My ‘Deep Throat’ in Pacquiao Team

By Al S. Mendoza

NOW it can be told.

The reason why Doug Flescher was replaced by Tom Miller as one of the three judges in the recent Pacquiao-Marquez fight was through the instigation of a genuine Filipino boxing lover.

I cannot divulge his character here, lest I incur the ire of the guy himself and tells his friends at the US embassy to revoke my five-year I Visa (Journalist Visa) ASAP.

Suffice it to say that the guy himself is a very lovable fellow whose passion for boxing is surpassed only by his undying love for a beautiful Dagupena lass he had married some decades ago.

Yes, the fellow, who isn’t from Dagupan, also loves our bangus more than the Pacific salmon he has become familiar with by now since he has built his American abode by the bay in San Francisco ages back.

“No, don’t even think about it,” he warned. “Just write about the stuff I did but never mention my name. I did it for the love not only of Pacquiao but for the entire nation as well, for my kababayans particularly whose devotion to boxing I salute till kingdom come.”

The stuff he did was of heroic proportions. Had he not done what he did, we would have surely seen Pacquiao lose his bout to Marquez on points.

This was what this modern-day Deep Throat did at the eleventh hour to save our Pacquiao from sure defeat.

After researching on the bio-data of the three original judges about two weeks before the fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, he said he found out something about Flescher that “would surely jeopardize” the boxing career of Pacquiao.

“I discovered that he had made egregious verdicts in the last 12 fights that he had judged,” the guy told me.

So, since he is a close buddy of Bob Arum, who handles Pacquiao, he alerted Uncle Bob about his discovery.

Arum responded quickly and requested boxing officials to yank out Flescher and put in Miller instead.

The reason given by Arum was, “Flescher could be biased in his judgment as he is a dear friend of Freddie Roach’s mother.”

Roach is the American trainer of Pacquiao.

I don’t know if Arum’s reason is true or not. Flescher did not contest his replacement, so we could assume Arum was right.

“But imagine what would have happened if Flescher wasn’t replaced?” said my Deep Throat.  “Knowing his record, he could have made Marquez the winner.”

Miller voted 114-113 in favor of Pacquiao, giving the Filipino a split decision victory to wrest the WBC super featherweight crown from Marquez and become the first Asian to win three world titles in three weight divisions.

That might not have happened had our Deep Throat not intervened.

For all its thrills, excitement and drama, boxing, sadly, is controversy-laden and filled with backroom maneuverings.

Connections, too.  Without our Deep Throat being a dear buddy of Bob Arum, we might now have a Pacquiao licking his wounds as a loser and a Marquez basking in the false glory of victory.

“I just did what I felt was the right thing to do,” said Deep Throat. “Every Filipino should protect Pacman, truly our national treasure.”

(Readers may reach columnist at also147@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/general-admission/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

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