source: gmanews.tv
Odd. It felt odd. A national icon won. He was proclaimed winner. Yet fans, spurred by scientific duty or moral obligation, scrutinized the victory. Manny Pacquiao beat Juan Manuel Marquez. Some agreed. Some disagreed. We all walked away surprisingly befuddled.
A win is a win. We say this when, deep, deep down, we know conquests are subject to criticism. Boxing, as a science, is not just sweet. It is also divisive. People will justify Manny's triumph. Just as many will juxtapose Marquez's loss with what they saw, heard or felt during the fight. Because counter-punching worked. Because a man's grudge can lead to near-deliverance. I thought Pacquiao victories unite the country. Now everyone's a judge. Fantastic. We're all on our own on this one.
Professional boxing is both tactical warfare and performance art. For majority of fans, the true determinants of dominance are bludgeoned faces and knockout wins. One must clearly look like a winner. The other must clearly look like the vanquished. Marquez didn't run like Mosley. Or look like Margarito. Or hide like Clottey. Or sleep like Hatton. Without the benefit of gruesome physical damage, boxing is dissected through painstaking and personal analysis.
Lisane, a college student from UP, is a fan of boxing as Filipino performance art. She watches boxing proudly and exclusively because of Pacquiao. She wasn't inspired by Leonard-Hagler-Hearns-Duran or Corrales-Castillo. She is moved by Manny, and Manny alone. Yet her devotion to the sport is just as true as anyone else's. Hence, her tweet seconds after the fight was just as genuine:
"So apparently I don't understand boxing! How did manny win?! :))"
The statement was Lisane's innocent, comical jab at both Manny's inability to pulverize Marquez and her own inability to comprehend what makes boxers winners and losers. She wasn't upset. She was just perplexed.
The burden on Pacquiao, who fights twice a year, is that he's always expected to be great. Because we've already seen great. As if we've forgotten what a good Manny looks like (maybe we've forgotten what a really good Marquez looks like too). So for Manny, maybe painfully, good wasn't perceived as great. For Marquez, even more painfully so, great wasn't even perceived as good enough.
Three judges decided. A million other judges decided too. Pacquiao won by being aggressive. Marquez won by controlling the fight. It was close. It wasn't close. I thought Pacquiao won. Lisane may think otherwise. But our opinion hardly matters. We watched the fight and lived to argue about it. When Pacquiao returns for Pacquiao-Marquez 4, Pacquiao-Khan 1 or Pacquiao-Mayweather 1, we'll all watch again.
And unless someone goes down, or gives up, we will all start arguments we can never end. Did Pacquiao win over Marquez in their third bout? Was Frazier really the bad guy compared to Ali? Is Mayweather better than Manny?
"I was just really confused," Lisane, amused at her own bewilderment, said. "I guess you can't call it as you see it." - GMA News
source: gmanews.tv
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