a win for the country

haunted by the errors of my ways, i'm reeling over a misspelling of the piece i wrote seven years ago. how hard was it to spell? pacquiao = p-a-c-q-u-i-a-o. i spelled it pacquaio. if it was a blog i could just edit it anytime, but it was a column and it's forever embedded in the pantheons of the web, no matter how obscure and insignificant it was.

the hubby and i were in the philippines when we first heard of the news of pacquiao-dela hoya in august. dela hoya used to be a fixture in my 6pm tv sked with his exercise show with shawnae jebbia on the lifestyle network almost ten years ago. the golden boy has been a star since his gold medal win in barcelona. despite losses from shane mosley, floyd mayweather jr, felix trinidad and bernard hopkins in recent years, he banked on his savy business sense to be the force behind golden boy promotions. dela hoya was a brand name, boxing's number one pay per view attraction. but i still thought, the 70-30 revenue share was unfair for pacquiao. i've seen both these guys box over the years. pacquiao initially haggled for 60-40, but eventually settled on a 70-30 or 65-35 split and reportedly earned a guaranteed $11 mil while dela hoya received more than half of that amount at the final tally.

a lot of synthesizing space was generated on both boxer's weight. the golden boy, who fought all the way up to middleweight, was bigger, with a 4-inches height advantage and a longer reach, pacquiao, who started his career as a light flyweight was simply diminutive, the underdog. what were his chances to beat somebody who was almost light heavyweight? that was not the question on my mind. that was conventional wisdom. even revered writers stood by their match prediction -- dela hoya for size or dela hoya because of the left hook.

but i always reckon the golden boy was too slow, as my youngest brother observed a decade ago, he was more "pa cute-cute." that doesn't need translation. pacquiao always had the will. when you come from dirt poor poverty in the third world, it's like being ganged up by the bullies of the rich nations. after his defeat from 3K battery of thailand, i was actually dismissive of his desire to win. but he rose from the ashes. i've never thought he would be in the league of the dela hoyas of boxing.

next up would be probably be hatton, a surefire sidetaking in my home front and i'm a bad loser. it's kind of weird though because i've never been to gen san but i've been to manchester. there's just this hope that pacquiao would shun all whispers of another shot in politics or producing movies and concentrate on the real job. but at this juncture, bring on the motorcade.