Palarong Pambansa
DIPOLOG CITY—It’s called The National Games. In local lingo, Palarong Pambansa. Founded in 1948, it is a yearly sporting event, held each summer at a different city or province, that allows the country’s best elementary and high school students to compete. This 2011, the venue is … “Romeo Jalosjos City.” That’s Dapitan.
How is the Palaro, so far? Having arrived here last Friday afternoon — that’s six long days ago — my reply is both perplexing and unusual: I Don’t Know. Funny as it sounds, because my daughter Jana is competing in the elementary girls tennis category (their team won bronze two days ago and, thus far, she’s won all her three singles matches), we’ve been stuck in one rectangular-shaped venue: the tennis court.
With my daughter Jana and Roland So and his daughter Camille
Jana is joining her first Palaro. We are lucky to be residing in the comfortable guest house of the Montaño family, my mom’s relatives — just a kilometer away from the venue that is the Mibang Tennis Center in Dipolog City. That’s good.
The bad? As I said, we’ve hardly watched the other games. That’s because most of the venues are spread out. The elementary boys football games are in far-flung Barcelona. If you think that’s in Spain, no, that’s way too far away — but it’s still quite a distance: about half an hour or so from Dipolog. Swimming? It’s at the newly-build Sports Complex. For tennis, there are four categories: boys/girls, elementary/high school. All divisions, would you believe, are scattered in four separate venues. This means we have yet to watch the Region VII teammates of Jana. Sad.
One night here three days ago, we found Mike and Betty Veloso in a seaside restaurant in Dapitan. They looked exhausted. Residing in Dipolog, each day they had to shuttle to Dapitan for the practice sessions of their son Sabin… then proceed to Barcelona for their 7 a.m. game.
But we’re not complaining. This is sports. This is the Palaro. This isn’t the Olympics. In fact, even in the most prestigious spectacle of this planet, the Olympic Games, the venues are scattered. (One exception might be next year in London; they’ve tried to contain the venues in nearby areas to ease the mobility for both athletes and spectators.)
Why is the Palaro in Dapitan and Dipolog this 2011? Why was it in San Jose, Tarlac last year? And in Tacloban, Leyte the year before? Why not in mega-cities like Davao or Bacolod or Manila? Valid question. Why was Cebu City’s last hosting in 1994? That was 17 summers ago. Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, who helped build the Cebu City Sports Center, provided me the answer months back: To give an opportunity for smaller cities/provinces to build new facilities.
Take Dapitan. Lobbied by Rep. Jalosjos — whom everybody here I interviewed adores and calls a “great leader” — the brand-new Dapitan sports stadium costs P250 million. We visited last Monday. The maroon-colored oval looks stunning. The high-rise bleachers, covered by a giant roof that opens like the wing of a bird, sits back-to-back: one side of the bleachers faces the track oval while the other side overlooks the Olympic-size swimming pool. Clever.
Nimrod Quiñones wrote an excellent piece in The Freeman yesterday on the possibility of a once-every-two years (biennial) Palarong Pambansa — instead of yearly. This makes sense. It’s less expensive. But, I’m sure, plenty will complain: the athletes. This will rob them of a giant tournament to anticipate each May.
My suggestion? To save on cost (remember: a new stadium, like Dapitan’s, cost P250,000,000), why not alternate the hosting between an industrialized city and a smaller one. Next year, I overheard, the Games might be in Albay. Why not Cebu City the year after? Then a smaller one (possibly Dumaguete) in 2014. Then another bigger site, say Cagayan de Oro, in 2015. This would lessen the infrastructure cost but continue the habit of the every-summer Palaro.
For this, I can’t wait – and it’s about time: Palarong Pambansa, Cebu City, 2013. Let’s go for this, Mayor Mike?
Mosley, mostly scared, is just like Money
DIPOLOG CITY–Jasmin, Jana and I, our trio family of Js, are here in the Sardines Capital of the Philippines because Jana, our 12-year-old only child, is representing Region VII in the 54th Palarong Pambansa. She’s playing elementary tennis.
PacMan last Sunday? Yes, we watched. Together with the Cebu tennis team, a dozen of us gathered inside the guest house of the Montaño family–the relatives of my mom and the owners of the famed Montaño Spanish Sardines. Like tens of thousands of other gatherings nationwide, we huddled as one Filipino family to rejoice in the victory of The Great One.
