On Boxing and Family Gatherings

Obviously, by "boxing" I refer to yesterday's Pacquiao-Morales showdown. I must say that, for us, and I suspect for many others out there as well, every Pacquiao match has always been a family affair. Yesterday it was a reunion of sorts, because my sister came over with her boyfriend (and
soon-to-be husband) to watch the fight with us.

Some of us woke up early. My uncle and my grandfather were, I think, up as early as 8AM. Not me, though. I woke up around 11 or so. Pacman's match was the main event, so I figured it wouldn't start as early as 8 in the morning because there were sure to be some supporting cards. Sure enough, when I woke up sometime 11AM, Viloria was the one fighting.

And I will say this of that match: It friggin' bored me to death! My dad nearly fell asleep on the sofa. We had both hurled diatribes at Viloria (as if he could actually hear a word of our rebukes) for refusing to let his punches out, merely standing there taking all of Romero's swings, or doing little useless jigs that didn't get him any points at all. We'd concluded that all he was doing was waiting to release a single powerful punch that would take Romero down. As it was, he didn't get lucky. Like the commentator said, things like that just happen. You cannot make it your one single goal.  If you're lucky enough to find an opening, you can make it happen. But it's not a guarantee. Viloria was lucky he got a draw.

I wasn't able to watch the next fight between Torres and Arnaoutis. I was cooking lunch. I only got glimpses which made me think Arnaoutis had the upper hand, but then it was Torres who won. My dad said that fight was so much better to watch than Viloria's.

Then came the much-awaited main event, the conclusion of the Pacquiao-Morales trilogy. I had heard that a lot of people were placing their bets on Morales, and I couldn't think why. Did they even take a good look at him? His body looked so thin and frail. Anyone who lost that much weight in such a short time is bound to be weaker than he used to be because his body has not fully adjusted to the sudden weight change. I think that if the fight had been much later, perhaps next year, Erik Morales might have built some more needed muscle. I also think a few tune-up fights should've been in order before jumping smack into a match with someone as strong and as fast as Manny Pacquiao. But I guess, Morales just did not have enough time. Yesterday I declared that I believed the only way Erik Morales could win is if he got so desperate as to be running on sheer adrenaline and willpower alone. And if that happened, he'd probably drop like a log right afterwards, out cold and dead to the world.

It was funny, we all had our guesses as to which round the fight would last until. But man, we were on our toes by the first round, my dad nearly knocked the TV down in the 2nd round, and I was screaming "Round 3! Round 3!" at the end of the 3rd round. I must say, though, that my heart did go out to Erik Morales somehow, sitting there looking so lost. I happen to think he's cute, if not for that incongruous nose of his.

My other sister claimed that she'd been thinking it might only get up to round 3 judging by the way Morales looked. Oh well. I'm just glad we always opt to watch the delayed telecast at home; if we'd had pay-per-view or been to any of the places having live fight promos, it would've
been like, "I friggin' paid ### bucks only to get 3 rounds???" =P