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Manny Pacquiao:Pound-for-pound champ? Try best ever

The esteemed Larry Merchant on HBO echoed what must have been in the minds of others who just witness MannyPacquiao win his seventh world championship in seven weight classes: “We thought he was great, but he was better than we thought.”

That statement at the end of the fight offically ends the period we shall call “The  Under-estimation of Manny Pacquiao.”  No matter what, Pacquiao keeps proving the doubters wrong with his lethal combination of spirit, charm, and boxing brilliance.

It’s easy to see how dismissive people can be of Manny. When I first met him, I was frankly stunned by his size. I was taller than he was. But who would put a dollar on me going 30 seconds with Manny?

He’s the guy who walks down the street you don’t figure him to be much more than the parking valet. But given the chance to prove himself, he wows you with a determination and skill far greater than his size.

Last night was a real milestone. For all of boxing’s cruelty, the weight class divisions are intended to make things fair so that a big guy can’t bully a little guy. It levels the playing field. So what does it say, when a guy keeps rising in rank, seven weight classes, and not just performs but excels at the highest level?

We’ve really got something special here. Far greater than anyone would have imagined. Pacquiao proved it in the ring last night.

Going up in class? No problem. Here’s a guy whose fists are affirmative action.

Pacquiao took Miguel Cotto’s savage punches like he was a “Rock’em-Sock’em robot.” When Manny’s head would snap back, I gasped. Cotto was bigger and more powerful than any of Manny’s previous opponents. So I admit I was concerned, especially by Cotto’s size. But then, Manny would come back and counter, as he did  in the 4th round. Throughout the fight, Manny  revealed his version of Ali’s “rope-a-dope.” Call it  the “ropeless-rope-a dope,” out in the middle, fist-up, elbows together fortress style. It was there to let Cotto punch himself out.  Then Manny would uncover and find a crevice in Cotto’s defense. A right hand then a left hook caught Cotto in the 4th for the second knockdown of the fight. It was the beginning of the end.

Cotto, as he was inthe Clottey fight, was badly cut and bleeding. So much vaseline and swabbing of blood. I said it would go TKO in the 10th. The fight should have been stopped after 9. Only the macho pride of Cotto would keep it until the 12th.

Now the talk is of the next fight. Everyone says Mayweather. Who is to doubt Pacquiao? The “Understimaton of Manny” has officially ended.

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The Pacquiao-Cotto fight is a reminder of America’s colonial past

Pacquiao and Cotto?

Not since the Spanish American War have we had the pitting of Philippine and Puerto Rican interests   (I dare not count the time I shared a common sink in my Harvard co-op with two beautiful Puerto Rican sisters).

The history books tell the tale of how the Republic of the Philippines and Puerto Rico were intertwined in  America’s colonial past.  But this time the colonizer is promoter Bob Arum, who straddles both fighters, and stands to make millions as he watches his two stars try to rip the other’s head off.

It’s going to be a war, said Arum on one of the promotion films on the fight. He even admitted feeling somewhat conflicted.

But not when he begins to count up the money.

Perhaps it’s not his fault that he finds himself the promoter of both sides of an incredible spectacle the world is willing to pay millions for: Two average-sized tattooed men in their underwear  pummeling each other in three minute intervals.

In the fight game, small is beautiful now. Good for both Pacman and Cotto.  Better for Arum.

My prediction?  As an American Filipino, I have my biases. Pacquiao’s part of the metaphor means so much for the Philippines and to those of Filipino descent world-wide.

To Filipinos, Pacquiao is like a one- man Yankees.  

He’s the feel-good  symbol for all Filipino endeavors.  He is the “Si se puede” guy  for Filipinos.  It’s a chance for history. World championship titles in 7 divisions? That’s an unprecedented walk up the evolutionary chart of boxing. 

If he loses, the psychic damage will require more than a visit to the faith healer.

If he wins….then Manny Pacquiao for president is not a joke.

But Cotto is no pushover opponent. He is a true man of 140 pounds or more, the biggest Pacquiao has faced. If you saw the Cotto-Clottey fight, then you know Cotto, bloodied, battered, can hang.  He’s a slow, plodder, who doesn’t go down.

The contrast should be evident. Pacquiao is a ducker and a dancer. He’s fast.  Cotto may have power, but it won’t matter if he doesn’t catch Pacquiao.  If Pacquiao can keep dancing, while dishing out his own barrage of punches, then I call it Manny’s in 10 by TKO.

But, of course,  Bob Arum wins no matter what.

blog, diversity, news, politics

Jimmy Carter’s race statements are right, but at odds with Obama’s Plutonian race strategy

When Jimmy Carter says it’s about race, I believe him to be as true as his boiled peanut recipe.

But Carter’s bluntness in his comments to NBC that the animosity toward Obama is race-based, is much too direct for Obama’s current style, and could upset the president’s momentum.

Obama is too cool for direct. Apparently, his race politics are way too subtle for the country.

The way Barack Obama has become a winner in politics is by diffusing the race issue and making it seem irrelevant.

In the Obama universe, issues don’t revolve around race. In this political solar system, race isn’t at the center like the Sun.

It’s more like Pluto.

It really is the formula to Obama’s success, and his new politics of bringing the country together. That’s not to mean he’s a Clarence Thomas , or that he forgets the importance of ethnicity and race in public policy.

It’s just that he knows race bogs down everything . It’s polarizing. And it prevents him reaching the kinds of compromise that helps one effectively lead an entire country.

So he sidesteps it.