Jana Pages and Janel Dihiansan
Yes. While Jose Rizal, our undisputed national hero, is celebrating his 150th year in nearby Dapitan City, we, too, are celebrating our 21st Century hero who sports the haircut of Jose Rizal (or is it Bruce Lee? or Justin Bieber?).
The fight, as we all agree, was boring. We had gotten used to MP wounding and inflicting blood and swollen eyeballs on Oscar and Margarito and Ricky and Diaz. Two days ago, it was ala Clottey. “He ran and ran,” said Manny. “He felt my power but did not want to stand with me. He wanted to get through 12 rounds. I thought he would fight toe to toe for at least five rounds, and then test our power and stamina. What am I going to do if my opponent does not want to go toe to toe? I’m disappointed for the fans.”
At the very end of the career of this nearly 40-year-old man was a strategy: to preserve his “I’ve-never-been-KOed-before” resume. After the third round, when Manny pummeled him with a left swing, this “Please, Manny, please, no knockout” plea was reinforced. Mosley backpedaled. He avoided Manny like Tommy and Mike would avoid each other. (Mosley landed only 82 of 260 punches; worse than Clottey’s 108 of 399 punches against MP.)
Pacquiao, himself, was unimpressive. He was too conservative. He wanted to win — not, as Bobby Inoferio would term it, by “Hattonizing” Mosley, but — via points. He was not the Mike Tyson we know. Maybe he was fearful of Mosley’s right fist. Maybe he had cramps. (But, seriously, cramps in the fourth round?) Whatever the reason, he wasn’t Thor Manny, whose left arm is a hammer. Some speculate it was overtraining. If we look back at this training camp of MP, it was, as Ariza and Roach would say, “the best training we’ve had.” One extra week was added to the schedule. There were zero distractions. No Krista Ranillo. No Ara Mina. No swimming pool training sessions. No gambling at the Waterfront Hotel’s private room.
Rep. Pacquiao, the now-good boy, wasn’t used to this. He was too clean, too focused. He was even too nice. (Can MP get a little nastier, at least on the ring? Just kidding.) Maybe Manny always needs pre-fight distractions? Ever the multi-tasker, maybe he needs more TV sitcom tapings, more Manila weekend night-outs. Maybe he needs to train, like he did for Barrera in 2007, complete with every-Sunday basketball sessions against our sportswriters group… here in Cebu.
On the more serious note, I like the analysis of CITOM Chairman Jack Jakosalem, a good friend of MP and an astute fan who never fails to watch (and record, in 1080p HD video) all the local boxing gigs. “I know many were disappointed,” said Jack. “But you have to remember that Mosley and Pacman are two of the most experienced boxers. They know that there’s no room for error. They could not be too aggressive because both have great speed and power. Pacquiao realized this when he saw Mosley knock Margarito out in nine rounds while it took him all 12 to get a UD. Mosley saw it when Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round while he lost to Cotto. At least we are now convinced that Pacquiao is better than Mayweather. Both fought Mosley and Mayweather didn’t dominate even close to the way Pacquiao did.”
I agree. So, I’m sure, do you. Manny vs. Money will end up with our own besting that loud mouth. However scared Floyd is, I am confident that 2012 — an Olympic year — is that moment when M & M will battle. I’ll go and watch the show. I hope Floyd shows up, too.
Money, Manny, Money
ABBA, the Swedish pop group that sold over 375 million records, had a No. 1 song called “Money, Money, Money.” Released in 1976 — two years before another No. 1, Manny Pacquiao, was born — the lyrics read: Money, money, money / Must be funny / In the rich man’s world / Money, money, money / Always sunny / In the rich man’s world… / A man like that is hard to find… / So I must leave, I’ll have to go / To Las Vegas or Monaco…
Sounds like it depicts a man named Manny with plenty of money in Vegas, right? Right. Because if you research on the Top 10 highest-earners in sports, you’ll find the following men on the list: Tiger Woods (# 1, $100 million), Kobe Bryant (2, $45M), Michael Jordan (3, $45M), Kimi Raikkonen (4, $45M), David Beckham (5, $42M), LeBron James (6, $40M), Phil Mickelson (8, $40M), Lionel Messi (9, $39M) and at No. 10, Alex Rodriguez, who earned $39 million.
