A National Heartache

A judge trying to catch Manny's head to soften the impact before it slams on the canvass

I'm sure you've heard the name Manny Pacquaio somewhere, but if happens that you've been living under a rock, Manny Pacquaio  holds the belt for 8 weight class divisions in the sport of boxing and arguably  the No. 1 Pound for pound boxer in the planet. To make his introduction short, he is  the most popular boxer of our  era. Fondly called by boxing enthusiast like me as the " Pacman",
 Americans finds him a lovable guy., most of the world wants to see him win every fight., he has been in his 16 winning streak, no wonder why fans so excited about him .  Back in the Philippines where he came from, people considers him an icon. I guess if he ever run for president, no doubt in my mind that he will win by a landslide.

December 8, 2012 in MGM Grand Las Vegas Nevada,  the unexpected happened. He got knocked out in the manner that makes a sensitive boxing fan question why he or she loves this potentially brutal sport. He got knocked out cold that he needs to be woken up by smelling salt, I thought he died there for a few seconds.
My heart fell into my stomach when I saw in slow motion how he went face down on the canvass, then motionless.
I felt so strange, I have never felt this emotion before. It seems like I just witnessed a family member die in front of me. Plainly Horrible.

Let's back up a little bit.
In the other side of the planet. Just a day before that.
A part of the Philippines has just been devastated by a very strong typhoon that caused a flash flood and killed approximately 600 Filipinos .  People in the are were evacuated to a safe zone where they can have their temporary shelter and emergency supplies of medicines and relief goods. They even installed a huge TV so people could watch their hero fight. No one of course expects anything terrible would happen. So the multitude gathered and watched.  Then it happened...
 Conveniently, the media was there as well to ask the people what they felt about what just happened.

They must have felt the same way like I did. One of them spoke and said on national TV, " this is worst than the typhoon that just hit us", - I find that very strange.  People walked out and left. I guess some of them wants that TV smashed to smithereens. Some people stayed and looked on to see if Manny was OK. While  closely attended by his team, as expected ,  he gradually woke up,. He then got back to his senses and was sat on a stool.. The people that walked out took a  glance again at the tv , and when they saw him walking around, they turned around and their faced showed a sign of relief and stayed and carried on watching.  Yes, even me.  What a relief to see that he is OK after all.

I realized that every time he wins a fight, the whole of the Philippines celebrates with him, men would take out their karaoke and sang the whole day . Something lights up in their eyes, even though they don't get any piece of  Pacquaio's winnings.  But nevertheless, Filipinos would gather around and talk about the fight, OK that's very common. What about a nation that seems to experience a heartbreak after a knockout loss? A National heartache as I call it. For me, that is something else.

One latest interview that I saw. He said that, It was a " lucky punch" that got him.  He then later apologized that he lost the fight, and then he wept... he said in a very teary eyes that he is sad because  he made the people sad by losing the fight.  He then promised that,  We will rise again.

 How can you not love this dude. ?  He is just incredibly cool!. That explains it why people adores him. He is definitely still my Champ. Through thick or thin.  God Bless you Manny.