30 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY July 16 - 31 , 2017
SPECTATOR
By Al Mendoza
OK , Manny Pacquiao lost . We have to face the fact like men of honor . But bitter as it is , there is an unseen beauty in it .
And it is this : Not only Filipinos were angered by the decision but many foreigners as well .
For the record , Pacquiao lost to Jeff Horn by unanimous decision .
Meaning , all three judges of the fight saw Horn the winner .
Two judges from the US and Argentina gave Horn identical 115-113 scores . That close .
The third judge , a lady from New York , made Horn the 117-111 winner . That onesided .
Many sectors now want her investigated .
Our Games and Amusements Board officials filed a complaint requesting the World Boxing Organization to review the judging . A futile shot . Decisions in sports , boxing included , are always final .
Even if one judge ’ s decision is blatantly wrong , it can ’ t be changed .
Unless it ’ s too glaring a mistake as to strongly imply that some gobbledygook has tainted the officiating , it stays .
Remember the first Pacquiao-Marquez fight in 2004 ?
One judge admitted he committed a mistake .
He said he should have scored it 10-6 instead of 10-7 in the round where Marquez had kissed the canvas three times .
He was right . That 10-6 was the correct score .
Had the judge ’ s confession been accepted ( I scored that round 10-6 , too ), Pacquiao could have won by split decision instead of the fight ending in a draw .
In the recent Pacquiao- Horn fight , not only was the judging flawed but the refereeing as well .
Mark Nelson , the third man in the ring , called Horn ’ s two head butts against Pacquiao accidental .
One head might be accidental . But two head butts ?
Repeatedly , Horn locked down Pacquiao , wrestled Pacquiao and pressed Pacquiao down through the neck .
Yet , not one warning
Honestly now , did Pacquiao actually lose ?
was given Horn .
He even counseled Horn to “ show me something in the 10th round , or I will stop the fight .”
His counsel was uncalled for , a no-no , and that could have merited his downright disqualification .
I should know . I was once a licensed international boxing judge / referee .
Giving advice to both fighters during the fight is forbidden .
Nelson advised Horn after seeing how Pacquiao had brutalized and weakened Horn with power punches that virtually crumbled the knees and rearranged the Aussie ’ s face .
Horn ’ s crowding tactics and numerous illegal clinches were actually deceiving as they gave the impression he was beating Pacquiao .
But computer counting said otherwise , with Pacquiao ahead in all statistics on shots landed , including the number of power punches actually connecting .
Finally , I scored it 116- 112 for Pacquiao .
Modesty aside , my verdict resembled that of many of the world ’ s experts , including former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis , former NBA stars Kobe Bryant and Chauncy Billups , and ESPN ’ s Teddy Atlas , who has been a boxing analyst for 45 years .
Oh , well , as the saying goes , you can ’ t win them all .
Why Pacquiao can ’ t retire
SHOULD Manny Pacquiao proceed to fight Jeff Horn again in November , that ’ d be almost a month away before our Fighting Senator turns 39 on December 17 . He was born in Kibawe , Bukidnon , in 1978 , six years after the late , unlamented Marcos placed the entire country under martial law .
While Horn might be expected again to come out smoking the way he did on July 2 , would we see a newer version of Pacquiao , one who ’ d be a little bit faster , a little bit stylish and a little sharper ?
For , sad to say , what we saw in their first Battle in Brisbane was almost a near shadow only of the old Pacquiao : A bit slow , a bit sluggish , a bit dull .
Could be that he had not trained well — his Senate stints more important now than his ring career ?
Or , if only to be blunt about it , has Father Time finally caught up with him and , thus , he should really start thinking seriously about retirement ?
Pacquiao has fought 68 times , winning 59 , losing 7 , and drawing 2 , with 38 knockouts .
Three defeats were by way of a knockout . The other four were , well , close calls .
But the highlight of his career , now spanning more than two decades , are the unprecedented eight division world crowns tucked under his belt — not to mention 11 championship titles across his name .
The one to break Pacquiao ’ s record is yet to be born — if he is to be born at all .
Simply put , his legacy is secure , and his legend is for all time .
So that if he should retire now instead of pursue the rematch with Horn , there won ’ t be any dent at all to his fame and stature .
Judging by the way he fought on July 2 — almost a very defensive posture all the way — winning the rematch isn ’ t a sure hit at all .
Horn winning again is a scary thought but its probability of happening is as high as floods inundating most of the metropolis again in the coming rainy season .
So why can ’ t Pacquiao choose to retire ? Now ?