If you look closely at the names, it’s missing one. You, of course, know this one. He’s number one in boxing. Rated # 7 in earnings for 2010, Manny’s money is estimated at $40,000,000. Translated to our currency, that’s P1.72 billion. Yes, no mistaken multiplication. Manny earned P1,720,000,000 in a 12-month period (from mid-2009 to mid-2010), mainly for just two fights, against Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto.
Two weeks ago, I read “PACMAN,” his biography. Gary Andrew Poole, the author, narrates of how poor Manny was (one meal a day, no place to sleep upon arrival in Manila, skeleton-thin in build and malnourished). In the book, MP’s story is even more unbelievable than, say, the flying powers of Superman or the hammer-wielding strength of Thor.
The past few years, each time Pacman enters the boxing ring, he’s guaranteed $15 million. That’s over six hundred million pesos. Per fight. Per maximum of 12 rounds. Per maximum of 36 minutes. In what has to be one of the most incredible “earnings-per-second” of any man in our planet’s history, against Ricky Hatton, our Pinoy boxer scored a KO victory in 2:59 of Round 2. Computing the $12 million that Mr. Pacquiao earned, that equates to $2 million earned per minute! Imagine that: Manny’s money is two million dollars per 60 seconds.
Compared to other athletes, they’re all KO’ed by Manny’s earning power. Take Rafael Nadal. In winning last year’s U.S. Open (the world’s richest tennis event), he brought home to Mallorca, Spain the amount of $1.7 million. Nadal had to beat seven opponents in two weeks to earn that money. (Manny earned the same, against Hatton, in less than a minute.) Or, shifting from sports to showbiz, how about comparing MP to, for example, a movie star like Will Smith. Last year, he was estimated to have earned a whopping $29 million. That’s plenty of green bucks for the Men In Black actor. Still, it’s much less compared to our Pinoy boxer who also doubles, unfortunately, as a money-losing movie actor.
MAY 8. This morning, Philippine time, as traffic stops, church pews are emptied, burglary ceases, mothers are celebrated, and everybody’s Filipino eyeballs fixated on the TV screens, Manny will feast on Las Vegas money. Guaranteed $20 million, plus-plus-plus the revenues from PPV and many more +++s, Rep. Pacquiao, to no surprise, has been declared by our congress as our nation’s “richest Congressman.” He declared more than a billion pesos net worth.
Imagine if, after beating Mosley this morning, he returns to Las Vegas in October then obliterates Juan Manuel Marquez, taking home another briefcase of cash amounting to $25M, then, next year, if the Fight of the Century happens, he adds $50,000,000 to his pocketbook and blemishes Floyd Mayweather, Jr.’s record? No Hollywood movie — even the L.A. Lakers’ unbelievable 0-3 record to Dallas Mavericks — can beat his true-to-life story.
Manny’s many definitions of ‘MP’
I’ve had the rare opportunity, back in September of ‘007, to witness Manny Pacquiao train. It was at the Rex “Wakee” Salud Gym in Labangon and, thanks to Philboxing’s co-administrator Salven Lagumbay (who, coincidentally, is celebrating his birthday today), I watched MP up-close. Twice.
“Manny Pacquiao had just finished 10 rounds of sparring,” I wrote four years ago. “Tired? Did he look fatigued? No. How about recharged? Or pumped-up? For one-and-a-half hours, I observed Manny. After sparring, Manny stepped down the ring then proceeded to pummel the double-end bag. He stared at the round leather that hung from the ceiling, encircled it, threw quick jabs, moved his head left, ducked, stepped back, forward.”
MP. Those initials don’t just spell out the initials of the most famous Pinoy, they also translate to many words. Maximum Pain. That’s one. For no boxer — and possibly athlete — is willing to drip more sweat, digest more punishment, and smile more while relishing all the affliction, than MP.
Gordon Marino of The Wall Street Journal, yesterday, wrote a stellar piece, “The Fight of the Physical Outlier.” I quote some portions…
“Pacquiao does 2,000 repetitions each day of situps and other punishing abdominal exercises,” said Marino. “He rounds out these exercises by, among other things, fast hill runs, interval training, zipping around cones to improve footwork and even, when no fight is coming up, playing basketball.”
