Those of little faith

Those of little faith SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin Henson Updated December 14, 2008 12:00 AM In recalling the pre-fight sentiments of fans fearing a Manny Pacquiao loss to Oscar de la Hoya, I am reminded of two Biblical passages from St. Matthew. Here’s the message from Matthew 8:26: “And He said to them, Why are you full of fear, O you of little faith? Then He got up and gave orders to the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.” The other message is from Matthew 17:20: “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.” Those who figured Pacquiao had no chance to beat De la Hoya can’t really be blamed. The disparity in size was startling and in boxing, the good, big man will always beat the good, small man. Glyn Leach, writing in London’s Boxing Monthly magazine, led the charge in ridiculing the so-called Dream Match. “The thought of De la Hoya-Pacquiao turns my stomach,” he said. “Yes, I know in boxing’s dark and distant past, the great fighters from lower weight divisions would step up to face the bigger men but times have moved on since then, we are more safety conscious and have less injuries and fatalities as a result, thankfully, because that has enabled the sport to survive.” British promoter Frank Warren said the fight “could be potentially dangerous for Pacquiao – Oscar’s seen better days but I still think he’ll be too big for Pacquiao.” WBC president Jose Sulaiman called it a “circus act” between a “pachyderm” and a “hobbit horse,” mocking the duel as the mismatch of the century. Of course, he later changed his tune when Pacquiao decided to pay the WBC a sanction fee of $50,000 – after much haggling – for a non-title fight as a form of royalty since the Filipino icon wears the governing body’s lightweight championship belt. Sulaiman’s early tirade was a knee-jerk reaction to Pacquiao’s decision to move up two weight classes without defending the WBC lightweight crown, which he won from David Diaz only last June. Now, you know what drives Sulaiman to say the things he says – the Mexican is motivated only by dollar signs. When Pacquiao said he’d pay up, Sulaiman suddenly saw the light and in fact, revelled in the Las Vegas festivities last weekend. He showed up, in his customary wheelchair, to wish Pacquiao and De la Hoya good luck at the weigh-in on the eve of the big fight. Pacquiao’s lawyer Franklin (Jeng) Gacal said he personally wheeled Sulaiman towards the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter and attested to the WBC president’s acquiescence, if not homage. * * * To be sure, there were many Filipinos who bet for De la Hoya. They of little faith felt Pacquiao just wouldn’t be able to cope with De la Hoya’s size, experience and power. Pacquiao’s former business manager Rod Nazario, for one, was afraid of what might happen. No, he didn’t bet against Pacquiao but prayed countless novenas for his safety. International boxing referee Bruce McTavish, who calls it as he sees it, predicted De la Hoya would knock out Pacquiao in three rounds and pleaded to the heavens to be proved wrong. But there were definitely many more Filipinos who had faith. One was lawyer Romy Macalintal. “I would say that the result of the Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston match in the ’60s was repeated in the Pacquiao-De la Hoya fight,” said Macalintal who flew to Las Vegas with his Muhammad Ali scrapbook to show De la Hoya adviser Angelo Dundee. “Alleged boxing experts in the ’60s and even the California State Boxing Commission then considered the fight as a ‘mismatch’ fearing that Clay would be totally damaged by Liston, the latter being a 7-1 favorite. “But as it turned out, Clay (now Ali), like Pacquiao, proved these experts wrong. Clay stopped Liston in the seventh round. Pacquiao TKOd De la Hoya in the eighth. Clay and Pacquiao used the speed and power beyond compare to stop their respective rivals. “By the way, I predicted Pacquiao to win in the eighth round, that I made a loyalty bet of $5 and the odds were 22-1. So I won $110 for my $5 bet.” Macalintal, who planed back home the other day from Los Angeles, never lost faith in Pacquiao. * * * Now, some Filipino sceptics, famous for their crab mentality, are doubting the authenticity of Pacquiao’s win, claiming De la Hoya was “fixed” to lose. Of course, that’s absolute hogwash. If De la Hoya took a dive, he would’ve done it before absorbing the beating he got to save his pretty face from a disfiguring. Besides, De la Hoya is too proud a warrior to even consider a fix. He was pummelled to a pulp by Pacquiao but never went down – that was his macho pride on display. Why can’t people just accept the fact that last Saturday, Pacquiao was clearly the superior fighter and won the Dream Match fair and square. He outfought, outsmarted and outmaneuvered the Golden Boy who was reduced to a bumbling, aging and fumbling fighter. There was no fix. De la Hoya’s goal was to earn big bucks at Pacquiao’s expense and he believed he couldn’t lose to a smaller man. He had no respect for Pacquiao. De la Hoya thought that by bringing down his weight to 147, he could match Pacquiao’s speed. He thought wrong. De la Hoya was drained of energy when he climbed onto the ring. Emerging from his dressing room to march into the arena, he looked nervous, tight and tense. In contrast, Pacquiao was all smiles, loose and confident. De la Hoya got the beating of his life from Pacquiao whose faith in God and self-confidence never wavered. But wait, Boxing Monthly’s Leach – the man of littlest faith – recently said something about Pacquiao’s possible next match against Ricky Hatton. “In my opinion, Hatton vs Pacquiao is straight out of the Laila Ali-Christy Martin guide to slightly sick matchmaking,” said Leach. “Hatton vs Pacquiao would be a contest between two of boxing’s biggest names and one that both men will earn well from. But Pacman, who won his first world title at flyweight, just isn’t big enough and career lightwelter Hatton will crush him as easily as supermiddle Laila smashed bloated lightwelter Martin in one of the ugliest mismatches ever.” So what else is new? Pacquiao couldn’t care less what Leach and the critics say. He’ll just go out there and prove them wrong all over again. Pacquiao won’t tire silencing the doubters. :spam: