Siftings
Pacquiao Miscellany, Random Thoughts, etc.
Everyone is hung up on Manny Pacquiao and I am not about to add to the general hosanna on his winning over the Golden Boy Oscar de la Hoya, who, to his eternal 'huya,' or shame, will now be known as the Golden Has-been (terminology mine and mine alone). I knew from the start that the Golden Boy would not win. Simple arithmetic. A boxer who fights comfortably and wins at weights close to 160 lbs and who lost in his last fight and failed to keep his title, who goes on a diet to fight a younger, smaller man known for his speed and fierce fighting style – not to mention his patriotic desire to bring honor to his country – could not possibly win!
To be honest, De la Hoya was the one fighting with a handicap: he lost weight and therefore, lost some of his strength and muscle power! It wasn't like he was losing fat, he was losing muscle power! And the last straw that brought him down, I think, was the fact that at the last weigh-in, Manny was one and a half lbs. heavier than him! Several days before the fight, De la Hoya was shown on TV looking quite pinched and drawn. Not the fighting form of a champ at all. He looked half-starved to my objective eye. On the other hand, Manny looked in the pink of bursting health, springier, cheerier, positively brimming over with energy and confidence. In the few minutes before the fight, De la Hoya looked even more pinched, drawn, worried – clearly he was demoralized and lacked confidence. At the post-fight interview, it is to his credit that he did not blame his handlers and manager for getting him into a fight which he could not possibly win, except by a miracle and the power of his myth as international boxing's Golden Boy. But Floyd Mayweather had broken that myth last year. How could De la Hoya possibly think he could bring back the myth by winning over Pacman?
Be that as it may, Manny is the world's No. 1 Boxer today, pound for pound. And we saw how good he is, in form, speed and style. In truth, he could become one of the world's greatest fighters, up there with the likes of Joe Louis, George Foreman, Mohammad Ali, and those legendary boxing greats like our own Flash Elorde, all heavyweights in a manner of speaking. But clean and clear champions of their time. And Manny is clean. And the best way for him to keep clean is to keep his nose out of politics, in which he had already been defeated once. Let's hope that he keeps this defeat in mind and continues to be the hero we Filipinos want him to be! There are very few politician-heroes in the Philippines, and they are all dead.
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It's pretty cold here now, but we are not experiencing snow the way other states are.
But I did, several years ago, and I don't particularly miss it, although snow does make a picturesque setting for photos to be sent home. We've experienced some homegrown American festivities, though: Thanksgiving dinner, a concert Fil-Am style, a trip to the fabulous Monterey Bay Aquarium, and a Christmas party given by the nursing school, NCP College of Nursing, where my daughter works. This school trains young people to be nursing professionals, and has an international staff and faculty composed of Americans, Black Americans, Iranians, Indians, Chinese, Filipinos and Fil-Ams.
In case this column does not make the usual deadline, charge it to the 'nakakasukang' cold which makes you want to curl up in your warmed bed even up to the middle of the day. But I should stop carping about this everlasting feeling that you're inside a freezer which makes you think that your emotions and mind are also frozen. Perish the thought! So here I end, random thoughts unformed, free-wheeling ideas not working, etc., etc. In the meantime, I will try to keep this column from freezing too! A Happy Holiday season to all, again!