Viva Pac Man!

If I were a betting man I would have wagered that the Pacquiao vs. De la Yoya bout would last the distance! With the Pac Man at a disadvantage in terms of size and arm lenght he would not be able to catch the Golden Boy with his trademark straight left and will definitely stay out of a rope side slug fest; De la Hoya on the other hand, is an aged fighter and will not waste energy throwing low percentage punches. Well, I would have been right with my assessment of Oscar but dead wrong with that of Manny!

Speed proved to be Manny's edge as he continuously landed straight lefts on the face of De la Hoya and sliding away to negate any counters by thrown his way! Manny's was very dynamic all through out the fight making him a hard target for Oscar! He was the epitomy of Muhammad Ali's boxing mantra, "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!" After 8 rounds, De la Hoya was PRETTY NO MORE! His face was puffy red and his left eye almost swollen shut! Nacho Beristain, Oscar's trainer, can no longer bear the beating being taken by his ward and called it quits before the 9th round began.

I knew of the decision even before the "live" telecast was shown on TV! My aunt was listening over the radio (which is apparently the "more live" telecast) and announced that the fight was being stopped for reasons she just couldn't seem to understand. Then came the flurry of text messages to confirm that, indeed, The Pambansang Kamao has won!

I still watched the "live" telecast just to witness what really transpired. According to the radio account of my aunt, Manny got staggered on the 6th round and needed to knock out De la Hoya to win! After watching the bout I can now confirm that my aunt is not a reliable boxing commentator!

Well, I'm not going to feel sorry for the Golden Boy! He's had his run and what a good run it was! He defeated seventeen world champions and has won ten world titles in six different weight classes---this is a testament of his greatness! Besides, he just pocketed a boat load of cash---what's to fuss about?

The whole Philippines has been in the state of elation since mid-day---so I guess it's time for me to do my own victory dance! Viva Pac Man!