THE PACQUIAO DECADE
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 02 Jun 2010
Manny Pacquiao?s ring exploits spanned a tumultuous decade in Philippine history. He entered the 21st century already an ex-flyweight champion and campaigning in the superbantamweight division.
He would win his second world title (IBF superbantamweight ) in 2001 when the Philippines was reeling from the second EDSA People Power revolt that ousted then Pres. Joseph Estrada.
Estrada?s supporters would take to the streets in a riotous attempt to voice their protests. Pacquiao would go on to struggle against Agapito Sanchez (TD 6) and make short work of his subsequent opponents.
One of Pacquiao?s most memorable battles was against Emmanuel Lucero of Mexico. His July 2003 title defense in Los Angeles happened on the same day when Philippine junior officers staged an uprising against Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the military top brass in what would go down in our history as the Oakwood Mutiny. They surrendered peacefully on the same day. Pacquiao on the other hand, would score a sensational one punch knockout win against his Mexican challenger.
In November 2003, Pacquiao would enter a Texas ring a heavy underdog against the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao won a one-sided 11th round technical knockout win and joined the ranks of boxing?s elite. He would also the Ring magazine?s historically linear featherweight world title.
Pacquiao would go on to ignite a boxing rivalry with Mexico? best. In 2004, he knocked down Juan Manuel Marquez three times in the opening round but struggled and was outboxed the rest of the way and escaped with a draw. Pres. Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo would be re-elected but would have the face charges of fraud a year later.
2005 was a bad year for Pacquiao and the rest of the country as he lost a bloody twelve round unanimous decision to Erik Morales and the Philippines was torn apart by impeachment hearings and street demonstrations against Pres. Arroyo.
In 2006, Pacquiao would win his first Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year Honors courtesy of two revenge knockout wins against Erik Morales and beating Oscar Larios at the historic Araneta Coliseum. A game show stampede and coup rumours filled the country?s headlines.
Pacquiao would lose in his attempt to win a seat in the Philippine congress in 2007 as political strife continued to be a source of embarrassment for the Filipino people.
2008 was another epic year for Pacquiao as he beat Juan Manuel Marquez by a razor thin split decision for the WBC superfeatherweight and linear world title and knocking out David Diaz in nine rounds for the WBC lightweight title.
In December 2008, he would once again enter the ring an underdog against the bigger and more accomplished ?Golden Boy? Oscar dela Hoya. In a fight many labelled a circus, Pacquiao handed Dela Hoya a one sided beating and made him stay in his corner after eight rounds.
2008 may go down as Pacquiao?s best year. He was on the cover of Reader?s Digest Asia and won Fighter of the Year honors in all major boxing publications and websites. His win against Dela Hoya made him an international star.
The country continued its series of political scandals and man made disasters as ferries would continuously sink in our waters drowning thousands. There was still no gold medal in sight during the 2008 Olympics. Pacquiao obviously became one of the few bright lights in a bleak Philippine horizon.
In 2009, Pacquiao would land on the Asian edition cover of TIME Magazine and score stoppage wins over Ricky Hatton (KO 2) for Ring magazine?s lineal world junior welterweight title and Miguel Cotto (TKO 12) for the WBO welterweight title, his seventh world crown.
Terrorist kidnappings, political scandals, natural disasters and the Maguindanao massacre dominated front page news in 2009. When Pacquiao trained for Cotto, the country was hit by a series of typhoons, floods and landslides.
As the decade winds down, Pacquiao would face unsubstantiated charges of using performance enhancing drugs from rival Floyd Mayweather,Jr. and his family. The planned mega-fight against Mayweather was cancelled due to disputes in blood testing and Pacquiao would beat ?substitute? Joshua Clottey by a one-sided unanimous decision.
Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III would win the Philippine presidential elections while Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao won a congressional seat in Sarangani. He stands to receive another Fighter of the Year Award as well as the singular distinction of being the Boxer of the Decade.
Whether he gets to fight and beat Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao stands alone as the greatest Filipino athlete of all time.
We would like to thank him for taking us through one of the most difficult decades in our history. Politics divided us but his victories made us see the good inside every Filipino and continue to hope for a better future. Through hard work, he showed that we can be better and we can be world class.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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