OK, the Pacquiao-Morales match was a big disappointment to us Filipinos.  Our countryman was actually the favorite to win (having knocked out Barrera who later knocked out Morales), but circumstances must have conspired to make him lose, and as Manny later said, a Higher Power must have intended for this to happen. (soo unlike me)

The game was shown via satellite in a local network. Most Filipinos probably wished it was pay-per-view where we are. As it is, the broadcast was free but although the show started at 10 a.m., the Pacquiao-Morales match began only at almost 3 p.m. My brother-in-law Glen (my sister Mel's husband), eager to find out the result of the match (probably because he was feeling as tense as the rest of the Philippines must have been feeling and wanted to assure himself of a Pacquiao win), asked my youngest sister (Marie) to check out the result in the Internet. We started checking online as soon as the second opener was underway and about every hour after that but didn't find any such news. At about 3:30 p.m., when the second round of the Pacquiao-Morales match was on, Marie told us the bad online news: Pacquiao lost to Morales in a unanimous vote, 115-113.

Marie and Glen mirrored the typical reaction of the Filipino. The normal chatterbox such as my sister seemed to have lost all energy. I tried to console them (and myself) and said it wasn't really that bad. That was a close call and could have gone either way. Still, it was a loss, and knowing my countrymen, tomorrow, someone's will surely come out with a comment that Manny was cheated of a win.

I wasn't able to watch the Pacquiao-Marquez match; it was a draw but most say Manny should have won. (Yeah well, I only listened to Pacquiao's side and didn't really hear Marquez's camp.) Apparently, there was a part there in which Marquez gave Manny a head butt but the referee failed to deduct points for that. Had he done so, Pacquiao would have won. The referee in the Pacquiao-Morales match was the same referee in Pacquiao's match against Marquez. This match I watched painfully. The cut above Manny's right eye was not brought about by a Morales punch but by the Mexican's head. This happened in Round 5. It is a dirty tactic that they said is being used by most boxers. The 1-point deduction is nothing compared to the advantage one would have for the rest of the game. OK, I'm probably sour-graping; may have been completely unintentional. But Manny was so powerful that despite having had that cut early in the match, he still managed to perform fairly well until Round 12. In fact, he performed more than fairly in some rounds. What a gallant guy! I would have admired him even if he were not Filipino.

That incident in another round where Manny lost his mouthpiece was really suspicious. I didn't miss that when I saw it on TV. Something obviously fell. And the referee, who was right there on the ring, needed about 30 seconds to notice. Well, OK, another point of view difference. Could have been really difficult to see where he was.

Manny's manager warned him about having the fight go the distance. He said Las Vegas was Bob Arum's (Morales's manager?) territory and the judges were liable to score it in Morales's favor if that happens. I can't say that's accurate. Erik really won this one. Manny must have known that. When being interviewed by the Filipino anchor, he didn't appear as frustrated as he did after his match against Marquez (although he also said he should have won this fight). He cried after the Marquez fight, but he was just sad after this one.

One local newspaper reporter expressed doubts about the impartiality of the Latino referee. He claims there have been instances in the past when the referee would call odds in favor of the Latino boxer. I don't know if there's any truth to that but I would say that was a major error about the headbutt and the fallen mouthpiece. Boxing officials should do something about the headbutt situation because it can really give the erring boxer an unfair advantage. And the mouthpiece, well, had Manny been hit on the face while the mouthpiece was off, it could have meant more than just him losing the game.

The Filipino anchor who made introductory statements before the match was finally shown here seemed sad and, because I saw that there weren't any more people inside the MGM grand, I had a hunch that the match was over when he spoke. He said something like win or lose, we all know that Manny will do his best and he's still a winner for us. (He also said some bullshit like Manny's fight united the Philippines. How?) And as Martina Navratilova said, which I paraphrase, whoever said it's not winning or losing that counts probably lost. I was right. (The second time this weekend, as just last Saturday, I was able to answer a million peso question in a game show. Well, I lucky guessed it, more like.) Only this time, I wasn't so excited to have been right.

In the end, Manny just lost. There's nothing more to say about something as obviously sad as that. On the other side of the globe, they're celebrating Morales's win. They're probably analyzing it in another manner - Morales's techniques (he already said he didn't feel Manny's power. Fuck man, your face is swollen! You weren't able to knock Manny out despite having unfairly given him a cut. At least, admit to having been intimidated by him. Admit to Manny's being bigger than you are), his determination, his whatnot. Of course, this is an insane sports. Nobody really wins in it, except the agents who earn big but don't get the punches. It's amazing how these boys are seemingly pawns of bigger asses. But yeah, we love contact sports; these boys do for us what we want so badly to do to our enemies if only we can get away with it.

Congratulations, Manny! You're great. Don't gamble too much. And retire early, for your family's sake.

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