The Year in Sports: Pacquiao, Donaire rise again
(Editor's note: The Yahoo! Philippines Sports team looks back at 2013's memorable moments in sports with a series of year-end articles on the topics and events that had the biggest impact on our readers.)
The past two years has seen Philippine boxing suffer a spate of painful defeats that cost the country three world titles, with perhaps none more devastating than the crushing sixth-round knockout of Manny Pacquiao by Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez on December 8, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
It was Pacquiao’s second successive setback, the first being a twelve round split decision loss to Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley on June 9, 2012, which raised a universal howl of protest in a fight that a vast majority of the media and fight fans believe Pacquiao deserved to win.
A pall of gloom descended on the Philippine boxing landscape when WBO/WBA flyweight champion Brian Viloria lost his titles by a 12-round split decision to Mexico’s tough Juan Francisco Estrada on April 6, 2013 at the Cotai Arena of the plush Venetian Resort Hotel in Macau and just one week later top five pound-for-pound fighter and WBO, IBF and WBC Diamond Belt super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire was stunned by former Cuban two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux at the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York losing a fairly one-sided decision despite dropping Rigondeaux with a vaunted left hook in the 10th round.
After undefeated flyweight Milan Melindo lost in his bid to avenge the loss of Viloria, Yahoo Philippines was in the Ventian Hotel suite of Pacquiao who was in Macau to formally announce his return to the ring against former lightweight champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios on November 24 at the same venue that has served to highlight the business acumen of Arum amidst the growing interest in professional boxing in China.
It was then that Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee told ABS-CBN reporter Dyan Castillejo and myself how confident she was that “the Philippines will rise again” and mentioned Donaire, Viloria and of course Manny.
Her words signaled a seeming new-found confidence if not hope, with Donaire taking the first step towards fulfilling the wishes of a nation longing to regain the world titles as well as the glory it had lost in quick succession.
Donaire had a sensational four-fight winning streak in 2012 and was crowned “Fighter of the Year” before his loss to Rigondeaux, which was caused by a combination of underestimating the WBA champion, not training like he should have under Robert Garcia on a consistent basis and being enamored by the prospect of his wife Rachel giving birth to their first child who since then has turned out to be an absolute gem named Jarel which stands for “Jun and Rachel Everlasting Love!”
Jarel indeed helped bring back the love of family between Nonito, wife Rachel and Nonito’s Dad - the man who trained him when he scored a spectacular 5th round knockout of cocky Vic Darchinyan to win the IBF and IBO flyweight titles on July7, 2007.
To her eternal credit it was Rachel, who was blamed as the cause of the rift between father and son, who reached out to Nonito’s dad, resulting in a touching family reunion cemented in tears as Nonito Donaire Sr. carried his grandson Jarel and embraced the reality of ties that bind.
2012 “Trainer of the Year” Robert Garcia termed the reconciliation “awesome news” and extended a warm welcome to Donaire Sr. to join his training camp in Oxnard. Nonito’s spirits were lifted as he prepared for the rematch with Darchinyan in his first encounter as a featherweight which he hoped would lead to a title fight, preferably against undefeated WBA champion Nicholas Walters of Jamaica.
Feeling the pressure to put on an impressive show against the 37-year-old Darchinyan, Donaire appeared relaxed while Drachinyan seemed focused. There were no smiles and no handshakes. The face-off was intense. Darchinyan muttered, “Rigondeaux schooled him, I’m going to finish him and send him into retirement.”
Darchinyan did school a surprisingly passive and cautious Donaire midway through the ten-round bout which caused some anxious moments in Donaire’s corner, especially after Darchinyan caught Donaire with a hard left in round five that sent him against the ropes.
Feeling the momentum shifting in their favor Darchinyan’s corner told him “beautiful work” while Garcia pleaded with Nonito “don’t stand in front of him, throw more combinations.”
An obviously worried Garcia was joined by Nonito Donaire Sr at the end of the 8th round imploring Donaire to “throw more punches” insisting “ You can’t win this fight by throwing one punch.”
Taking the admonition of his corner and reflecting the courage of the Filipino which he had earlier praised, Donaire launched one last desperate effort to turn the fight around in the ninth round. When Darchinyan, in one throwback moment to his usual fighting style lunged forward, Donaire exploded with his patented left hook and Darchinyan went down.
He was groggy and grabbed the ropes to beat the count even as he looked to his corner for solace. Donaire pounced on Darchinyan and went for the kill. He buckled Darchinyan’s knees with another left hook and swarmed all over the dazed Aussie with a barrage of heavy handed shots including one mighty uppercut that effectively bludgeoned Darchinyan, forcing referee Laurence Cole to call a halt at 2:06 of the round.
At the time of the stoppage two of the three judges had Darchinyan inexplicably ahead by four points, 78-74 which translated into giving him six of the eight rounds while the third judge had it even at 76-76. Donaire took a dig at the judges in a post-fight interview with Yahoo Philippines when he said “that’s their opinion but I never wanted to leave it in their hands.” And, eventually, he didn’t.
