Replay of A Biblical Epic
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 09 Nov 2010
Our Mexican friends, almost 90 per cent of them devout Catholics and believers of the Holy Bible, will certainly dislike the parallelism that I am going to make of the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito boxing encounter and the Biblical epic of the match up between the tiny David and the giant Goliath.
But in my mind, there is no question that the November 13 classic encounter between a small fighter and a big boxer would be nothing more than a modern day replay of the story of the fight between David and Goliath.
David is no other than the Filipino boxing icon, Manny Pacquiao, while Goliath in this modern day classic encounter would be Antonio Margarito.
Pardon me, but the comparison is not really just about either boxer's Godliness or righteousness. It is made mainly on the basis of the sheer disparity in size and the impact of the result of the bout to the nations they represent which to my mind would make this fight a classic that will be remembered throughout boxing history.
Imagine this: about a dozen years ago, Manny Pacquiao was a scrawny flyweight who relied mainly on the power in his left hand in winning over and dominating that division, winning the World Boxing Council 112-pound title which after a couple of defenses, he lost in questionable fashion to an obscure and mediocre Thai fighter whose name nobody remembers now.
In a little over a decade that reed-thin flyweight would grow in size to become a featherweight, a junior lightweight, a lightweight, a junior welterweight, a welterweight and now a supermiddleweight. and from a fighting weight of 112 pounds, he will enter the ring in Arlington, Texas on Nov. 13 at 154 pounds.
But Manny Pacquiao's problem is that while he has gained tremendously in weight, he has barely grown in height. While the stats say that he is 5' 7", I really feel that he is just a little over 5' 6" and is thus a full five inches shorter than the Mexican warrior.
Scared? We should be. I think this was how the Israelites felt when the young David, the eighth of the children of a family of shepherds, stepped forward to face the 9-foot-tall Philistine giant Goliath.
But aside from the prayers of the Israelites, David had a secret weapon. My friend, Fr. King Tabuada, the parish priest of the town of Midsayap in North Cotabato, told me yesterday that David was actually anointed by God through the Prophet Samuel.
"He was chosen from among the eight children of Jesse, not by his looks, but by the pureness of his heart," Fr. King said.
Manny Pacquiao, the small fighter, gets inside that ring in Arlington, Texas on Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila) strengthened by the prayers of a nation who see him as their greatest relief from the sorrows of poverty and deprivation and their greatest vindication from a world that has always looked down on Filipinos as domestic helpers and Japayukis.
He may not be perfect in the eyes of many, but Manny Pacquiao has always implored for God's blessings every time he fights, that old rosary always hanging from his neck as he gets into the ring in all of his fights.
And Margarito? Well, he may be a giant but he is not as loved in his own country as Manny Pacquiao is adored in this country of over 90 million.
For one, many feel that Margarito has committed a sin against boxing and this was the plaster of paris handwrap controversy which led to the suspension of his license in California.
Will the outcome of this fight be the same as the Biblical account of the David and Goliath encounter?
That will depend exactly on the pureness of Manny Pacquiao's heart which will be measured by how much he prepared for this fight which does not only mean almost half a billion pesos in earnings for him but which would bring unquantifiable joy and pride for the Filipino people.
Oh, by the way, after that victory over Goliath, David became The King David of Israel whose star adorns the Israelite's flag up until today.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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