Whew
History-making seven-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao on the set of his GMA-7 sitcom, Show me the Manny. Photograph by Uro de la Cruz. All rights reserved.
The streets of Manila emptied as Manny Pacquiao stepped into the ring to face Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. No one in the Philippines could conceive of Manny losing, and that was the problem: if he had not won we would now be in the grip of a crushing national depression. My sister and I were having lunch at the mall (my brother-in-law was watching the fight in a restaurant in QC), which was unusually quiet for a Sunday (the Philippine National Police reports that the crime rate during the 12-round bout was zero), when I heard an audible pop and people started streaming in. That’s when I knew the fight was over, and from the looks on their faces I knew Manny had won.
Why was the Time cover story on Manny not written by Filipinos? We don’t have writers in the Philippines? In the article streetfighting is referred to as ‘bukbukan’. The title is The Meaning of Manny. Well, what is it?
Nabokov puts on the gloves. From the LA Times.
P.S. Fabia tells me that one of the authors of the Time story IS a Filipino. I suppose Bakbakan was spelled the phonetic American way: Buck-buck-an.
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Can we not show some respect to the Filipino boxer who may be the Greatest Of All Time? Manny Pacquiao is to boxing as Roger Federer is to tennis. Do you disagree with the assessment, or is it simply that Pacquiao is not from the right class, i.e. the one you aspire to be associated with? Is it because Manny Pacquiao’s triumph reminds us that we are not a nation of country club players, but street brawlers driven by hunger (and by hunger I mean the most visceral kind)?
Discuss.
I am not egalitarian; I believe in talent. What we saw yesterday: Talent.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
November 15th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
bukbukan? parang kinain ng anay. mas onomatopoeic ang bugbugan.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
bukbukan? maybe they were referring to the rice the nfa is apparently giving away for free…hahaha (lame, i know)
November 16th, 2009 at 12:15 am
I was telling my friends just this morning we know what’s gonna happen when Manny wins this—lots of moolah, fame, much more moolah and designer bags for Jinkee. But what would happen if he lost. We haven’t gone that road in such a long time >_>
November 16th, 2009 at 9:47 am
I’ve read features better written than that TIME piece on a high school paper. I had to do a double take to check that I wasn’t actually reading one.
November 16th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Bukbuk in Cebuano means to pound or to beat up, or that’s what i think. I’m Cebuano and my mother used to threaten me with “bukbukon gyud taka kay gahi ka’g ulo” (you’re so stubborn i’m really gonna beat/pound you senseless). ;-)
November 16th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Unbelievable talent. A genius.
The guy just mows down world class opponents like it’s the easiest thing in the world. The list includes future Hall of Famers Barrera, Morales, de la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto. He just doesn’t win–he demolishes his opponents in such a convincing fashion, you can count with your fingers the rounds he has lost since Morales I (which Roach said was the real eye opener for Pacquiao when he realized he had to become more than a one-dimensional fighter).
He even used the rope-a-dope tactic ala Ali in the Cotto fight! Got Roach worried as Manny took some really nasty hits, but you had to give it to Manny for proving that he’s now truly a complete boxer. One of the all-time greats.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
“Manny Pacquiao is to boxing as Roger Federer is to tennis.” ” is it simply that Pacquiao is not from the right class, i.e. the one you aspire to be associated with?”
- I agree with what you said. Many Filipinos here in the country would not even think of publicly claiming that they like Pacquiao or even think of trying to admire him in spite of the things he has achieved perhaps because he is the hero of their drivers and maids, or supported by the jologs and the palengke crowd and those not from UP, Ateneo and La Salle, (“eww…”), or because he’s not mestizo. Roger Federer? Manny Pacquiao is the Nora Aunor of boxing.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Recah Trinidad could have done a better job than the author of the Time article.
I wish Norman Mailer were still alive (and young!) so he could also write a scholarly write-up on the Pacman.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:41 am
My analysis: Manny’s secret is in his weight factor. He is moving up in the weight division,while all of his opponents are moving down,trying desperately to lose weight drastically to meet Manny head on. And that affects the boxer’s stamina. That’s what happened to Dela Hoya, that’s what happened to Cotto. Genius? Maybe,but I think it’s just sound tactic on the part of his trainer or promoter. Incidentally, is it right for kids to idolize Manny and dream of following his footsteps? Those kids in Gensan sparring with each other,do they think they can be the future Manny? Shouldn’t we aspire for our kids to be the next Nobel laureate instead? Or the architect/engineer of some “super dam” like the one they have in Venice, that will save us from future floodings due to climate change?
November 17th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Franzi,
His opponents were losing weight drastically? Manny actually was moving up in THEIR weight classes. The Cotto fight took place at 145 lbs, well within the welterweight band of 140-147 lbs. The Hatton fight also took place at the weight range Hatton was comfortable with.
Some critics were actually saying that Pacquiao might lose against Hatton and Cotto because he would be fighting in THEIR divisions which the two had dominated. It’s not like it was the first time Hatton and Cotto fought in those weight categories. They actually dominated their class until Pacquiao.
It’s only de la Hoya who was not a “natural” in the weight class they fought in, but de la Hoya had actually fought and dominated that weight class in his younger days.
He’s one of a kind.
Yes, it’s nice to have a Filipino win a Nobel Prize someday. Don’t blame Pacquiao why it hasn’t happened yet.
November 18th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Re “bukbukan”: I agree it’s a Cebuano or Visayan term, meaning to pound or beat up.
I also agree with Jessica: It’s a talent. To win at something as primal a sport as boxing, you need more than the ability to pound your opponent to bits. It takes strategy, knowing when to strike and how to go about defeating your opponent without getting beaten up yourself. I think it needs intelligence to win at boxing–and Manny has that. Even with all the training in the world, I don’t think anyone can just do it–and do it excellently several times over in a weight class other than his own.
And I say bravo to Manny for taking advantage of his talent. You have this guy who came from a hardscrabble existence, who had a talent with his fists and used that get ahead in life and succeeded beyond all expectations. I think that’s the underlying factor why Filipinos are so proud of him. It’s a classic triumph against adversity story, what can I say?
“Shouldn’t we aspire for our kids to be the next Nobel laureate instead? Or the architect/engineer of some “super dam†like the one they have in Venice, that will save us from future floodings due to climate change?”
Yes, we should. But it says more about our frakked up government and educational system than about Manny and Manny’s victory why kids in his hometown want to be like him. I also think he’s a good example–the violence of his sport notwithstanding. Unlike most of our politicians, he got his millions honestly and not through dipping their grubby hands into the nation’s coffers. Manny got his through blood, sweat, and tears–literally!
@brewhuh23: I was actually thinking about this last Saturday. I’m not a boxing fan at all, but I was nervous that Manny would lose. He’s been fighting out of his weight class for several matches now and he can’t sustain this for so long. I wasn’t afraid for him. I was afraid for us, haha!