Typhoon victims get morale-booster: Pacman is back

MACAU — Manny Pacquiao was in his usual fiery self, this time spiking his fighting with a huge dose of patience against an opponent made perfectly for him, in pummeling a game but overmatched Brandon Rios to cruise to a lopsided victory in their heavily hyped welterweight bout at the sold-out Cotai Arena here.

Pacquiao, on his toes for most of the fight and clearly more cautious in an effort to avoid  another devastating counter shot, made Rios look like an amateur who was constantly startled with his opponent’s lateral movement and quick flurries.

Rios tried to lure Pacquiao into a phone-booth battle by initiating clinches, and oftentimes would attempt to bully the Filipino to the ropes. But Pacquiao wanted none of it and simply spun his way out of trouble and took the fight to the center of the ring.

The three judges had it 120-108, 118-110 and 119-109 for Pacquiao, who took home the WBO international welterweight title to the satisfaction of the highly partisan crowd here.

After a short feeling-out period in the opening round, Pacquiao started to pepper Rios with left straights to the face and body. Rios would retort occasionally, but most of the time he just ended up eating leather as Pacquiao unleashed timely flurries.

The Mexican-American banger had some bright moments wherein he would land some shots on his quicker opponent. However, Rios often succumbed to Pacquiao's effective side-to-side movement, leaving him bewildered.

Rios says it's Pacquiao's speed that did the most damage.

“His best punch was his quickness,” said Rios.

His trainer, Robert Garcia, agreed.

“Speed is really the factor here. Manny's just too fast,” he said.

Sunday's fight was reminiscent of Pacquiao's previous meetings with similarly flat-footed opponents like Oscar Dela Hoya and Antonio Margarito. Rios was just another top for Pacquiao to spin whenever he wanted to.

By round five, Rios started folding up as Pacquiao continued to strafe him with shots from various angles. Eventually, it boiled down to the question of whether Pacquiao wanted to dispose Rios off with a knockout, something he needed to again jumpstart a career that's been hounded with speculations of his declining skills.

After back-to-back losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao was on the verge of a successful comeback on Sunday afternoon. And he wouldn't let another well-timed counter shot to spoil things.

In the last four rounds, Pacquiao tried to tire Rios off, hoping to land the coup de grace that the crowd is craving for. It never came though, as Rios likewise proved to be a tough nut to crack.

Pacquiao admitted he played it safe and just stuck to the game plan.

“I had to be careful. [With the lead] You don't need to be aggressive,” he said, stressing he didn't want to commit the same mistake he did against Marquez last December that resulted in a shocking knockout setback. 

On Sunday, Pacquiao fought smarter than he did against Marquez. It resulted to a successful comeback, something he and his calamity-struck countrymen badly needed.

Rios, who prior to the fight vowed to send Pacquiao into retirement, concedes that his conqueror still has what it takes to be a top prizefighter.

“It (loss) is what is. I tip my hat off to Pacquiao. He still has it.”

Pacquiao, for his part, is just finally glad to be back.

Meanwhile, thousands of typhoon survivors erupted in jubilation yesterday to celebrate their boxing idol's victory that gave them a brief respite from the enormous destruction and rebuilding that lies ahead.

“It felt like I got my house back,” said street sweeper Ardel Nebasa, who lost his home in tsunami-like storm surges that ravaged Tacloban City on Nov. 8.

Displaced families, aid workers and soldiers jumped from their seats and broke into thunderous applause as Pacquiao, the only boxer to win world titles in eight weight divisions, comprehensively beat his younger and taller opponent.

Officials hope that watching Pacquiao's triumph against Rios would help traumatized survivors take their minds off the horrific devastation wrought by the typhoon and inspire them to pick up the pieces from the storm that killed more than 5,200 people.

“I was so happy and I wanted to cry,” said Nebasa, who watched the match with his son and thousands of others on a TV screen set up in a public plaza in Tacloban City. “It would have felt like another storm has hit if he lost.”

Another survivor waved a cardboard placard that read: “We're for Pacquiao, We shall rise again.” Many jumped repeatedly in joy.

Thousands of residents also cheered at Tacloban's Astrodome stadium and watched the fight on a giant screen, their view partly obscured by the light filtering through holes in the basketball gym's ceiling. One man carried a Philippine flag.

Local authorities set up wide screens in three locations in Tacloban City, including one at the damaged airport for foreign and local aid workers and security forces helping clear debris and collect dead bodies.

At an open-air plaza the size of a football field, surrounded by parked dump trucks, forklifts and buses, a large crowd gathered to watch the fight under a hot sun. Some climbed on trees.

At one point, heavily-armed soldiers emerged from a tank, sat on top of the armored vehicle and craned their necks to watch the bout.

“From the start to finish, Manny showed his champion form. For a moment, I forgot the miseries around me. Manny helped pull a painful thorn on our side,” Vicente Olang, 66, a retired village watchman, said.

At temporary shelters, there was no sign of the pain of disaster on their faces as they cheered noisily and clapped every time Pacquiao landed a blow on Rios' head, face or body.

“I am so very, very happy. Manny gave us something to cheer about in these times of despair,” said Sonia Reyes, 35, whose house was severely damaged by the surge brought by the typhoon. “Manny's victory is an inspiration for us to get back on our feet again.”

When the bell rang to signal the end of the 12-round match, many spectators in Tacloban threw their baseball caps, shirts and pieces of cardboard into the air, even before the result was officially announced.

Pacquiao has dedicated his comeback fight to storm victims and promised to visit Tacloban and outlying regions that the storm had turned into a corpse-strewn wasteland.

Tacloban city folk, Nebasa said, would gladly await the visit of Pacquiao, who rose from poverty to become one of the world's highest-paid athletes.

“We'll be thankful if he can help us,” Nebasa said. “He came from the ranks of the poor and we identify with him and are happy for his triumphs.” — PhilSTAR News Service