FILIPINO boxer Manny Pacquiao won his bout with the Argentinian Lucas Matthysse on Sunday, winning in the process a world welterweight crown. That must have surprised many who thought the Pacman’s age (he is already 39) and his lack of focus on boxing (he is a senator and has not fought for months) would take their toll. Yet he won, a testament to his skills and, conversely, Matthysse’s lack of it.
I did not watch the coverage of the fight that was held in in Malaysia (President Rodrigo Duterte was ringside) because I had more important concerns that day. It would have been different had I bought Sky Cable’s pay-per-view offering, but it would have cost me almost P1,000. Gone are the days when I would give up everything just to be able to see a coverage of a Pacquiao fight.
But first, to the fans of the boxer Manny Pacquiao. I do hope you would forgive me for this. This article is more critical of Pacquiao than groveling. That’s why I only wrote this a few days after the bout, to allow those who are celebrating to settle down. I don’t want to spoil their fun.
When I write about Pacquiao, I remember a friend who once told me I shouldn’t let my displeasure with his politics ruin my appreciation of him as a boxer. But actually it is difficult to separate Pacquiao, the politician, from Pacquiao, the boxer. He is after all a human being with rounded character.
I wasn’t very critical of Pacquiao when he won a House of Representatives seat and started piling up absences because he fought and had to prepare for it. But I did criticize him after he won a Senate seat and promised to focus on that work and not on boxing. He didn’t make good that promise. Worse, his politics became obnoxious. He played the role of an administration puppet to the hilt.
I was willing to give him a pass when he spoke against homosexuals based on what his pastors in his religion taught him about the teachings of Christ. But when he started playing political executioner for the administration majority in the Senate, I began seeing the man in a different light.
He seemed to relish, for example, his taking the lead early on in stripping Sen. Leila de Lima of her being chairperson of one of the Senate committees that looked into the extrajudicial killings that became an offshoot to the government’s fight against the illegal drugs trade. His playing a part in the persecution of de Lima was a big minus for me. One that I would never give him a pass for.
Then he decided to box again in what The Ring’s—and ESPN’s--Nigel Collins described as money fights. To my displeasure was added the worries, especially when he dropped his long-time mentor Freddie Roach from his team. As an avid boxing fan, I have seen this unfold a number of times before: boxing legends becoming caricatures of themselves in their waning years.
Surprisingly, Pacquiao won against the not-so-young Matthysse (he is 35), knocking him out in the process. That win could set him up for a bigger tragedy in the future. If he doesn’t quit, he would eventually get his comeuppance in the form of a younger and better fighter. I only hope by then the physical beating wouldn’t be too much.