MANO DE PIEDRA VS PACMAN
Pacquiao Would Have Rewritten History vs Lightweight Terror Roberto Duran
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 22 May 2008
Roberto Duran.
Flash Gallego's duel versus then World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight champion Roberto ?Mano de Piedra? Duran (106-16, 70 KO) in Panama City on July 6, 1974 was non-title, but he was regarded as the toughest Filipino lightweight warrior in that era despite his mediocre record.
Gallego (16-18, 7 KO) never won a regional or national crown in his carrer but when he fought Duran, his record was a dismal 13 wins against 14 losses while Duran had 42 wins with one defeat.
Gallego, who retired after absorbing a brutal knockout loss to Noel Mathews in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on October 25, 1975, held the disctinction as the first and only Filipino opponent of the four-division world champion from Guarare, Panama who became the first man to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard.
The saga of Filipino boxers gunning for fistic glory in the lightweight division will be renewed on June 28 in Las Vegas, Nevada when World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight champion Manny Pacquiao attempts to grab the WBC lightweight jewels worn by Mexican-Amercian David Diaz (34-1, 17 KO) dubbed ?Lethal Combination.?
Unlike Gallego who was certainly a patsy, however, Pacquiao (46-3, 35 KO) is no pushover. In fact, oddsmakers have installed the 29-year-old southpaw from Gen. Santos City a solid pick to pocket Diaz's title.
Also, experts have predicted that the Diaz-Pacquiao duel will be among the bloodiest championship fights in the division, comparable to the explosive Esteban de Jesus-Robert Duran tussle; the weird Jose Luis Ramirez-Hector Camacho matchup; the deadly Ray ?Boom Boom? Mancini-Duk Koo Kim (the Korean lapsed into coma after the fight and died in the hospital); and the lackluster Orzubek Nazarov-Dindo Canoy tango.
And, unlike Gallego who was obviously fed to the lions, Pacquiao is already a universal superstar in fight business and has already collected three world titles in different weight categories ? flyweight, superbantamweight, and supefeatherweight.
If it was Pacquiao who was on the shoes of Gallego, the Philippines wouldn't be humiliated in Panama City. It would be Mano de Piedra versus The Destroyer. Pacman would have swallowed whole the man who would terrorize the welterweight and middleweight divisions alongside Leonard, Thomas ?The Hitman? Hearns, Wilfredo Benitez, Pipino Cueva and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.
The bible of boxing would have printed the name of Manny Pacquiao, not Roberto Duran, among the galaxy of stars in the lightweight division. But they never met.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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