‘Buenas Diaz’

“Buenas dias” means good morning in Spanish, and I guess it was “good morning” to former World Boxing Council lightweight champ David Diaz when he woke up after that knockout punch he got from Manny Pacquiao two minutes and 24 seconds into the ninth round. I guess his dream of defeating Pacquiao and avenging the Mexicans who became victims of the Pacman’s deadly fists turned into a nightmare. Nevertheless, the bout gave Diaz, a 1996 Olympian, his biggest purse ever at $850,000, more than double the $350,000 he previously received for his 12-round duel with Eric Morales.

“I’m finally getting paid what champions get paid… Now I’m fighting one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. This is a dream come true for me,” Diaz had said in one of his interviews. But despite this dream getting shattered, the Mexican-American most probably feels he is “buenas Diaz” – one lucky guy – since the money he earned can set his kids up for college and buy him a brand new car with air conditioning. 

Diaz had a lot of heart going into the fight, but in every round, he was clearly outclassed by the speed and the lethal punches of the country’s boxing icon, in a match that was seen by millions of boxing fans all over the world. It was a victory watched by more than 90 percent of Filipinos. And like the previous fights of the “people’s champ” against Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and a host of other boxing legends, everything was at a standstill as people were glued to their television sets. Despite the bad weather and the torrent of commercials patiently endured by the people who watched the fight on free TV and on cable, no one wanted to budge.

No question we saved a lot of energy on Sunday since there was virtually no traffic. Criminals took a respite, and so did the soldiers and rebels in the countryside who engaged in an unofficial ceasefire to listen to blow-by-blow accounts of the title fight over the radio. Diaz had been hoping to conquer the Filipino, acknowledged as one of the world’s best pound for-pound fighters. Manny wrote a new chapter in Philippine boxing history, becoming the first Asian to win four world titles and the First Filipino to capture the lightweight championship – a title that had eluded even the late boxing great Gabriel “Flash” Elorde.

Incidentally, it’s not only the Philippines and Filipinos that are rejoicing. Our “mother country,” Spain, is also celebrating its victory over Germany in the European 2008 football championship. It was a thirst quenching conquest for La Madre España whose last win was 44 years ago against the Soviet Union. No doubt the Latino “heart” played a large part in the victory as the Spanish surged through the finals despite missing a key player due to an injury.

Just like Spain, Manny’s win was a feel-good episode that was badly needed by Filipinos after that disheartening news of the Sulpicio Lines tragedy – whose gruesome consequences continue to haunt not only the victims’ relatives but the rest of the country with confirmation that the passenger ferry was carrying endosulfan – an extremely restricted, highly poisonous pesticide.

While it’s already a well-established fact that Manny Pacquiao is a world class fighter, his latest triumph once again shows that Filipinos can excel at something if given the right breaks and supported by proper training and professional guidance. Even before this much anticipated fight, the pugilist from GenSan had already paved the way for a host of other Filipino fighters and has kept the fire burning in the hearts of other young men who wish to follow after his footsteps.

Of course, Pacman was a big money winner with his guaranteed purse of $3 million (which could get even higher with the pay-per-view take), but the bigger winner are some big time Filipino gamblers who banked on the long betting odds for Pacquiao over Diaz (which got as high as $450 to $100).  One “usual suspect” reportedly won as much as $5 million in “llamado” bets – something which perhaps the BIR could try to take a peek at. For his part, Pacquiao had promised to donate P5 million of his winnings to the people of Iloilo who suffered from the onslaught of typhoon Frank.

How we wish Filipinos could also win in other fronts, like in the battle against poverty and disunity. But as they say, you can’t win them all – which is another way of looking at the yin and yang of life. Manny Pacquiao’s rise to fame shows us the good part about being a Filipino – having a lot of heart, and possessing the discipline and determination to triumph against great odds. Sadly, the bad part can be seen in the rancor and political disunity that continues to hold our country back to this day – with bitterness and an unforgiving heart combining to become a heavy baggage that keeps us from pressing forward.

Yet being Filipinos, we are blessed with an unswerving faith that keeps us anchored when we are buffeted by the heavy winds of adversity. It is also this strong faith – displayed by Manny Pacquiao when he knelt in a corner and prayed after the referee stopped the bout which gave him the lightweight crown – which makes us triumph even against inconceivable odds. After all is said and done, it is this unwavering faith in God that can make all of us Filipinos winners in the end.

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