Obama’s compromise on race is to show up, make it obvious he’s a black president, but not to dwell on it. For Obama, race is more the subtle subtext and not the raging headline. It was his secret to his campaign and his success.

And it throws the GOP off-track. They don’t know how to deal with a 21st Century Race politician.

When the GOP can’t argue the facts, as in health care, or when it can’t stem the support for the president on real issues, then it goes ad hominem and race is the old standby. The whole birth certificate issue and the Islamic middle name issue are nothing more than racist attacks on Obama.

Of course, all the stumbling around on race is based on how most people don’t want to admit racism is happening or even in existence. It plays to the moral conscience of both the white perps and the white liberals, who think they are perfect. Aren’t we all better than that? We’ve gone beyond race, right?

Well, not exactly.

So when Maureen Dowd writes her NY Times column about essentially saying, “Damn, we got racism here;” And when Jimmy Carter, our Southern gentleman, starts talking from the heart about racism at play in the policy debate, well then, by gum, we have racism.
What are we going to do about it?

I’m starting to see the wisdom of the Obama strategy. He’s just figured out a way to deal with race so he can get things done. The answer. Don’t deal with it.

It’s a tad zen-like.

By comparison, those who know the old politics on race are like cold warriors. Maybe we should try to do as Obama and ignore all this and try to press on, hoping that policies and people can change, and that by focusing on the bigger picture we can all be led to a new place together. Does that sound too grandiose or Lincolnesque? So be it. To do otherwise, is to bog down in the past, polarize, and get no where. Didn’t Obama show us that?

Maybe this is another one of those times that race bubbles up in Obama’s path, like the Rev.Wright affair. That means one sure-fire prescription could work now: A little speech therapy to put everything back into order in the Obama political universe, where race is minor.

As I said, race is not the Sun, it’s more like Pluto, making the strategy absolutely Plutonian.

blog, diversity, journalism, news, politics

Amokwatch: Serena, Kanye, Joe Dub—outbursts galore, and race is the subtext; And guess who’s missing? The Asian American victim; Also, a quickie review of Leno

They all went amok in a bad way: Serena, Kanye and Joe Dub.

And we’ve heard from all the perps and their victims and supporters on all sides, except one.

Who’s speaking about  the Asian American woman, the linesperson who dared to speak out and correct the foot fault of Serena Williams at the U.S. Open?

No one.  Because no one cares about her.

Poor Kim Clijsters who just had to sit back and let victory drop into her lap, they care about her. But the line judge? We’ve heard nothing. A name of “Shinno” has come up on the web. But there’s no sympathy for her.

She’s the invisible victim.

If anything, there’s been a little back pedalling on the outrage toward Serena. Now people are saying it’s just Serena’s passion for winning.

I heard one blowhard talk host talking about how in such a championship situation that it was a  “chickenshit” call by the line judge.

Hey, what is sports without rules? You don’t give out mulligans when its for real. When the Giants strike out do you say strike three was b.s., give us strike four?

No, the line judge was right. But this isn’t about rules. It’s about race.

Let’s play substitution. If a line judge looked like Serena or Kim Clijsters and made the call, do you think Serena would have felt she could get away with that b.s. outrage?

She was being a bully, plain and simple. She felt she could get away with it, because the line judge was looked to be Ms.Meek Asian Book Worm. She stereotyped us, had it in her head that it was OK, and let out her venomous wrath without any respect.

Do you think Serena would have done that to a black judge? A white judge? One who didn’t appear to be meek and readily dominated?

If you don’t think race had something to play in the dynamic, your head’s in the sand. Asian Americans just don’t get the respect they deserve in general. And in little things like this, it’s out there for all the world to see.

Just ask yourself where is the line judge, and why isn’t there an outpouring of sympathy for her after she made a fair and correct call and engendered the wrath of Serena?

Why isn’t she on Jay Leno’s show?There was an Asian stand in on a joke. But no one said let’s get the Asian victim. Why?

KANYE NOT TOO SWIFT

As for Kanye? His move the other night was reverse Joe Wilson.  Wilson is the segregationist  who can’t accept that a black man is president in the modern day and calls Obama a “liar.” Kanye can’t accept that a white chick like Taylor Swift is up there  winning the hip-pop and hip-hop culture’s VMA?  What irony for those who remember the day when MTV refused to play black artists. But now Taylor Swift, the 19-year old cross-over country act who draws them in with chick pop gets out of the white country ghetto and under Kanye’s skin.

But he’ll bounce back. He nearly cried on Leno last night.

LENO OUTSMARTS THEM ALL

When Leno was just a sub on The Tonight Show, I used to freelance jokes to him. I never was paid better per vowel.

So I’m a bit partial to Leno, though I am a former Poonie like Conan. But what struck me was how Leno has outmaneuvered, outpoliticked everyone in the big game of showbiz “Survivor.”  When he left the 11:30 slot, he got the 10 pm slot. For those of us who have watched “Letterman” earlier in some markets, the format can work. A lot of people don’t want to stay up late anymore.

Leno drew 18 million at 10 p.m. last night. And now you can bet all the expensive 10 p.m. dramas will be worried. Dollar for dollar, Leno’s show will prove to be cheaper per rating point, and more profitable.

OK, now for the show. Was it funny? It makes you smile. That’s it.  Leno’s brand of corn sells. And it works. If he has good guests and good gets (Kanye West’s silence about his mother was as good a get as possible last night),  then Leno will soar.

And then everybody will go to bed at 11 p.m.

Too bad for local news. Too bad for Conan.