When Emmanuel D. Pacquiao came into the world, a world
of harsh poverty, and later as a little boy, with the
grim prospect of an even harsher future ahead, do you
think he could have ever imagined the life he would be
leading now, as a boxing superstar,
an actor and a Filipino
legend? When I asked him a few years back, the
answer I got was a big “ Oo, Oo” [yes, yes]. It was
never easy for the wiry flyweight, fighting his first
23 fights for very little rewards as a professional
prize fighter.
He won the WBC
Flyweight title in 1998, by stopping Chathai Sasakul,
defended it, moved up in weight to fight at late
notice, for the South African Lehlohonolo
Ledwaba’s
IBF super bantamweight world title, knocking him out
in 6 rounds in Las Vegas, in 2001.
Next up was a
unification fight with the tough and experienced
southpaw, Agapito Sanchez. The fight was brutal, with
low blows, head butts all the way, until Pacquiao got
badly cut by Sanchez’s teak- tough head in the 6th
round. The fight was ruled a draw. The Filipino
dynamo continued with more knockout wins, most notably,
Marco Antonio Barrera, before jumping up again to face
the tremendously gifted Mexican boxer, Juan Manuel
Marquez. I was watching at ringside that night, as
Pacquiao hammered Marquez to the canvas 3 times in
the first round, with the last knockdown being the
most devastating. I thought Marquez was never getting
up, but he did. Not only did he get up, but he came
back strongly to totally outbox “The Pacman.” I
actually thought Marquez did enough to win the fight.
From that day
on, he has never looked back. Big fights, a winning
trilogy with Eric Morales, hard fought points wins
against Oscar Larios, Barrera, and Marquez, and enough
loot to keep the Bank of Philippines' manager’s
kids' kids very happy.
David Diaz
started boxing, winning the coveted “Golden Gloves”
amateur title three years in a row, excelling in the
1996 American Olympic team, but losing to the tough
German Oktay Urkal on points. He finished his amateur
career beating Zab Judah twice at light welter, going
out with a tremendous 175 - 16 record, before turning
pro in November 1996.
He made the
transition into the paid ranks with a steady flow of
victories, just staying under the radar, fighting all
across America, learning his craft as he went.
In 2004, he
broke down Ener Julio over 10 rounds, before being
taken out by the big rangy banger, Kendall Holt in 8
rounds.
In 2006, Diaz
fought Jose Armando Santa Cruz for the interim WBC
lightweight title, and won, stopping Cruz in the 10th
round, despite being out boxed the whole night. In 2007,
after all the years of struggling to make a living
for himself and his family, Diaz fought with heart
and desire, battling with a bull like attacking style,
to wear down the ageing and weary legendary champion,
Eric Morales, banging relentlessly to the body, to
take his WBC lightweight crown. Many would say later
that Pacquiao softened the Mexican warrior up with a 3rd
round devastating beating, some months previous in
2006.
Say what you
will, but give the man respect. Diaz has been down the
hard road of boxing, and has turned the corner to
win the championship.
The big question
for me is who hits harder out of the two southpaws?
I would say Pacquiao, and this will be the difference
in the fight. When Diaz and Pacquiao both come in
swinging wildly in the centre of the ring, the
superior power of the Filipino will eventually prevail,
stopping Diaz in the 6th round, to make
history, and move up in weight to face Ricky Hatton
in March of 2009. If you ask him, can he be beat?,
he will tell you “hindi” [which means no] and you
have to believe him.
When I asked
Pacquiao what more could he ever want out of boxing,
he said to me “I take all.” When I got back to
Australia, I spoke to my friend at work about my
time with Pacquiao at the Wild Card Gym in L.A., as
I knew he and his Filipino wife and family were big
fans. I told him what he said, and it turns out
that Pacquiao translated into English means “take all.”
As the saying goes, “by name and by nature.”
You never know, he just might...
Gary Todd is an international author, with
his best selling book on world champion's workouts,
“Workouts From Boxing's Greatest Champs.” He has been
involved in all aspects of the sport of boxing for
over 25 years. Look out for his follow up book,
“Workouts, Volume II” coming soon.
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