MP’s resting heart rate is 42. That’s absurdly low. “Some endurance athletes, like Olympic cross-country skiers,” said Mr. Marino, “have lower resting pulse rates—somewhere around 38, Ariza says—but they also train at high altitude, something Pacquiao doesn’t. ‘Manny is on the level of the most conditioned athletes in the world,’ the trainer says. ‘He’s a phenomenon. I wish we could do in-depth tests, but he doesn’t like anything invasive.’”
This MP spells Mankind’s Phenomenon. MP is so gifted and driven that boxers often try to emulate his training. They can’t. In my two visits to the RWS Gym, I interviewed boxers and trainers. They all recited the same Quotable Quote: “Many follow Manny’s intense training. They all get sick!”
MP = Marvelous Pugilist. Simply, MP trains too hard, too intensely, too much. Haven’t we read of Alex Ariza and Freddie Roach asking their pupil to slow down and relax? Wow. How many athletes have been told the same? I can’t remember any other.
“Manny will go 15 rounds hitting the pads with me, and do exercises in the 60-second intervals between rounds,” says Roach. ‘It’s crazy.’”
“On days when we have heavy sparring, we like to cut out the morning run,” Ariza says. “Manny knows this and he’ll plead, ‘Please don’t stop me from running today.'”
While 98.7 percent of us often ask for stoppage to excruciating physical torture, it’s the opposite for MP. “Other differences that make Pacquiao stand out are the intensity and tempo at which he trains and fights, and his ability to ignore pain,” wrote Gordon Marino. “Most boxers are constantly trying to decide when to expend energy and when to take a round off. Pacquiao likes to know that he has enough training in the bank to allow him to bring the most intense heat possible and to punch almost continuously.”
Muscle Power. That’s MP. Shawn Porter, his sparring-mate, explains: “Sure, Manny is fast and hits hard, but the thing that is special with him is his intensity. It is electric in there. He is always pushing the pace.”
Ariza, quoted by Marino, likens Pacquiao to a military person (Navy SEAL?) who has the ability to extinguish pain during heavy exertion. Said Ariza: “Manny is definitely one of them. When Manny was a kid, he would run five miles a day in flip flops. Try that for a while and it will not only toughen your feet up, it will increase your pain tolerance.”
Digesting all this penance, Manny, who is set to earn P600,000,000 this Sunday, is also this MP: Mega-billionaire Pinoy.
Finally, our MP hope… Mosley, Pildi.
Is Shane Mosley boxing’s Randy Couture?
Last Saturday night in Canada, Randy Couture, three years shy of his golden birthday, got pounded in the jaw by Lyoto Machida’s flying kick; his head snapped at the ferocity of the impact as he tumbled on the Octagon floor.
Randy Couture is a Hall of Famer. He’s one of the–if not THE–most famous mixed-martial artist on earth. He’s revered. Yet, he is antique. Compared to Machida, who’s 15 years younger, Couture was primitive. Like S. S. Mosley?
With five days left before Manny Pacquiao battles another elderly, are we to expect the same quick finish? We hope so, of course. But this might be unrealistic. In an article in The Phil. Star last April 19, my favorite scribe, Quinito Henson, outlined reasons why Shane Mosley is not an easy prey.
“Why Mosley is Dangerous,” Henson’s column title, he enumerated 14 bullet points on the strength of the Californian. I’ll cite a few.
“He has one-punch knockout power in either hand, particularly the right,” said Quinito in Reason # 1. “In boxing, all it takes is a single connection and the fight could be over. Mosley boasts a knockout rate of 85 percent or 39 KOs of 46 wins, compared to Pacquiao’s 73 percent or 38 KOs of 52 wins.”
An 85 percent knockout rate is remarkable. As hard as MP has trained for this Sunday — possibly the best training he’s ever done — he’s got to be careful of Mosley’s right blow.
“He’s the only fighter to defeat the legendary Oscar de la Hoya twice,” said Quinito. These wins were in 2000 and 2003, back when ODLH was still in his prime.
“He’s the ‘longest’ fighter ever to battle Pacquiao with a startling 74-inch wingspan,” said Quinito. “That translates to a massive seven-inch reach advantage for Mosley. Two Pacquiao victims, Margarito and De la Hoya, both measure 73 inches in wingspan.”
