Defining Boxing

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I’m no boxing fan. That’s for sure.

But ever since Manny Pacquiao started breathing new life to “the poor man’s sport” long dominated by Mexicans and African Americans — like the usual Filipino, I realized that falling in love with the sport became as inevitable as falling in love with Manny’s talent and sheer dedication to it.

Manny Pacquiao may be many things to many people — a source of inspiration, a source of fascination, a source of intrigue — a source of income.

But who cares what he is to these other people? Who cares really?

All I know is that every time he fights he makes me excited like a kid about to buy a new toy. He makes my stomach churn, my heart throb like crazy each time I see his toned body pressed against the ropes.

Whenever he’s in the ring, I pray earnestly under my breath for his victory. Intensely. Sincerely. And I do so as if his possible failure is mine to bear — his probable victory, mine to celebrate.

In today’s “The Event”, Manny fought as fiercely and as confidently as he always did in the past — only better than before that and before that.

He just keeps getting better every time.

And while fans used to a KO (knockout) seemed a little less jubilant, I am immensely happy that Manny has once again made me feel like a kid for an entire day.

More than a new toy, Manny has given me a sense of pride, a sense of patriotism rekindled by his beautiful ‘dance’ inside the ring.

It takes more than mere love for the sport to appreciate and understand today’s bout. Fans can only see as far as the center of the ring.

It seems that in boxing, it’s not how well you started it. Not even how awesomely you ended it. It’s how you went about it and how you made people feel while you’re at it. The glory of boxing is “in the moment” — not in the announcement of the winner or the glamorous after-party or the hefty paycheck.

The glory is in how Manny Pacquiao has once again proven to the world that like wine, he gets better with age. Like metal subjected to fire, he becomes malleable to perfection — a sight to behold and scorching to touch. There seems to be no end to the number of combinations and styles he learns to use. To say that he may have elevated boxing to an artform is an understatement.

The fight didn’t look boring from afar because Joshua Clottey almost never let down his guard or that he threw so few punches. His body seems hard as stone and his punches, few as they come — ensure that they’re felt.

It looked boring because Manny made it look so damn easy.

His ease in the ring however is in stark contrast with his intense and serious training outside of it — away from the bright lights, from the deafening screams of spectators.

The explanation to Clottey’s all-out defense is best given by the man himself. In the post game interview, when asked why he wouldn’t let his guard down, Clottey explained that he wanted to protect himself from Pacquiao’s speed in the first few rounds and planned to throw punches only when he feels he has already gauged Manny Pacquiao’s movements. That time, to his surprise, never came. And before he knew it, 12 rounds had passed and the chance he had been waiting for was lost to oblivion.

It took Joshua Clottey 12 rounds of strictly defensive boxing to know what we’ve known over the years — that boxing has redefined Manny Pacquiao. And that Manny, in turn, has redefined boxing.

That’s Manny Pacquiao. That’s boxing. And now, it has become impossible to define one without the other.

Suggested Further Reading:

• It’s Manny for Manny
• “The Event: Pacquiao vs. Clottey”; where to watch live via pay-per-view (Manila/Calamba)

Tags: "the event", boxing, cowboys stadium, joshua clottey, Manny Pacquiao, post-fight thoughts, sports