Pacquiaowin nating Pilipino ang palakpak ng mundo.
We deserve it. Manny Pacquiao is a Filipino, and the whole world claps for him. Thanks to Pacquiao, our national pride has been raised another notch. Pang-Guinness Book of world records na siya!
Manny is the only man in the whole world that has won in seven different weight divisions ( flyweight, super-bantamweight, featherweight, super-featherweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, and welterweight) in the history of boxing.
According to 79-year old Top Rank promoter Bob Arun, “I am now on record to say Manny Pacquiao is the best boxer I have ever seen and that includes Muhammad Ali, Sugar Rey Leonard, or Marvin Hagler. I have never seen anyone like him. “
Even the bandits in Mindanao had decided to free Irish Columban priest Michael Sinnot so that they could go down the mountains to watch the fight of Pacquiao. Hindi ba nakakalokah? Nang tinanong kung sino ang dapat niyang pasalamatan sa kanyang paglaya, ang sagot ni padre, “Manny Pacquiao.”
After one month in captivity, sleeping under a tarpaulin-covered tent, and walking the woods every day for six hours, Fr. Sinnot—who has a two million dollar ransom on his head—was freed just like that. His captors wanted to watch the Pacquiao fight.
I watched the fight via pay-per-view (no commercials) with my family and my best friend Ina Raymundo. We were holding hands, screeching and screaming like were watching a horror movie. After every round, I kept on saying, “I need a commercial break to recover.”
In fairness to Miguel Cotto, he put up a good fight. After the first round when Miguel Cotto threw in double left jabs that made Pacquiao a little off balance, I prayed to God for Manny to win the game. Never akong nagdasal for Manny kasi alam kong kayang-kaya niyang manalo.
Si Ricky Hatton nga, pang-two rounds lang kay Pacquiao. Sabi ko sa sarili ko, “Naku baka mga manalo si Cotto. Nag-HEAD AND SHOULDERS lang kasi si Pacquiao. E, pang dandruff lang yun. Di ba niya alam na Cotto (kuto) and kalaban niya? “
But Manny was not only strong. He was smart. He made Cotto feel too confident by doing the rope-the-dope technique. Nagtataka ako bakit pumapayag si Manny magpa-corner sa ringside, sumandal sa ring ropes at magpasuntok kay Cotto. I didn’t know it was a technique (Muhammad Ali is known for this technique) so that Cotto will forget his powerful jarring left jab and concentrate on moving in to unload short-range bombs.
It was risky for Pacquiao but smart. Just when Cotto was feeling more comfortable unloading power shots to Pacquiao on a close range in round four, Pacquiao gave him a vicious left hook in his jaw that made Cotto drop to his knees.
After Cotto endured 336 punches from Manny, the referee Kenny Bayless decided to halt the fight seeing Cotto full of blood and being punched consecutively by our idol.
Seeing this billboard in Union Square, San Francisco is overwhelming and heart-stopping. Dati-rati, taga-linis lang tayong Pilipino ng billboards sa Amerika. Ngayon, Pilipino na ang nasa billboard!
Time Magazine has only featured a few Filipinos on their cover—President Ferdinand Marcos, President Cory Aquino, and now, Manny Pacquiao. Truly you have to be SOMEONE in your TIME and make a difference before you can be a cover of Time magazine.
What good news Manny Pacquiao brought to a grieving nation. After Ondoy, Pepeng, and news about politicians being tried on corrupting and malversing the funds of the Filipinos, we deserve to hear good news. MABUHAY KA, PACQUIAO! SALAMAT!