Another reason, cited Mr. Henson: “He’s comfortable fighting in the 147-pound division. Mosley has weighed over 142 pounds for 22 bouts since 1999. Pacquiao has fought in only four fights weighing over 142 since 2008. Pacquiao scaled 142 pounds for De la Hoya, 144 for Miguel Cotto, 145 3/4 for Joshua Clottey and 144 1/2 for Margarito. Mosley will likely weigh five to 10 pounds more than Pacquiao when they square off. The edge in heft may be an advantage or a disadvantage for Mosley.”
Maybe because of “over-training” (Freddie Roach has advised his pupil to slow down), the Sarangani congressman weighs reportedly less now than while preparing for his past fights. We hope this does not translate to him weighing, on fight night, 10 or more lbs. lighter than Mosley.
“He has experience on his side,” added Quinito. Sugar Shane has fought in 53 fights that totaled 376 rounds. He’s joined 19 world title fights. Manny? He’s done 329 rounds, 57 bouts and 16 world title bouts. “Mosley racked up a record of 38-0, with 35 KOs, before tasting his first defeat nine years after turning pro. Pacquiao raced to an 11-0 record, with only three KOs, before suffering his initial setback to Torrecampo in 1996,” said Quinito.
Mosley defeated Antonio Margarito. So did Pacquiao. But, while Manny went 12 rounds with the Tijuana Tornada, Mr. Mosley finished the Mexican-American via a 9th round TKO.
Finally, in what to me is a crucial point, Quinito adds: “He fights like Juan Manuel Marquez. Pacquiao had difficulty against the Mexican in two bouts. Marquez, a technician, counter-punched and repeatedly found an opening for his right hand down the middle, into the heart of Pacquiao’s defense. Mosley will try to do the same on May 7.”
These Mosley advantages don’t mean he’s the favorite. Far from it. As we know, the odds are this: Your P70,000 bet on Manny will win you only P10,000. And vice versa for Mosley: bet P100 on him and you’ll win P700.
Still, as what we’ve seen mid-April when underdogs Orlando Salido and Victor Ortiz upset Juan Manuel Lopez and Andre Berto, there are no guarantees in boxing. Let’s just hope that, at a prehistoric age of 39, Mosley will do a Couture and end up in the same place come fight’s end. On the floor.
Can you swim six kilometers? Try it
Jose Antonio Aboitiz was our guest speaker last Tuesday. He spoke about water. “We take for granted the importance of water in our lives,” said Tonio, during our Rotary Club of Cebu West meeting at the Radisson Blu. “But all of life depends on water.”
True. The Chairman for the Visayas of the PBSP (Philippine Business for Social Progress), Mr. Aboitiz explained the various initiatives of his organization. Tonio also discussed a sporting event. A marathon, he called it. Only, this time, unlike the many races on foot that bombard the streets of Cebu, this one uses the feet in a different way.
“It’s a swimming marathon!” said Tonio. A swimming marathon? What’s that? Well, if there’s a 42K “Marathon” on asphalted road, there’s also a long-distance event… for swimmers. Six kilometers. Yes. That’s six thousand meters of swimming. “That’s tough,” I told Tonio. “It is. But with practice, you can finish it,” he said. (Earlier that Tuesday, Tonio practiced in Tambuli Beach Club — the site of the start/finish — with a 4K swim.)
The 4th Olango Challenge, it’s named, and it’s an open-water event that’s organized not only for sports — but more importantly, to raise funds for Olango Island. “In the past three Olango Challenge events,” said Tonio, “we’ve raised over P1.7 million. We’ve built many classrooms for the children of Olango.”
Two nights ago when we met, Tonio counted 85 participants for the 2011 edition. “This is the biggest we’ve had,” he said. And, my guess is, this number will balloon to over 100 swimmers. The deadline for registration is on Saturday morning, the day of the race, this April 30. The race begins at 10 a.m. Late registrants can go to Tambuli by 8 a.m. and still join.
What’s fun about this event is it’s not all-serious. Yes, for the serious “dolphins” like Paula Abigail Vega, Erika Lukang, Nikita Dacera and Michael David, there is prize money (P10,000 to the champion). But, to the rest of the non-competitive swimmers, there is a 2K swim and a 6K relay event.
“The Philippines is an archipelago surrounded by so much water,” said Tonio. “We have so much coastline. But the sad part is… we Filipinos are non-swimmers. Not all of us can swim — despite our many beaches. Many children drown. This event hopes to spread the joy of swimming and the love of the sea.”
