red
i believe every Filipino (who cares to be one, that is) is swelling with national pride as Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao pounded out a convincing 12-round unanimous decision win over "The Baby Face Assassin" Marco Antonio Barrera just hours ago. in the usual manner, our kababayans preferred to stay home and watch the highly anticipated bout. for those who had extra moolah, P600 for pay-per-view coverage on SM cinemas or watching over some bottles of beer, food and laughter at sports bar was sulit. others congregated on basketball gyms or halls wherein a wide silver screen is setup by their local governments. ako, i preferred watching it with some of my officemates. kahit sa TV lang basta sama sama at may pagkain pwede na hehe.. as fiery red as the Team Pacquiao's new jacket (mainly sponsored by Nike) was was both boxers' goals of proving their point on top of the ring. Manny rides with the pride of the Filipinos all throughout the world while Barrera was on for personal vendetta and vow of putting up an entirely different stand from their first encounter years ago. considering this was his last fight of a glorious 17-year ring career, i think his game plan all along was primarily to not win but to not be KO'd, thus keeping his pride intact..
after being pummeled by Pacman's flurry combination and was almost knocked down on the 11th round, Barrera threw a cheat shop that caught Manny right on the jaw which sent our hero reeling on the ropes. referee Tony Weeks called a brief timeout and deducts a point from the Mexican. i think he did that (gamble a point) to take a breather himself. otherwise he could have suffered the same fate as that of Erik Morales in the hands of our pambansang kamao: devastation.
and when the war between heroes of their respective countries was over, two of the judges scored it an identical 118-109 while the third judge had it at 115-112, all unanimously for Pacquiao.
side notes: another pinoy pug, Michael Farinas, staged a KO win over his Mexican opponent in the 2nd round. i hope he'll be given the same attention as Manny when he comes back.. zero crime rate in Metro Manila and even on some provinces. true. that is during the Pacquiao-Barrera fight time.. as gentleman as he is, Manny, during the post-fight press conference acknowledged his opponent as "still a good fighter." he even went on to raising Barrera's hands in the air and bonded with his family, acts of a true sportsman.. i think Kyla sang our national anthem very well. natawa pa ako dun sa isang na-interview kung anong masasabi niya sa pagkakakanta ni Kyla, he said "magaling. kumpleto." haha :D .. yung interview kay Manny magaling din. walang interpreter. diretsong ingles. when asked if he was hurt he said, "not really hurt." ayus!! iba ka talaga Manny, iba ka! hehehe :D
green
from suspension to being champions: De La Salle Green Archers won over University of the East Red Warriors to bag the 70th UAAP men's basketball championship. 73-64. what a comeback. that's will to win. sweet! congratulations.
