Manny the GOAT?

It's been several hours since Manny Pacquiao methodically demolished Antonio Margarito in their clash for the WBC Super Welterweight championship and I am still in awe at how that fight was won. 


I must admit that I generally subscribe to the boxing adage "a good big man beats a good small man". The fight between Tito Trinidad and Bernard Hopkins a decade ago immediately comes to mind whenever I feel the need to cite an example. That is why despite the overwhelming odds in favor of the PacMan I was a bit worried, particularly when both entered the ring with Margarito enjoying a 17 pound advantage in weight, and 5 inch advantage in height.

Over the course of 12 rounds, Pacquiao dispelled any doubts that I had in my mind. Pretty much the same way he did when I had reservations in his fight against Dela Hoya, against Hatton, against Cotto, and against Clottey. Manny proved once again that he is a phenom that defies traditional boxing conventions, by soundly beating naturally bigger fighters without losing a step.

The way Pacquiao dominated Margarito leads me to revisit a question that I had posed a year ago: "Is Manny Pacquiao the Greatest Boxer of All Time (GOAT)"?

2010 NBA Finals (Lakers vs Celtics)

It's all set. Two of the most storied franchises in basketball will renew their rivalry for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. And for the most hardened of hoop fans, it doesn't get any better than the Los Angeles Lakers going up against the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. 

Over the next couple of days you can expect picks and predictions, especially in a series of this magnitude, from practically every basketball-loving soul on the planet. So let's get the ball rolling, shall we? 

Let me state at the outset, in the interest of full disclosure, that I am a Lakers fan, though not of Kobe Bryant. I root exclusively for the team, and not for any particular player. Heck, I'd support them even if they were led by a Mini-Me lookalike of Charles Barkley named Nick Van Exel. Wait...I think I already did.

That being said, and without any hint of bias, I predict a Los Angeles victory in this series. And if you don't want to take my word for it, maybe you should listen to this guy: 

Long Live Da King!

For all intents and purposes, the "Event" between Manny Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey ended at the 1:37 mark of the fourth round.

It was at this point that Pacquiao unleashed a two-fisted punch, reminiscent of the legendary Filipino action star Fernando Poe Jr. (video from Fire Quinito's vast FPJ collection, hehe) 

Never mind that the fight actually lasted 12 rounds. Years from now, after the PacMan has been enshrined in the Boxing Hall of Fame, and Clottey largely forgotten, people will remember this bout solely because of that punch. It might even evolve into boxing's version of a "finishing move", something that when you see, you can say: " It's over!". In basketball, this would have been the equivalent of leaping over your defender for a dunk, or grabbing the ball midway through the shot for a block.

Nothing's Gonna Change...

The Filipino love affair with karaoke/videoke is widely acknowledged in this country. As a matter of fact, one website ranked it as number one on its list of "Top 10 Ways to Know You're Filipino".  One of the so-called "anthem" songs, is this hit originally done by George Benson entitled "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You". It is played so frequently on the rotation of karaoke/videoke bars (especially those of the drunken variety) that it's a minor miracle it hasn't been used as the title for one of those cheesy local movies that features the latest showbiz love-teams.

In college, I was in this Spanish class where our professor introduced us to, yup you guessed it, this song in Spanish. Now the mere idea of having a Chinese-looking guy teaching the class a Spanish version of an English song was a surefire way for it to be remembered. And I was pretty sure this would be the oddest encounter I'd ever have with this song. 


Until a couple of days ago.. when I saw this: Manny Pacquiao doing his best Magic Sing rendition on US national television.