In Pursuit of Perfection
January 12, 2010 | 02:41PMPacquiao versus Clottey doesn’t have the same zing as Pacquiao versus Mayweather. People knew that even before the name Joshua Clottey entered national consciousness. Boxing has a knack of giving us the good, the bad and the ugly. Good for Clottey. Bad for an expectant sports universe. Ugly way to cancel the super-fight of 2010. I’m sure, though, we’ll get over the disappointment. It’s the bewilderment that’s hard to overcome.
The experts shake their heads. A logical match-up was foiled by irrational demands. Both camps said they wanted to slit each other’s throats. The furious exchange of allegations, however, exposed someone’s hesitation. Floyd will forever say it was Manny who hesitated. Manny will forever say it was Floyd who blinked. Mayweather, though, threw the gauntlet when he proposed to have Manny’s blood screened for Superman DNA. Nice way to start a playground brawl. Let’s bring out our beakers, goggles and lab gowns first, then, play around with the microscope, then, test the Theory of Relativity, and then we fight each other until our eyeballs pop out. If Mayweather drooled to body-smash Pacquiao in the ring, he did a fine job concealing it.
Of all the characters in this comedy, only Mayweather had reason to back-out of this fight. Top Rank and Golden Boy won’t say no to a big payday. God knows their freeloaders all wanted this fight to push through. Pacquiao’s mythical status would’ve been cemented by a win over Mayweather. Floyd Jr., however, had a perfect record to protect. If he knew clobbering Pacman would be as easy as 1-2-3, a deal would’ve been clinched by now. Mayweather, as suggested by his demands, thinks Pacquiao is Wolverine. Those damn retracting bone claws can tear Mayweather’s pristine 40-0 record into shreds.
Perhaps, for Mayweather, perfection is that important. It’s more important than reputation. The world can call him a chicken. But he’s a chicken who will leave this earth with a perfect record. Years from now, fans will be left guessing who would’ve triumphed in a Pacquiao-Mayweather duel. If the super-bout never happens and Mayweather retires as an undefeated fighter, Floyd Jr. has his legacy intact. He defends his record the way he defends his pretty face in the ring. The man isn’t out for blood. The man is in pursuit of perfection for all time. MH
In the aftermath of Manny Pacquiao’s stunning victory over Ricky Hatton, I stumble upon a foolish idea. Given our endless search for global validation of our athletic abilities, a search made even more painstaking with our immeasurable and often ill-fated desire for international basketball bliss, it might make sense to look at boxing, not basketball, as the messiah that will deliver us from Olympic mediocrity. Of course, many of you (who by now are already smirking fiendishly) know this already. To provide a new dimension to this not-so-new concept, I wonder if it’s feasible to include amateur boxing in collegiate leagues like the UAAP and NCAA. 