ANOTHER BATTLE FOR THE FILIPINO PEOPLE
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 13 Apr 2014
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- One guy wants vindication, the other redemption.
Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley square off for the second time Satuday night (Sunday morning in Manila) with the Filipino boxing legend seeking to win back the World Boxing Organization welterweight belt and the American titlist aiming to prove his victory on June 9, 2012 was legit.
On that same day, also in the posh MGM Grand Garden Arena, the then challenger Bradley wrested the 147-pound crown from Pacquiao with a widely-criticized split decision that was the subject of heated debate that had almost the entire international boxing community to believe the Filipino won overwhelmingly.
"Everybody, almost everybody that is, who witnessed that fight were one in believing we were robbed of the championship," Pacquiao, who weighed 145 pounds in the official weigh-in, recalled. "That is why I have to vindicate, not only myself, but those, especially our countrymen, who also believe I won."
"Kaya nga gusto kong ipabatid sa ating mga kababayan na muli ako ay lalaban na pasan-pasan ang ating bandila(That's why I want them to know that, again, I will be fighting with our flag on my shoulder)," he told this writer. Alam kong gaya noong unang mga laban ko, sila ay magkakaisa na naman sa panalangin na ako ay manalo at itayo ang karangalan ng bansa at ng lahing Pilipino (I know that like in my previous fights, they will again be one in praying for my victory so I can, once again, bring honor to our country and the Filipino people."
"Muli ako ay humihingi sa kanila ng suporta upang minsan pa ay mabigyan ko kayo ng pag-asa na makababangon tayo sa mga pighating dinanas natin noong nakaraang taon," the 'fighter of the decade' added.
The Pambansang Kamao, also, hopes that the coming encounter would, once and for all, serve as a vehicle so he can gain respect from Bradley himself, who he noted, never did.
Childhood friend and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez summed up his pal's sentiment when he said, "More than the championship at stake this fight is about respect. While the whole world respects Manny, this guy Bradley doesn't as gauged by the teasing and taunting he's been throwing in Manny's way."
"Tayo naman, lalo na si Manny, nagpakumbaba na tinanggap ang pagkatalo kahit mali, pero siya hindi at patuloy na ininsulto, pati ang buong bansa at lahing Pilipino sa mga sinasabi niya (We, especially Manny had already humbled ourselves by accepting defeat, but Bradley continued insulting us and the whole nation with his words ," Buboy bewailed. "Sabi ko nga kay Manny, kung maari, paghiwalay pa lang ng reperi, patumbahin na niya."
Saturday night's 12-round showdown, hopefully, will end the 22-month animosity between the two camps, settle the question as to who really emerged victorious in the Pacquiao-Bradley 1 and decide who the rightful owner of the plum.
In that long stretch, Bradley, who tipped the scale at 145.5 pounds, and his team had maintained their claim to victory, while Pacquiao, supported by media and plain fans, saying otherwise.
The only man to succeed in crowning himself champion 10 times over in eight weight categories, likewise, earned the nod of a five-man panel created by he Nevada Athletic commission, which declared the Filipino icon as the real owner.
The WBO, however, ruled Bradley the belt owner claiming it has no power to reverse the decision rendered by two of three judges who saw the American the winner that stunned the entire Filipino nation and shocked every fight fan who understands the sweet science.
Reason why in the next two years, the California fighter was dubbed as a "fake champion," or to put it a bit milder, "paper champion, making life a miserable one for him and family.
"It was the darkest time of my life," Bradley said Wednesday during the final press conference leading to the fight, adding that the experience nearly forced him to commit suicide. That was why he and his trainer Joel Diaz consider the fight one of redemption.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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