Manny Pacquiao, however, did. In his return to the ring some eleven months after the shocking loss to Marquez, Pacquiao put on a superb display of skill, hand-speed, excellent footwork and zeroed in from all angles on a hapless former lightweight champion Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios before a predominantly Filipino sell-out crowd. Pacquiao seemingly had nothing to fear because the venue was Macau not Las Vegas when on June 9, 2012 he lost by a horrendous split decision to undefeated welterweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley.
There were some skeptics who felt that Manny could never recover from the trauma of the Marquez knockout. They obviously didn’t know Pacquiao. Soon he had dutifully consigned the knockout to a sport where you win some and you lose some and vowed to learn from his mistakes.
He clearly did by training for three months compared to his usual six- to seven-week stint. In another major change Pacquiao decided to train exclusively at his well-appointed Pacman Wild Card Gym in his hometown of General Santos City where there were no distractions and he enjoyed the environment of a life at home with his wife and four kids.
Trainer Freddie Roach himself welcomed the shift from the oft-crowded Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles where it was difficult to keep Filipino fans who often drive for hours just to get a glimpse of their hero. It paid off handsomely as Pacquiao administered a one-sided beating of a tough and resilient Brandon Rios and proved that far from being the beginning of the end his illustrious career was rising again.
His masterful performance prompted Floyd Mayweather Sr., father and trainer of the undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. who had bad-mouthed Pacquiao in the past to tell Boxing Insider “it was no problem with this guy Rios. He never really hit Manny with anything. Manny was slipping and sliding. Manny was looking like Floyd.”
He said Pacquiao “looked very, very good on him (Rios). Manny moved when he wanted to, touched him when he wanted to and was doing everything. He was giving side angles, cracking. He (Rios) didn’t win a round. I think the fight was a total shutout.”
The three judges felt almost the same way. Michael Pernick scored a 120-108 shutout for Pacquiao, Manfred Kuechler had Pacquiao ahead 118-110 and Lisa Giampa scored it 119-109 also for Pacquiao.
Renowned Sports commentator Jim Lampley who anchored the fight for HBO Sports told ABS-CBN’s Dyan Castillejo and this reporter “the only thing that was missing was that Pacquiao wasn’t willing to go in and stand there and take the risk necessary to try to knock Rios out and I think that was very intelligent and probably wasn’t necessary since he was winning every round.”
In Lampley’s mind Manny “got the win and satisfied the crowd and satisfied the need to get another showcase win and cement his legacy a little more and build a couple of big fights down the road.”
While Pacquiao re-established himself as an elite fighter Lampley believes “he is not the same finisher-destroyer that he used to be and I don’t think we are not going to see that Manny Pacquiao again and that only makes sense.”
As he celebrated the passing of 35 summers we are destined to see the ferocity of what the esteemed Larry Merchant once described as a storm racing across the Pacific mellow into a thinking fighter capable of drawing up a game plan conceived in partnership with celebrated trainer Freddie Roach and executed to near perfection in the ring.
The one indisputable quality of Manny Pacquiao which has endeared him to media and fight fans around the world is his unmistakable humility and unquestioned class. Even when Floyd Mayweather Jr insulted him in a series of tweets during Christmas, Pacquiao merely smiled and thanked Floyd for still thinking of him.
His religiosity prompted Pacquiao to point out that Christmas “reminds us of God’s greatest love for us. He teaches us to love even our enemies. So I won’t say anything that would hurt anybody.”
As Jim Lampley so eloquently remarked, “there are only one or two others in the sport who can even begin to compete with what Pacquiao means to the public.”
Rios trainer Robert Garcia paid a sincere tribute to Pacquiao stating “Manny is not only a great fighter, he is a great person. Everybody knows that. We respect him for what he has accomplished not only inside the ring but also outside.”
Pacquiao’s remarkable compassion and concern for his people were once again evident when super typhoon Haiyan – Yolanda in the Philippines – cut a wide swath of death and destruction through Tacloban City and several towns in Leyte and Samar. He admitted he cried for those who suffered so much and was pained he couldn’t visit them because he was in the crucial stages of his training for the Rios fight.
Like Donaire before him, Pacquiao dedicated the Rios fight to his countrymen which has been customary through the years only this time there was the emotional burden of those who had lost all they possessed including the lives of thousands but somehow kept their unshakeable faith.
Addressing a huge gathering at the Venetian Resort Hotel ballroom after the fight Pacquiao reminded his audience who cheered him lustily, “when I said this fight was for you, I meant all my countrymen who were affected by the disaster. I am happy God answered my prayers.”
Pacquiao said he was convinced that just like him “we will all rise again.”
OTHER YAHOO! SPORTS YEAREND SPORTS PIECES:
Funniest sports photos of 2013
13 Filipino athletes who excelled in 2013
The Year in Sports: In Memoriam 2013
The Year in Sports: My 10 favorite Pinoy Football goals in 2013
