His knockout defeat was also our defeat

By Al S. Mendoza

DEFINITELY, it was a sad day for Philippine boxing.

You are an icon like Manny Pacquiao, the toast of the world, and you suffer a defeat—your defeat is also the defeat of an entire nation.

Pacquiao’s sixth-round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez on Dec. 9 (Manila Time) wasn’t only a shock but it also felt like death to every Filipino whose adoration for Pacquiao is almost equal that to a veneration of a saint.

To every breathing Filipino, Pacquiao is the living symbol of invincibility.

He can be beaten on points.  Easy to accept.  But by knockout?  Holy cow!  Unbelievable, indeed!

We took his loss via a controversial decision to Tim Bradley earlier with an open heart—even as we initially treated that setback as highway robbery.

The howls of protest that accompanied the verdict—not only from our country but also from the farthest corners of the globe—were proof of the incorrectness of the three judges’ decision.

But now, this, Pacquiao losing by knockout.

The world couldn’t believe what it had seen:  Pacquiao lying face down after getting hit by a right to the face with just one tick left in the sixth round.

It was a lucky punch, no question about that.

But the way it found its mark, and the resulting impact it generated—wow, almost inexplicable, if you ask the so-called pundits.

But, modesty aside, as I keep saying in radio and TV interviews that ensued after the stunning fact, I firmly maintained that it was a lucky punch.

It was, because when two boxers decide to mix it up, defense becomes non-existent.  Offense kills everything as both fighters have only one thing in mind:  Throw punches of all kinds.

Marquez’s knockout punch appeared genuine only when gleaned on the slo-mo replay.    Surely, it would appear like it was well-timed.

But go back again to real-time action, minus the replay, and it was that:  pure and simple lucky punch.

In the absence of defense, the one with the big punch connecting would more or less capture the win.  That simple.

They brawled like drunken men inside a telephone booth.  What would you expect?

One of them would surely fall.

It was just too bad that Pacquiao got hit and Marquez was just too damn lucky to land the axe-like shot.

Sorry to say but there was no science in that Marquez punch.

It was big, all right, as in most shots thrown by powerful boxers like Marquez and, yes, Pacquiao, too (didn’t Pacquiao break Marquez’s nose and yet, Marquez refused to fall?)

We weep, as we always do, when we see one of our heroes fall—as in also the case of Ninoy Aquino after he was shot dead at the Naia tarmac in 1983.

But in the end, whether or not Pacquiao retires now, he will remain a hero, as one who has made the country proud with his exploits.  Forever.

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