PAC-MAN’S TRIPLE CROWN
As I mentioned in my last article, 2008 was a great boxing year. 2008 for most fighters was sorta like a long roller coaster ride. Sure the year had it’s up and downs, but for the most part 2008 was exciting, explosive, and unpredictable. Overall 2008 was a great year, 2008 to most of us will always be remembered as the year of the Pac-Man.
Pacquiao’s great year began on March 15, 2008 when the Pac-Man faced his archrival, the master technician, the man that many believed had the will and skill to gobble the Pac-Man, Mr. Juan Manuel Marquez. This match was the rematch 4 years in the making, the first war between these two warriors was boxing at it’s very best. Not only was the technical monster Marquez able to hold Pac-Man to a draw, but Marquez was able to survive after being knocked down countless times and managed to tell about it.
After all that explosive action, we waited 4 long years to see them go at it again, 4 very long years. The rematch took place at the Jr. Lightweight 130 pound limit. The battle pretty much went back and forth with Marquez circling the Typhoon and getting in his crisp counters. In the end, the power of the Pac-Man made it hard for 2 of the judges to bet against. Pacquiao’s aggresion was what sealed the deal. Took 4 long years, but sweet vindication had arrived.
So what would Pacquiao do for an encore? Well, three months later, Pacquiao would change his address to the Lightweight 135 pound division to challenge David Diaz. Diaz was the man that had retired Eric Morales in a very brutal war. Morales was and still is the last man to defeat Pacquiao. So would the move up in weight be too much for Pacquiao? Would Diaz who had retired the great Morales also be too much for Pacquiao? In the end, Pacquiao was just way too much for Diaz. Pacquiao went on to dominate Diaz from beginning to end. Pacquiao had soundly beaten the daylights out of Diaz knocking him out in the 9th round.
The address changing sure did not stop there, a few months after pounding Diaz, Pacquiao announced that he would jump over the 140 pound limit and challenge the man that had been the face of the sport, the Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya. The fight would take place at the 147 pound Welterweight limit. Many critics lashed out and said that the fight should not take place. The critics went on to say that Oscar was way too big for Pacquiao, many feared for the health of the last action hero that we have all grown to love. The Dream Match was pretty much seen as nothing more than a mismatch.
It pains me to say it now, but yours truly was one of the critics that viewed the fight as a huge mismatch. I honestly felt that Oscar would blast and destroy the Pac-Man. In my prediction for the fight, I would go on to just about provide the bodybag for the mismatch that kept playing in my mind. This is what I had predicted for Manny.
‘’I dedicate this prediction to Manny Pacquiao, Manny I hope that all goes well with you, you always come to entertain us and for that I will always be a fan. Unfortunately for you, I feel that this time you may have bitten off more than you can chew. I leave you with the chorus for Lupe Fiasco’s Superstar song…. And it goes a lil something like this..'’
If you are what you say you are
a superstar
then have no fear
the crowd is here
and the lights are on and they want a show
oh oh oh oh yeah …
On fight night, Pacquiao toyed and destroyed Goliath and did it in such dramatic fashion. The beating was so brutal that Oscar was forced to quit in the eighth round. Not only did Pacquiao prove me wrong but he also defied the odds in a flawless performance, Pacquiao had put on a masterful show, and he did it under the brightest lights. Every single day since that great night, I have been eating crow ever since. Each day that has gone by since that great Pacquiao performance, I have felt more and more like a crow, you know what they say, you are what you eat.
No doubt about it, Pacquiao has always been a star, but the night that he won his third fight, in just as many weight classes, all in the same calendar year, will always be a very special moment. To me I will always remember 2008 as the year that Pacquiao reached Superstar status, Immortality. Today we not only would like to thank you for taking the risks and stepping up to the dangerous challenges, but we would also all like to wish you a Happy Birthday. It is your sheer unpredictable nature that makes this great sport of ours so explosive and exciting. We are all fans. Happy Three 0 Champ, may you have a wonderful day.
Posted by: Albert Alvarez