It may be true that many Filipinos are disappointed or outright disheartened with how the seven-time world champion in as many division, reigning WBO welterweight titlist and pound-for-pound kingpin, Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao defended his belt for the first time largely due to the tough but clearly passive challenger and former IBF welter champion in Joshua “The Grandmaster” Clottey, Sunday, March 14. I am not. Rather, I was and still am disappointed with something else–the GMA 7 free coverage. It was a near piece of s—t (expletive).
This may be true as well that perhaps most if not more of the so-called diehard fans lost their bets due to ludicrous premise not about whether Pacquiao will either lose or not but on what roundClottey would kiss the canvass. Sorry people but Clottey isn’t a walk in a park even for the Pan-Man himself. I honestly pity those who spiel that it was a boring fight. I certainly wouldn’t want to concur. What I saw was an action-packed, one-sided domination of a game Pacquiao and a back pedaling, defensive, just-passing-to-get-my-paycheck-strong Ghanaian. Also for me, it was far from boring, though. All twelve rounds I was sitting on my toes, sweating as if in need for toilet after feasted on some soup gladly not the Ghanaian BANKU and OKRU stew! Whoa, does it ring a BELL, you boxing fans?(Please excuse me for the pun). What you are if you got bored with 1,231 punches thrown by the Pinoy phenom based on CompuBox versus pathetic 399 by the challenger? When did you see six heads short of a sold-out ticket of 51,000 people in attendance at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas –the third most attended boxing event in recent history? I just really don’t know.
But I am no boxing analyst, neither a commentator nor an expert so I am leaving the full commentary to all who say they are. But in all honesty, the fight–I mean ONLY the fight and nothing more– was far from being a slumber-inducing pill unless, of course, you are a rabid fanatic of the sports in search for pure brutality and not of the Sweet Science.
Forget that I am a full pledged KAPUSO, watching almost all of the anime especially Hunter X Hunter to Knock-out on mornings and also the 24 Oras to Queen Seon Doek at primetime. Forget also that I own a little over a thousand shares of GMA Network stocks that again, for sure, will earn handsome dividends due to its string of commercial successes on top of this monstrous event called, “The Event”. It no longer matter to me the possible amount of revenue I am guaranteed to generate based on these but as a true-blue boxing fan, I need to feed myself with right amount of boxing dosage at the best possible frame of time to get well with thirst of such information.
Clearly, what I mean is the commercial delays were awful. You would count to ten commercial plugs at average of 20 seconds each but then you still can’t see the following round coming due to miscalculated interruptions. Or when it does, probably the fight had already resumed. I feel as if I was in nasty facial contorting with each passing commercial piece due to blatant disappointment. No wonder, I got a BP reading of 170/100.
But, then again, business as usual for the network I belong- with that old tag line: Where you belong. As a fan relying much from a free TV coverage, there seem to be nothing I can do. If only there was Pay-Per-View available for this fight using my Dream Direct Satellite, I might have thrown another 890 pesos just for a few hours of LIVE coverage. There was none. On the outset, for practicality’s sake, gladly, there was indeed none. I might reconsider myself, again, as an impulse buyer if I did purchase PPV.
Good thing, nonetheless, my old transistor radio worked real wonders. Coverage was LIVE. The only downside was that I needed to squeeze my brains out to picture what the anchor/host Orly Trinidad was trying to depict us. He would say, “Mosquito punch, pinakawalan ni Manny, sunod-sunod pero dalawa lang ang tumama!”
Then I said, “What the hell is mosquito punch?!”
As far as my limited boxing knowledge is concerned, there are basic punches left and right like jabs, crosses, hooks, straights and uppercuts. I learned one which is called the Bolo punch invented by one helluva Filipino boxing great during the Golden Era, Ceferino Garcia. The Gazelle Punch by none other than the father of modern boxing, Jim Corbett. The Dempsey roll, named after himself, Jack Dempsey. The Peek-a-boo by Cassius Clay or better known as Muhamad Ali is a thing of beauty. And of course the Manila Ice or the Pacquiao’s vaunted left straight.But how’s such a mosquito punch? What f*ck**g mosquito punch is?! I might agree, though, to call Pacquiao’s two fisted simultaneous assault on both sides of Clottey’s head as the “POMPYANG” punch ala FPJ which practically made some finicky rolling laughter across the globe. But a mosquito punch is not only out of books but a clear inappropriate nomenclature considering how a mosquito could possibly punch, if any. It is maybe a “kurot”, “pindot” or what but clearly not a punch at all.
Good thing, I stick with my transistor. The fight ended even before 1 pm. GMA7 coverage? 4pm!!!
So next time I better watch alongside my dearer Mylene who is in Manila. I might able to convince her to accompany me to one of some free LIVE shows there - Oh, oh hold a second, it is not what you think. Maybe it will be better. I wish it shall be the battle atop of that squared-circle with the loudmouth Money Mayweather. As some says, it takes two to tango. And so do boxing. And, perhaps… so do I.
Should I now move to the KAPAMILYA network with its TOP RANK, INC. rights to boot? I still have to think twice. Anyway, ABS-CBN share costs between 26 and 28 as of press time. But I’d rather discuss it with my broker, Joy of Venture Security, first to tame my impulsiveness.
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