WATCHING PACQUIAO DEVASTATE RIOS IN AN OVERFLOWING GYM
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 25 Nov 2013
Maasin City tasted the fury of Yolanda though not as damaging as in Tacloban. But we suffered blackouts since our source was the geothermal power plant of Ormoc City. Cable television was not available too. But we have to offer something to our boxing loving constituents at least to alleviate them from the trauma of the strongest typhoon ever to make landfall.
So we were using a generator set to supply power to our LCD projector and Cignal equipment. The information of a free telecast of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios Clash in Cotai circulated like bush fire in this city without electricity since Yolanda struck last November 8.
No restaurants showed the fight and at home if you can't buy pay-per-view you have to bear with the delayed TV show. So our citizens from all walks of life trooped to the free live telecast we prepared for their entertainment.
Only few attended the eleven o'clock Sunday mass, mostly women senior citizens. Few motorcabs and pedicabs were roving the streets. Motorists both private and public were also scarce. Some traffic enforcers left their post to take a glance of the telecast, which we just considered. There were PNP personnel who viewed the show and there was zero crime in the whole city in the duration of the fight.
People from all the 70 barangays of the city came to the Maasin City Gym as early as 8:00 in the morning and positioned themselves in the bleachers and mono bloc chairs being provided. When the supporting bout between Evgeny Gradovich vs. Billy Dib began at about 12 noon, the City Gym was filled to the rafters by more than 5,000 fans.
Zou Shiming, the local Chinese hero, was also a crowd favorite here as he battered Juan Toscano of Mexico. The two-time Olympic gold medalist unleashed flurry of punches like an amateur boxer wanting to gain points from the defunct computerized system of scoring. Fans applauded every time Zou connected and shouted in approval when the referee raised his hand for a 3-0 record.
When Pacquiao made a grand entrance all the people inside the Gym shouted and cheered the fighting congressman. When he kneeled and prayed we clapped our hands and shouted with joy in approval. We rise up and stood at attention as soon as the Philippine national anthem was sang by Jessica Sanchez.
The bell finally sounded signaling the start of the Clash in Cotai. Pacquiao dominated the fight since the onset. Rios went down and the audience went so wild. The referee ruled it a slip but during the slowmo it was a clear hit by Pacquiao and the crowd growled in disapproval of the referee's move.
The fans roared as Pacquiao made Rios an easy target in the succeeding rounds. Bambam really did some cover but Pacquiao's fists were just too powerful that they penetrated the unusual arm shield Rios put on his face. The crowd cheered on our hero and jeered on his American foe. They wanted him down and out.
But Rios simply had the power to stay on his feet inspite of the cut below the left eye and the swollen right eye. Blood began to flow on his damaged face. He was severely punished and taught a neat boxing lesson to the approval of the thousands of viewers.
The scores were announced by Michael Buffer, 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110, a unanimous decision win by Pacman. The more than 5,000 enthusiasts howled in approval. Some screamed for a knockout, but the convincing victory was enough to satisfy the typhoon-shocked constituents.
It took almost an hour to empty the Gym of the viewing public. There were hundreds of motorcycles blocking the other gates. People were smiling when I went with the flow of the crowd towards the exit. Many of us were not able to eat lunch and waited patiently till the bout was over at almost two in the afternoon.
Indeed Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated Visayas while Super boxer Pacquiao devastated Rios.
Photo taken at the Maasin City Gym with Mayor Maloney Samaco at center with hands raised cheering with wife Chona and Tourism Officer Royen Segovia.
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