Manny

It was a first for me. I bought the Manny Pacquiao v Antonio Margarito fight on HBO pay per view last Saturday night. I love boxing but I had never bought the fights on HBO until this one. It was best $60.00 I've spent on sports entertainment in recent memory. Why did I pop for the fight? Simply, Manny Pacquiao is the greatest boxer I have ever seen and that includes Ali, Sugar Ray, Oscar, Marvin and all the others. He is magic in the ring and at 5'-6" and 147 pounds, he is as loveable as a golden retriever outside the ring and as fierce in the ring as a pit bull. I did not want to miss this moment. I and millions around the globe got our money's worth.

Manny grew up street poor in the Philippines. His way out of the streets was boxing. A similar road taken for many impoverished kids looking for an exit, including his opponent that night, Antonio Margarito, a poor kid out of the favelas of Tijuana. What both shared equally was poverty, a talent for boxing and a devout Roman Catholic faith.

Manny started boxing at 16 years of age as a 100lb light flyweight. He won. Over the next 15 years, he moved up 7 classes in weight and won those divisions as well. On Saturday night he won an unprecedented 8th weight division, the Super Welterweight, against the biggest and heaviest opponent of his professional career.

His opponent Margarito, a proud and strong Mexican, towered over Manny by 7 inches and 17 pounds. At the start of the fight, it looked like a little kid, Manny, fighting, his much bigger father, Antonio. However, within the middle of the first round, it was apparent that Antonio was in for an ass whippin', Pacman style. As Antonio lumbered clumsily around the center of the ring, Manny was bobbing, weaving, circling and throwing warp speed combinations at a defenseless head. Watching Manny throw punches from both sides is like watching a hummingbird flap its wings. Both are very, very fast.

This went on for the entire scheduled 12 rounds. By round six, Antonio's face began to change and not for the better. Manny's face was untouched. By the 11th round, Antonio's face became so disfigured that Manny implored the referee, Laurence Cole, to stop the fight. Cole permitted the fight to continue. In the 12th round, Manny enforced his own slaughter rule and backed off. He humanely started to "pull his punches" and began to "carry" his opponent. Manny later said, "boxing is not for killing." Antonio later said, "There was no way I was going to quit. I'm a Mexican and we fight until the end." Sadly for both fighters, the fight went the full gruesome distance.

Manny won a unanimous decision. It was not even close. Manny threw 733 power punches and landed 411 mostly at Antonio's dome. These were not glancing blows but full leather shots. An unheard of 61% of his punches landed. A staggering percentage. Antonio suffered greatly at the hands of a smaller yet superior skilled boxer and by an unwise corner. Freddie Roach, Manny's trainer, said of his opponent's corner, "Antonio's corner is the worst. His trainor probably ruined his career by not stopping the fight." What a prescient comment. Tomorrow, Antonio undergoes surgery for a fractured orbital bone around his right eye. That does not sound good if you're a professional boxer.

After the bout with victory validated, Manny knelt in his corner and prayed in his own slice of silence. In fact, throughout the fight both fighters made the sign of the cross abundantly. Obviously both invoking divine intervention for what lay ahead. Obviously both returning to their humble fundamental beliefs.

While the almost blinded Margarito was being helped to the locker room, Manny was besieged by the adoring pushy media in the center of the ring. Manny, victorious for the night, humbly said, "He hurt me. I'm so lucky tonite. I thank God for giving me strength. I'm happy I made the people happy. I fight for the fans."

So they asked, "what are you going to do next Manny?" Manny, the smiling Congressman (recently elected to public office in his Filipino district), said, "I'm going to be a public servant to help the people of the Philippines." "And what about next bout?" Manny, the dimpled boxer, said, "I will talk it over with my promoter and see who's next."

And at Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s house, Floyd turned off HBO after round 7. He had seen enough. He got his money's worth too! "If Manny's promoter calls, tell him I'm retired." He wants to preserve his pretty face. Good move.