THERE couldn’t have been a better time or a better slogan than “It’s About Time” to promote today’s truly exciting, if not intriguing fight card at the sprawling Cebu Sports Center in the charming ambiance of the “Queen City of the South.”
The unbelievably low pay-per-view numbers for the third encounter between eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and American Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last April 9 and the subsequent wailing of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum not only underscored the early – and correct judgment of the media and fight fans, who were never enamored about the trilogy. The numbers quoted by the astute Arum speak for themselves.
Of course, aside from the choice of Bradley when there was a far more interesting storyline and potentially rewarding fight against Britain’s World Boxing Council Silver welterweight champion Amir Khan, or even a somewhat dangerous showdown with unbeaten light welterweight champion Terence Crawford, who is also handled by Top Rank, it underscored the meaningless trilogy with Bradley, who the whole wide world knows, lost both fights in which he faced Pacquiao despite the horrendous, internationally criticized decision of the judges in their first meeting.
Ultimately we hope, even if we have our doubts, that Manny will hang up his gloves as he said he would and concentrate his time and energy, which he still unquestionably has plenty of, to his demanding task as a representative of some 100 million Filipinos across our beloved country and find more time for his charming wife Jinkee and their five lovable kids.
The retirement of Manny provides a golden opportunity for a roster of truly talented and promising young Filipino boxers mainly from the famed ALA Gym to step up and by their collective efforts fill the void left by Pacquiao’s retirement.
Of course, the lead fighter in this bid to continue the storied history of Philippine boxing is certainly in the fists of Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, who we believe will put on a show, as he himself envisions, against former Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak, somewhat of an unknown entity in their WBO super bantamweight showdown tonight, before what is expected to be a sellout crowd, thanks to a committed effort by the city government, headed by Mayor Rama and the police force, to ensure peace and order and as smooth a traffic flow as possible in a city that is fast developing into a traffic nightmare reminiscent of the Metro Manila gridlock.
Nonito Donaire never wanted to be another Pacquiao, he wants to be his own man and carve his own name in the pantheon of Filipino greats, which is as it should be.
While Manny is clearly a charismatic fighter known for his remarkable humility and generosity, which sometimes is questionable in the manner in which he panders to leeches that abound when there is blood money to be sucked out of this forgiving individual, Nonito has a style and charisma all his own, anchored on his wonderful ability to string together thoughts that emanate from deep within his Filipino heart and put them into words both in English, Tagalog and Cebuano.
His eloquence touches both Filipinos and Americans, mindful that he spent many of his youthful years in the United States and acquired a certain flair from his boyhood days, but never forgetting his Filipino heritage of which he speaks with pride.
He will carry our national colors with pride and glory for a few more years, while young champions of the future like Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo may well live up to his name when he battles the talented and cocky Chris Avalos. Magsayo’s foe derisively claimed that his fight is a clash between a man and a boy and that Mark is weak.
Let’s find out whether Avalos will feel the same way after Mark connects with his rapid-fire punches tonight in what could well turn out to be one of the best fights of an exciting card put together by lead promoter Top Rank, in cooperation with the renowned ALA Promotions and the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN, whose coverage of sports has won the gratitude and admiration of millions of Filipino sports fans.
Carlos Suarez, the extremely likeable manager of the Cebu Grand Hotel, which is always our home when we visit Cebu because of its wonderful ambiance and clean and simple but classy facilities, is one of many who are keen on watching “It’s About Time” due primarily to the possibilities of a classic between Magsayo, the magnificent and the hitman Avalos.
They are, we believe, perfectly right, although the Donaire-Bedak title fight should be a thriller as long as it lasts.