Clottey? What was Pacquiao fed for breakfast?

Raquel R. Relampagos, a sister of my mother, died January 10 at 79. She is survived by husband Clemente, children Ruth and Bobby Kintanar, Suzette and Eddie Tecson, Joy and Danny Benabaye, Joan and Tomas Talavera, Jean and Mario Sanchez, Mary and Rodulfo Pinote, Marjorie, and grandchildren.

She will be buried today at the Mandaue City Catholic Cemetery after a necrological Mass at 9 a.m. at the San Roque Parish Church in Subangdaku that city. Relatives and friends who cannot make it to the funeral are requested to offer prayers for her forgiveness and final rest.

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Tonight at 8, the much-awaited 2010 edition of Halad will take place at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, with Pilita Corrales, Dulce Amor, Raki Vega, and the world-renowned UV Chorale performing great and enduring Cebuano songs penned by great Cebuano composers.

The concert is the latest in a series of similar activities initiated by Jose “Dodong” R. Gullas in his bid to secure a safe and enduring place in every Cebuano’s heart for his own musical heritage, culture, and social traditions.

As with the previous editions of the Halad, a special attraction of the concert would be the giving of due recognition to noted Cebuano composers or to the surviving members of their families.

Yesterday, Sir Dodong opened his Halad Museum which embodies in more material form the vision that gives life to the Halad concerts. The museum, dedicated to his parents Don Vicente and Inday Pining Gullas, houses the musical heirloom of Cebu and related cultural artifacts.

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With a fight with the loudmouth Floyd Mayweather Jr. now apparently out of the way, the people surrounding Manny Pacquiao lost no time in finding him another opponent, and another opportunity for them to cash in on his popularity before he becomes a full-fledged politician.

Pressed for time, since Pacquiao is running for congressman in the May 10 elections, they decided on Joshua Clottey, a Ghanian who now lives in New York. Clottey once briefly held a world title, but his greatest claim to fame was a narrow loss to Miguel Cotto.

Clottey is a relatively good fighter, with a potential to be dangerous. But he is not a marquee fighter. He does not bring in the crowds. He does not pack stadiums. He cannot sell PPV. In the stellar world that Pacquiao inhabits, Clottey is a virtual black hole.

 That is why I cannot understand why Pacquiao had to fight this fight when he has everything to lose and absolutely nothing to gain. Even the money will be a far cry from what he would have made had the Mayweather thing pushed through.

This is clearly a retrogressive match-up. And if the people around Pacquiao think this is a safe fight, just to keep the Filipino busy and earn a little pocket money before heading home to Sarangani, they are completely dead wrong.

In boxing, there is no such thing as a safe fight. If even in your own home you can get a blackeye by walking into a doorknob, how much more inside the ring where the intent is to inflict as much harm as one can on an opponent.

Pacquiao can lose this one. Worse, he can lose badly. He could even get hurt seriously, or God forbid, permanently. And for what? For fighting Clottey? In the entire history of Pacquiao this one takes the cake in his being fleeced by human parasites.

This fight is living proof that there are some in Pacquiao’s inner circle who do not truly care about the welfare of the Filipino fighter and his health and reputation but are on the lookout only for their own gain, for their own cut from his fortune and fame.