The Day Manny Pacquiao Says Goodbye to Boxing
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 20 Jun 2010
The writings on the wall are clear for everybody to see and nobody can simply close his eyes and say: This is not real.
It's real, it's clear, it's true, it's undeniable and it's unavoidable. After two more fights, or three at the most, the boxer who gave the country its proudest moments in world sports will hang up his gloves and say goodbye to boxing.
Boxing fans, and that includes us, who could not imagine the prizefighting world without the Pacman, can all cup our eyes with our hands and face up to the sky and pray it is not going to happen.
But it is going to happen. And there is simply nothing we can do about it.
On the day Manny Pacquiao decided to run for Congress for the first time in 2007, I knew that the glorious era of Philippine boxing was coming to an end. Yes, he did not win the first time but having been bitten by the political bug, there was no stopping the Pacman from getting his return bout, albeit with a different opponent and in a different political ring.
Well, as they say, the rest is history.
It is almost certain that history will look at the last one-and-a-half decades as the most exciting and glorifying period of Philippine and Asian sports. Include world sports if you want.
It was during this period that a feat which was never even considered possible before would be achieved: A human being growing from 112 pounds to 147 pounds in a little over 10 years and gobbling up seven boxing titles along the way. That is almost incredible and it is understandable that some people will suspect that Manny has been taking drugs to gain weight, except that nobody has yet presented any evidence to prove this.
It is pathetic how some people tried to solve the mystery and the puzzle that is Manny Pacquiao in the context of man-made drugs rather than look at this amazing boxer as God's way of telling mankind how far they can go and how great they can achieve if they have faith in themselves and in the limitless potentials of a human being.
I remember asking Manny long time ago in a very personal and friendly conversation where the power in his punches was coming from. And his answer was simple: "I do not have super strength but when I throw a punch I give it everything that I have."
That is faith for you. And I believe that it was this strong faith displayed by Manny Pacquiao that the Almighty wanted the Filipinos to witness. During the most critical and trying times in the history of the nation, when the Filipinos were discriminated upon and looked down, when so much corruption was seen in government and even people with good intentions to help the country were villified, God gave the Philippines a Manny Pacquiao. It is His way of telling the Filipino people that there is hope, just have faith.
The day Manny Pacquiao hangs up his gloves and say goodbye to boxing, it will be a sad day for Philippine sports. I will be sad and I know you will be sad.
But look at it this way, when Manny leaves boxing would that not be a sign that his mission to remind Filipinos to have faith because there is hope has been accomplished?
Or could it be that somebody is taking over from where Manny Pacquiao left off? Could that new symbol of faith and goodness in the Filipino be Noynoy Aquino?
Maybe yes and it all depends on how you look at things in this world.
So, Manny Pacquiao retiring from boxing? Let it come, let it happen. God in His infinite wisdom has something in store for us. Nobody knows what, when and how it will happen.
After all, nobody has yet solved the puzzle and the mystery of Manny Pacquiao winning seven world boxing titles.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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