The 6K, though daunting, is doable. It is divided into three 2K loops (or rectangles fronting Tambuli’s coastline). For the Fun category, participants can wear flippers. One person challenged by Tonio to join is Harry Radaza. Lapu-Lapu City’s energetic councilor will run the Run4Japan event the night before, on April 29, and will swim the next morning for Olango. (Is this Harry’s practice to join the TRI-Lapu-Lapu triathlon this December?)
“Swim for Nature, Swim for the Future.” That’s the tagline for this Saturday. It makes sense. You swim with nature to help preserve water; the proceeds of the swim go to “the future,” the children of Olango.
Mark Joseph and Lex Reyes of the Philippine Aquatic Sports Association (PASA), the two honchos of the national organization, will be here to join. (Mark is the brother of Dondi, the president of the Cebu Business Club.) To those interested, call Riva Valles of PBSP at 2325283 or 2325270. You can also visit olangochallenge.wordpress.com.
Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao vs. Mosley
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The Wakee Salud confession: I helped Manny
Wakee, introducing Manny to Nonito, during the 2009 Cebu Sports Awards
Yesterday morning, I spoke to one of Congressman Pacquiao’s best friends. “Manny and I became close in 2005,” said Rex “Wakee” Salud, who was in Cagayan de Oro yesterday when we talked for 18 minutes. “He had just lost the fight to Morales and I invited him to attend a promotion I organized in Lapu-Lapu. Manny came. That’s when our friendship started.”
Since then, M & W have been inseparable. Maybe you can call Mr. Salud “the good luck charm” of Rep. Pacquiao because, after their meeting, PacMan has not lost a fight since. That’s 13 straight wins leading up to Mosley. “Every fight since we became close, I’ve watched in person,” said Wakee, who’ll be flying to Las Vegas next Tuesday, on May 3.
Wakee’s biggest contribution to Manny’s career? It was convincing our Pinoy pride to stick with Bob Arum after he had signed with Oscar de la Hoya. “After Manny defeated Morales, he no longer wanted to sign with Top Rank,” said Wakee. “It was one of his last fights with their promotion. We were together in Denny’s restaurant in Los Angeles. Then, Freddie Roach fetched him in the airport. I didn’t know where they went. Attorney Gacal was with them…”
Of course, now we know that Manny met with Oscar de la Hoya that day. “Oscar offered $500,000 cash as signing bonus. Manny took it. He signed the contract. The next day, after the press conference, Bob Arum wanted to meet with Manny. At first, he refused. I asked Manny to listen to Bob; anyway, there was no harm in listening. And so, in one room, it was just the four of us: Manny, Bob Arum, myself and Michael Koncz. While Arum was speaking, Manny was just nodding his head. All along, while he did not say it, he had already signed with Golden Boy Promotions.
“I flew back to the Philippines. I arrived in Manila on a Friday and flew to Cebu on Sunday. Then Manny called. That’s when he told me about his acceptance of the $500,000 and his signing with Golden Boy. I told him he should have put that on hold first. Maybe Arum will match that offer. ‘Come here right away,’ said Manny. ‘I can’t,’ I said. ‘I just got home and it’s a Sunday. The travel agencies are closed.‘ But Manny insisted. And so on Monday, I bought a ticket and returned to L.A.”
At that point, nobody knew what was going on behind the scenes. Nobody could talk to Manny. Except one… RWS. “Ako ra gyud maka-duol ni Manny (It was only I, at that time, who could talk to Manny),” he said. “I stayed for 10 days in L.A., even spending my birthday there. Manny was afraid to go back to Arum. Hadlok siya mo pirma (He was afraid to sign), given that he had just signed with Oscar.”
Arum made a counteroffer of $1,000,000. “Plus, he would handle all the legal problems that were sure to happen,” said Wakee. “Manny further negotiated. He asked that the TV rights in the Phils. be under him. Arum said okay.”
The rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Who knows what would have happened had MP cemented his agreement with ODLH? “For sure,” said Wakee, “there would have been no Pacquiao vs. De La Hoya fight. How can a promoter fight his own boxer?”
I asked Wakee about next weekend’s May 7 fight. “Before Manny left for America, we were together. I was able to go up to Baguio and watched him spar for five rounds. At that time, he had cough and colds, maybe due to the hot-and-cold changing weather. Even when I dropped him at the airport before he flew to L.A., he was coughing.” Wakee’s prediction? KO before Round 10.
