Zeroing in on Pacquiao & Diaz

By Al S. Mendoza

 

MANNY Pacquiao and now, Hidilyn Diaz.

They are both sports heroes.

But before achieving success, they were both dirt-poor.

The duo came from Mindanao—Pacquiao a fish vendor from GenSan, Diaz a water-gatherer from Zamboanga.

The commonalities end there.

For, while Pacquiao, 37, has become a billionaire, Diaz, 25, can never be one.

Pacquiao earned his billions as a boxer.

According to Bob Arum, Pacquiao will amass more.

“Manny is good for two more fights after fighting Jessie Vargas in November,” said Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s American promoter. “Two more in 2017 and then he can retire.”

Pacquiao has actually retired after beating Timothy Bradley Jr. on points last April.

Just this week, Pacquiao has officially announced he was un-retiring.

After having closed-door talks with Arum in Manila, Pacquiao said he would fight Vargas on Nov. 6 (PHL Time) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“But I will not be breaking my election promise to work hard in the Senate,” Pacquiao said in a statement.  “I will be a legislator by day, and a boxer by night.”

Meaning, he’d be at the Senate in coat and tie while the sun is up, and at the gym in boxing shorts and wearing boxing gloves at nighttime.

“Boxing is my job,” he said.  “I earn my living boxing.  The Senate cannot provide the money I need for my family and Team Pacquiao.”

Though he is close to 40 and therefore in near-retirement, Pacquiao believes he can still dish it out.

Even Freddie Roach thinks the same.

“I know Manny can still fight and can still win,” said Freddie, Pacquiao’s trainer since 2001.

But while Pacquiao continues to whip up a global storm each time he fights, Diaz can only savor a short shot at world fame.

And even as Hidilyn’s weightlifting silver in the Rio Olympics shines brightly like gold, her Olympic success is going to be a short-lived celebration.

It is the significance of Diaz’s feat that will linger for the longest time—the silver being our first since boxer Onyok Velasco’s finals loss to a Bulgarian 20 years ago.

Diaz also broke through in Olympic glory, giving us an emphatic message again that we can corner Olympic medals only in weight-laden competitions like boxing, taekwondo, judo and, yes, weightlifting.

For, you see, Diaz was never given a Chinaman’s chance to snare even a bronze.

She failed badly in both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games, remember?

But then, when nobody was looking, Diaz came up with her stunning feat to snap a 20-year medal drought, becoming the first Filipino female to win an Olympic medal since our Olympic debut in the 1924 Paris Games.

It was our 10th Olympic medal ever—Hidilyn’s silver our third, counting the two boxing silvers from Anthony Villanueva in 1964 Tokyo and Onyok in 1996 Atlanta.

And because Hidilyn’s P5-million bonus is but a paltry sum compared with Pacquiao’s billions in boxing earnings, Pacquiao took pity and offered to give Diaz more.

Only proves that heroes, indeed, love each other, care for each other. Hep-hep-hooray!

Will President Duterte follow suit?  Just right, I believe.

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