Money ? The lure of another P500 million payday in November is just too much to resist ?
For , how many among us could get the chance to stash away that much — all in a day ’ s work ?
Imagine Pacquiao gobbling up a billion bucks in just five months , adding his P500-million purse on July 2 ?
How many from his entourage of alalays aka hangerson will benefit , as always , from every Pacquiao cash bonanza ? In fact , they are the first to raise a collective howl at any hint of a Pacquiao retirement .
Likewise , while it is true that it is Pacquiao and Pacquiao alone who has the final say on whether to retire or not , his wife , Jinkee , remains the strongest influence .
Not even Mommy Dionisia aka PacMom can dictate on Pacquiao . She has been forcefully batting for retirement since Juan Manuel Marquez
WWW . PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY . COM
knocked out Pacquiao in 2012 — to no avail .
Historically speaking , most boxers find it hard to retire .
Before Pacquiao came along , our greatest boxer succeeding the great Pancho Villa was Flash Elorde .
Elorde , for more than seven years the world junior lightweight champion , was forcibly retired because he kept on losing after he un-retired .
Lope Sarreal Sr ., Elorde ’ s father-in-law and manager , requested the Games and Amusements Board ( GAB )— and was granted — to revoke Elorde ’ s right to fight .
By the time he was stripped of his license , Elorde was almost punch-drunk already and was losing bouts in monotonous succession . He had a total of 117 fights , winning 89 , losing 27 and drawing 2 , with 33 KOs .
Becoming a chain smoker after his forcible retirement , Elorde , the youngest of 15 children from Bogo , Cebu , died of lung cancer on January 2 , 1985 — at the age of 49 .
It was Elorde , a Hall of Famer like Villa , who delivered the classic San Miguel Beer line , “ Isang platitong mani ” as pulutan , which was voted the best advertisement of all time — with Rico J . Puno and the late Bert “ Tawa ” Marcelo in the cast .
History favors Pacquiao in rematch
BARRING any unforeseen event , the rematch is on . Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn will meet again , possibly in November , also in Brisbane , Australia , perhaps .
And here ’ s the good news about it : Pacquiao is unbeaten in all his return bouts in more than a decade .
After his controversial draw with Juan Manuel Marquez in 2004 , Pacquiao won their rematch the following year . He prevailed anew in their trilogy , only to be knocked out in their 2012 fourth fight by a solid right with a second left in the sixth round .
After stopping Manuel Barrera in 2003 in that year ’ s most shocking upset , Pacquiao handily won their rematch as the Mexican kept running virtually all throughout .
In Pacquiao ’ s return bouts against Eric Morales and Timothy Bradley , he prevailed rather convincingly in avenging both defeats . In fact , Pacquiao went on to overwhelmingly demolish both in their respective trilogies .
If truth be told , all four rematches won against Marquez , Barrera , Morales and Bradley is not something to sneeze at .
It could only mean one thing : Pacquiao is a good student .
So , even as many pundits insist that Pacquiao defeated Horn on July 2 , our Fighting Senator “ winning ” again in this his fifth rematch won ’ t be an illusion ?
I agree .
Although Pacquiao wasn ’ t in his fiercest , sharpest and old devastating self two Sundays ago , he was still the winner . Humbly , my scorecard showed him the victor at 116- 112 .
Maybe , his 38-yearold legs are beginning to betray Pacquiao ?
Father Time ’ s cruel message to retire has started to resonate ?
Or , maybe , Pacquiao hasn ’ t completely trained , his Senate duties getting in the way — not to mention he might have underestimated the hugely underdog Horn ?
There were , indeed , reasons as to blur Pacquiao ’ s triumph , like Horn ’ s crowding and swaing style . It would seem to impress on the three judges as legitimate offense when , in fact , Horn ’ s strategy bordered on illegal , below-the-belt tactics .
How come the referee didn ’ t even warn Horn even just for once for repeatedly holding , wrestling and neck-locking Pacquiao down ?
If Pacquiao ’ s really a good student , he should expect Horn to do that again . Why ? Because for Horn not getting warned the first time , what would stop him from doing it a second time ?
And so , for Pacquiao to score a clear-cut victory , he should train hard to recall his speed to avoid Horn ’ s illegal crowding tactics .
Next — and this is the most important — Pacquiao should ferociously bring back his knockout punches . He almost knocked Horn out in the ninth , but he fell short . Due to lack of preparation , maybe ?
The rematch will tell us if Pacquiao has enough gas left in his tank . He is hybrid , no doubt . But even hybrids have expiry dates .