What makes MP unbelievable? “He’s one of a kind. His resistance is unbelievable. He trains the longest. Even though he’s been absent from his workouts prior to training, when he’d come back, his stamina is still there. One time, we were together and, for three straight days, he did not sleep. We played poker, billiards. Pulaw siya tu-lo ka gabii. Imagine that. For us, we’d already faint and weaken. Not Manny. His resistance is so strong. He’s one of a kind. And, most of all, it’s God-given. Even Manny himself says so. Manny knows it’s a gift from God.”
PacMan: The best MP biography I’ve read
UBAY, Bohol – I’m here with my father-in-law, Jacinto “Jack” Mendez. The past three days, in between church visits, we eat fresh crabs, nap, watch the sunrise, exchange stories, swim, read. We’re at his rest-house that’s situated on a ledge and overlooking 180 degrees of the sea.
I brought a book. “PacMan: Behind the scenes with Manny Pacquiao, the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world” is written by Gary Andrew Poole, who used to write for the New York Times and GQ. It’s 248 pages long. Among the few books that I’ve read of MP, it’s the best.
Divided into 13 chapters, it begins with the Prologue. Manny is training in the Wild Card Gym. His daily meals at Nat’s Thai, which serves Filipino dishes, is well documented. The other chapters? Number One is “The City of Dust,” the author’s term for Gen. Santos City.
“The province, the place where Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao was born on December 17, 1978, is the fourth poorest in the Philippines, where boys risk their lives to climb coconut trees (to make fifty centavo per coconut), play basketball on dirt courts, ride four to a motorcycle, get addicted to shabu (a combination of meth and caffeine), and live in endless crap, with roosters, goats, stray dogs, and no running water.”
The American author, Mr. Poole, describes our country in the poorest of terms. Sure, we’re no rich New York City, but given that he wanted to portray Manny growing up amidst the most slum of cities, he describes us as a destination of dirt and dirty men.
“The Streets of Manila” is Chapter Two and it explains the path taken by Pacquiao, at age 15, from GenSan to Manila. Manny’s first residence is in Malabon and his first manager, Polding Correa. “The GenSan boys sold doughnuts and worked construction (once he didn’t eat for four days because his employer didn’t pay him),” wrote Poole in page 23.
The book is well-written. As you turn each page and your mind deciphers the words, you can’t wait for the next discovery in Pacquiao’s life. We’ve known about Manny’s dire upbringing — but it’s only after reading this book that you learn the details. “Life is difficult here,” said Manny. “There are times when I eat rice only once a day.” Those words Pacquiao wrote to his mom in a letter.
The tenacity and no-fear that Manny displays on the ring today, no doubt, can all be attributed to the years of poverty that he endured.
L&M was the name of his first boxing gym. It was along Paquita St. “In the fate-obsessed Philippines, it was known as a lucky gym for producing champions, but it was considered (with a sick sense of pride) the planet’s worst-smelling boxing establishment,” wrote Poole.
“‘When Pacquiao came here, he didn’t have anything,” says Ramon ‘Moy’ Lainez, the ‘L’ in the L&M. ‘He was a stowaway, and he wasn’t very strong. We didn’t expect much from him. He had a big heart, he really wanted to fight, he really trained, and he dreamed that someday he will be a world champion.” That appeared in page 25.
Of the many themes that emerged from the book, what stands tallest is the teamwork between MP and Freddie Roach. As we know, without Roach’s fatherly guidance, our Pinoy hero wouldn’t be as great. It was 10 years ago when Manny first met Freddie – when he was brought to the U.S. by Rod Nazario. After watching Manny hit the mitts for the first time in his gym, Roach commented, “The speed and power worked so well together. Kind of just jumped on you… Within three minutes, it was like we knew each other our entire lives.”
The rest of the chapters — “The Mexecutioner,” “The Golden Boy and the Hitman,” and “Going Global,” and more — are exciting. As I said, many episodes we partly know — but not the full details, which are all bared open in this book.
“Don’t Quote Me on the Women” is on Chapter 7. Self-explanatory, if you want tsismis and Krista Ranillo stories, read this portion.
Read this biography. With 14 days left before Shane Mosley tastes the gloves of Manny on his cheekbones, this is the perfect appetizer and prequel. Happy Easter!