T apos na ang boksing. There’s nothing more to talk about.  Manny Pacquiao (pronounced Pak-Yaw) won.  True …  the fight is all over.

But surely, we can still talk about it.  Hash it out a little, you know.  And share with y’all my take on Pakyaw.  You don’t have to agree.

Yes, indeed, he won.  He handily won and knocked out COLD, with a right cross, his latest boxing opponent, Ricky Hatton of England.  Talagang tulog. Sa second round pa lang, tulog na.  Right in the middle of the ring, Hatton was in dreamland, snoring away.

Filipinos all over the world were ecstatic and went wild with joy when they saw that.

Pakyaw is the world’s greatest fighter, they screamed.  He’s the best.  He’s unbeatable.  He’s a hero.  He’s superman.  A batman.  A spiderman.  A pacman …

When he arrived home in the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, AKA Pandak, declared the day a national holiday.  For many days thereafter, Filipinos celebrated. They danced on the streets.

S port writers wrote that Manny Pacquiao, AKA, Pacman, was like a fiesty “pit bull” in mauling Hatton.  And Hatton was like a docile “mutt.”

I saw the fight on Ru Tube.  Some parts in the fight were shown in slow motion.  Twice, I closely watched the whole thing.

Pakyaw was no pit bull.  He was a runner. He was a clincher. A couple of times, he turned his back on Hatton and ran from Hatton’s attacks.

And it looked like that THAT left cross that knocked Hatton out was delivered BLINDLY to the jaw of Hatton.

In other words, a lucky punch!

It was a mighty powerful punch, no doubt about that.  Napangiwi nga si Hatton.  And like a cut-down timber, Hatton fell heavily flat on his back, right there in the middle of the ring.  I don’t know how long exactly he was unconscious, but when he woke up, he looked UNSCATHED and UNHURT …

And RELIEVED that the fight was all over.  Kuwarta na kasi.  Like winning the lotto.

It was a FIXED fight.  Like that fight with De La Hoya.  Palabas lang.  Pera … y’all know what I mean?  Para sa akin, si Pakyaw, namamakyaw lang ng mga laos na boksingero!

O nce again, Filipinos all over the world got fooled.  And what’s really bad about it, is that we blindly believe in something that only fools believe in.  Filipinos are too naïve and too hard-up for a hero, that’s why we easily believed in Pakyaw’s superman feats … and that’s a damn shame!

As one mainstream American sports writer said of the Hatton/Pakyaw fight: “It’s a CON JOB.”  It’s the same thing with Pakyaw’s fight against De La Hoya.  Palabas lang, a Manny Pakyaw Productions, just like the FPJ Productions, where the late Fernando Poe, Jr. was always the bida.”

I say that because Pakyaw seems to fight boxers ONLY na mga laos na.  Mga champion nga.  Pero mga dating champion na.  Has been.  Sent to pasture.  And retired.

Lured by lotsa money, they all came out to fight the Pacman.  And all lost, of course.  But, who’s got the money?  While the Pacman was acknowledging the Filipino worshippers lapping and groveling at his feet, the “losers” grabbed the money and ran.

Do y’all know that when Pakyaw fought De La Hoya, De La Hoya got paid handsomely?  Much, much, more than Pakyaw.  That’s a fact.  What does that tell you?  I wonder if the same thing happened with Hatton.

Probably …

The Pacman should fight his “own size,” fighters who are in their fighting prime and on top of their game, just like him.

True, he’s a good fighter.  Even a “great fighter.”  Sure, I’ll concede to that.  A great fighter, that is, among pipitsugin fighters.  If he’s one of the bests, he should be fighting the bests, NOT the pipitsugins.  Why does he confine himself to fighting (to borrow my good friend, Joseph Lariosa’s words) “the underachievers and the over-the-hills”?  If he’s really that good, he should expand his reach beyond his comfort zone into a fighting arena where the bests fight only the bests.

Kaso, champion lang ng mga pipitsugin si Pacman, eh.  That’s my take on Pakyaw as a boxer.

B ut readers, please don’t get me wrong.  I like Pakyaw.  A couple of years ago, I wrote a story about him, praising him for his perseverance in reaching his goal, despite his humble beginnings as a panadero in his province.

“He’s an inspiration to all young Filipino achievers, boxers and non-boxers alike,” I wrote then.

His generosity to our poor kababayans in the Philippines is admirable.  He shares with them his earnings and his wealth.  He built a couple of schools in the province where he came from and a huge, well-equipped gym for aspiring world-class boxers to train in.  He unselfishly and continuously donates to charities, and when he’s home, he would sit in front of his mansion and hand out food and money to the poor and hungry.

That’s awesome, I think.  Sure, he might be the “Pakyaw, na namamakyaw ng mga laos na boksingero,” but for his kindness and generosity, he can be dubbed, no doubt, the world’s greatest champion.  JJ