CAN PACQUIAO DO AN OBAMA?
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 06 Nov 2008
Dublin, California -- Realtor Rommel Arnado treated me and Philboxing.com's Jun Laquindanum to dinner at the Elephant Bar and Restaurant here yesterday when news of Barack Obama's win was announced on television. Major national as well as local channels carried the story loudly, and everybody was glued to the news. After customers erupted in glee and became boisterous inside the resto, we knew something special had just taken place.
Of course, I was not at all surprised by the outcome. I've always been--as most of you--a big Obama fan from the start. Almost everybody I've spoken to since arriving in these United States has spoken fondly of the Senator from Illinois, although John McCain had always posed a threat to Barry's run for presidency all throughout.
The Bradley Effect. Hovering above like the Damocles sword for Obama's campaign was the so-called Bradley Effect, which sent shivers down the spine to some hard-core Barry supporters. Named after the famous Tom Bradley of Los Angeles, after whom the airport is named, it loomed as a legit concern, especially that polls weren't really that close.
The theory states that voters tend to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and when election time comes, vote for his white opponent. It was named after Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in voter polls going into the elections, according to Dr. Ed De la Vega.
Now, let me go back to boxing lest you forget this isn't a political column. (I'll leave that to experts like Atty Frank Malilong who, by the way, is flying to the US to watch the De la Hoya-Pacquiao fight from ringside)
While Obama has achieved a feat no man has ever done before, that is to become the first black president in the United States, can our very own Manny Pacquiao notch a win over Oscar De la Hoya and make himself a candidate for that title of--hold your breath--being the greatest fighter of all times? Of course, that title belongs to Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson, depending on who you listen to.
The Pacman (L) poses with PhilBoxing's Ferdinand Dalope in Las Vegas in this file photo.
A win over De la Hoya, plus a possible win over Ricky Hatton and over the other-wordly Floyd Mayweather Jr, is definitely going to make a strong statement for the Pacman's case. Make no mistake, I'm a huge fan of The Greatest and Sugar Ray Robinson, but if Pacquiao does defeat those three names I've mentioned, then there's no doubt he'd be in the company of the two.
Defeating De la Hoya is the first step in that quest for all-time greatest status, beating Hatton will be a confirmation, and shaming Floyd Mayweather Jr will be the coronation.
Now, is Pacman ready to do a Barry?
NOTES. On our way out of the resto, we dropped by at the nearby Barnes and Noble outlet across Elephant to check if they still had a copy of the "American Son," a book ON Oscar De la Hoya. We were told they run out of copy, but the clerk called up their other outlet to inquire. I'll be picking up my copy either today or tomorrow...Also bought a copy of "Obama," a book written by David Mendell...Then got for myself Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" as well as "Green Chic: Saving the Earth in Style." I should be done reading all four by the time I'm back in Cebu on Dec. 9. Did i see somebody raise his hand to borrow?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.
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