PacMan eats goat

– ‘David’ versus ‘Money Goliath’ –
Diaz doesn’t get it; Pacquiao pets the goat

Time was when Filipinos from every geographical location on the globe squirmed every time a reference was made to this Malay race having a taste for canines. With dog for a meal, who needs a best friend?

The notoriety may have been shed some three days ago.

With WBC lightweight champion David Diaz rejecting, or perhaps unable to comprehend, the hype of the Chicago Cubs goat, made the scapegoat of the Chicago baseball club’s “Curse of the Billy Goat” misfortunes in Major League Baseball, title-challenger Manny Pacquiao eagerly stepped up to the plate to bat one out of the Mandalay Bay. Diaz, a Chicago resident and a Cubs fan, could have earned for himself a Play of the Day highlight if he had any showbiz in his blood, but he turned his back on the chance, walking out to probably work out some more in the gym.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, who has starred in a movie in his native Philippines, has endorsed everything from potato chips to politicians, running for Congress himself and failing (you a boxer, man, not a politico), has long accepted the show-business aspect of his profession.

Someone got the bright idea of bringing in a goat during a news conference for the Pacquiao-Diaz fight. Surprised and not wanting anything to do with the responsibility of being a Steve Bartman, Diaz walked away. Pacquiao saw an opening and jabbed. "Goat is my favorite food," Pacquiao said while petting the goat. And he probably meant it. Paklay and calderetas, dishes made from goat meat, are staples in makeshift carinderia public market stalls throughout the Philippines.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH, HO-HUM. David slew Goliath with a slingshot, but it will take David Diaz more than a puny riverside stone to take out his 135-pound Goliath of an opponent in Manny Pacquiao in tomorrow’s 135-pound WBC lightweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Sure, the 135lb division is “uncharted territory” for Pacquiao, but the PacMan has gradually risen all the way down from 107lb to 135lb with not too many obvious ill effects. Damn! The man has won three (at 112, 122 and 130) legit international boxing titles to get where he is now, is a star in international boxing and a superstar/megastar in his native Philippines where his popularity spans all economic and social levels. Pacquiao probably makes three times on endorsement deals than he does boxing.

It was another Diaz, “Baby Bull” Juan, who wanted to take Pacquiao down his pedestal, boldly saying that Pacquiao has fought and beaten all the current Mexican boxing greats in his weight division, but they (Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez) are old and on the wane. Juan said that it was high time that Pacquiao fought a younger and stronger Mexican pugilist – him. HAHAHA! Famous last words, Baby Bull. Juan Diaz didn’t get to fight Pacquiao. He did fight someone even older than Pacquiao and Diaz lost. Nate Campbell did the honor of shutting the brash and young Juan’s mouth. He rearranged his face too. For 12 rounds, Campbell, 36, took everything Juan gave him and gave back in return. If the 135lb WBA, IBF and WBO title bout wasn’t fought in Cancun, Campbell would have gotten a unanimous points decision victory. He won by split and he more than earned it.

Since a big-money fight with the bullied Baby Bull wasn’t viable anymore, another Diaz volunteered. Fresh off a far-from impressive win over Ramon Montano last March and one over one of Pacquiao’s aging (take that, Baby Bull!) conquests 10 months ago, David Diaz has lucked on a fight with one of boxing’s most bankable stars. Thank your lucky stars, David.

PROPHETS GET STONED. Predictions are for prophets. At the risk of being branded one and stoned by an unbelieving nation, as I once was stung by just a few (honest!) disagreeable readers after writing in my defunct sports column in a local English daily that Pacquiao might lose to Erik Morales, let me say this – Pacquiao will lose.

Put down that rock! Let me explain. That is a big if…that is, if Pacquiao will lose, he might get knocked out in five rounds or less. If Pacquiao does win, he will KO Diaz in nine rounds or less.

Diaz, 32, is slightly older, perhaps stronger than Pacquiao, 29, but Diaz is much slower. Diaz knows just one direction -- forward. Even if he absorbs punishment, he is too stubborn to back down. While Pacquiao, under the brilliant tutelage of Freddie Roach, is light on his feet and can rival a whirling dervish, running circles around foes, evading blows. Latent lateral movement skills of Pacquiao have contributed to him becoming a complete fighter, boxer-slugger.

With just about everybody, boxing critics and the average boxing fan alike, saying that Diaz is overmatched by the PacMan, Diaz has a lot to prove. The surest way to make his detractors eat their words is for Diaz to knock out Pacquiao, not win just by TKO but by devastating KO. Another 12-round affair with no one losing consciousness will bring back the ghosts of Pacquiao-Marquez I. Pacquiao won. Marquez won. It should have been a draw.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, has less pressure on him to win. That is if 90 million Filipinos in the tropical depression and economically-depressed archipelago and perhaps five million more living abroad demanding nothing short of a dominant win is not pressure enough. Pacquiao has shown us his mettle and cool in previous pro fights. He can come into the ring smiling his endorsement-rich mug below bangs and leave the ring less than an hour later sweating and humming, “Para sa ‘yo/Ang labang ito…” one belt or another resting on his shoulders or worn around his waist.

If (sorry), when Pacquiao racks a win over Diaz, he will smile that sly beatific smile looking a million smackeroos and look into the horizon for the next victim and million-dollar-purse and pay-per-view share. It’s just too good to ponder.

That’s what’s so difficult about boxing. A win is never assured. Even if you have the referee and the judges in your pocket. Even if everybody is saying that you are too good for your opponent. Nothing is assured the same way you cannot predict the exact price of oil per barrel. It was $120 per barrel last April, now it’s $142 per barrel, going up to $150.

Only two things can happen in a boxing bout, one boxer loses, the other boxer wins. Three things if you consider a draw. But nobody likes a stalemate. The reason boxers train like Roman gladiators and starve like African refugees to make the weight is because they want to win. Period. But even then, a comma, a semi-colon, a hyp(h)e(n), another period can follow a period. It never ends.

If (sorry), when Pacquiao wins, he could take on Marquez for a second dance on the canvas, or maybe even a resurgent Baby Bull Diaz. Who knows?

The Shadow claims to be omniscient but even he loses his rep in the daylight. Sorry for ancient radio serial and comicbook reference. To be current, let’s try: “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” Sorry (again), that’s a Lou Ferrigno-Bill Bixby Hulk not the Edward Norton incarnation.

See what happened to Marvel’s mightiest hero/villain? Sorry (again), I haven’t seen the latest Hulk movie yet, not even on a pirated DVD copy. It must be tragic-comic, much like Pacquiao will be if (sorry) when (much sorrier) he loses. He could. I am not banking on it. I am rooting for a fellow Filipino, of course.

Add this blog to the pressure that Manny Pacquiao carries on his heroic shoulders. And add tomorrow’s fight to my blood-pressure reading.

Here’s hoping that the perceived Goliath in this setup turns the tables, or at least deflects all of the perceived David’s stones, avoiding a direct hit right in the middle of his forehead.

Fight, Pacquiao! Fight!