive. Had Monte Barrett thought about the size disparity when he fought the hyped Tye Fields, he would not have felled the latter like a log. If boxing is only about size, Nikolay Valuev would be the greatest heavyweight champ of all time.
Mismatch is a bout where one fighter does not have a shot at winning at all.
But de la Hoya, even in his prime, s not invincible, even more so at age 35.
Ask the great Pernell Whitaker, who was old when he fought a young Oscar: “No, he’s (de la Hoya) not a big puncher… He is not the same fighter. I just think he’s been around for too long.”
Pacquiao is in his prime and he has the speed and style to defeat an old Oscar. The bigger worry, of course, would have been Pacquiao not fighting de la Hoya even if the bout was already within his reach. We would all have been reduced to talking about “what ifs.” But with Pacquiao-de la Hoya on, the answers will be known come Dec. 6.
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)
