PACQUIAO ROARS TO VICTORY
By Aquiles Z. Zonio
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Jul 2018
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia ? Today, Manny Pacquiao put on a classic performance reminiscent of his impressive conquest of Mexican boxing legend Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003.
This one, however, ended much earlier than the Barrera fight.
HAIL TO THE NEW WBA WELTERWEIGHT CHAMP!
Once again, Pacquiao proved his doubters wrong.
Despite efforts from some individuals to sabotage the fight, the event turned out successful.
Pacquiao, today, made another history as the only boxer who brought together two heads of states to watch a world boxing championship match.
President Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad were seen sitting side by side during the Pacquiao fight.
Mahathir was joined in by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Malaysian Minister for Youth & Sports; Gobind Singh Deo, Malaysian Minister for Communications & Multimedia; and Haji Mohammad Bin Sabu, Malaysian Defense Minister.
Other dignitaries included Ukraine Ambassador to Malaysia, Olexander Nechytaylo; and Argentina Ambassador to Malaysia, Manuel Balaguer Salas.
Aside from President Duterte, other government officials coming from the Philippines were Senate President Tito Sotto; Senator JV Ejercito, Solicitor General Jose Calida, Philippine ambassador to Malaysia, Charles C. Jose, several congressmen and local officials led by Luis ?Chavit? Singson, national president of Philippine Municipal Councilors League.
The presence of President Duterte and Mahathir had fired up Pacquiao.
But what challenged Pacquiao the most was the ridicule and insult he got from critics.
Many of them belittled his skills, even calling him a washed-out fighter.
I was a witness how hard he trained for this fight. He tried to conquer himself and he succeeded. He tried to stave off father time and he did it.
I have never seen an athlete who trains as hard as Pacman. He is a beast, a monster. He?s like a machine. He never gets tired.
Pacman had a great training camp under a new training team led by Justin Fortune, Nonoy Neri and Buboy Fernandez. The members of the team is hoping and praying Buboy will remain humble and keep his feet on the ground.
For the entire duration of the training camp, the Filipino ring sensation was in high spirits enjoying what he was doing amid the throes of intense training.
Above all, the Pinoy boxing legend was motivated to train hard knowing that he was promoting his own fight, no longer under the clutches of a wily promoter.
No doubt, the boxer-lawmaker was in better shape now than during his fight last year against Australian dirty fighter, Jeff Horn.
He was able to regain not just his blinding speed but including his punching power.
After Pacman?s technical knockout win over Matthysse, euphoria gripped the whole team. All their sacrifices and hardwork paid off.
But the credit goes to Him ? Up There ? Who keeps Team Pacquiao intact all these years despite the odds and the differences.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Aquiles Z. Zonio.
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