LAS VEGAS—There were cuts on his right eyebrow and nose bridge. A huge lump left his left eye half-shut. And his lip was swollen from the beating he had just taken.
Anywhere you looked at him, David Diaz seemed like a victim of a brutal gang beat-up after being knocked out by Manny Pacquiao in the ninth round of their World Boxing Council lightweight showdown Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
The good news was he’s still alive.
From where relatives and close friends were watching during fright night, it looked as if the gracious ex-champion would literally not live to fight another day.
“Everyone thought I was going to die,” Diaz told Melissa Isaacson of the Chicago Tribune. “They’re just glad I’m still alive.”
Diaz was an easy target for Pacquiao’s crunching right jabs and powerful left shots. In the end, a left to the jaw sent him sprawling on the canvas, with blood oozing from his cuts, with 2:24 gone in that decisive round.
But even then, Diaz was ready to take on more beating, just as he’d done against Harold Santa Cruz and future Hall-of-Famer Erik Morales, whom he eventually beat in the late rounds.
“I always think I can pull it out. Sometimes, I think I can do it to the point where I can see the shoreline. And then I went under,” bared Diaz on Sunday’s article.
Credit the Chicago native’s going under to Pacquiao’s fists, which were relentless in pounding the granite chin of Diaz.
In fact, the day after the fight, Pacquiao’s right hand was heavily bandaged—because of the beating it dished out.
“Nanakit sa katatama (It hurt because of so many hits),” said Pacquiao, who turned Diaz’s face into a bloody mess with 180 power punches connected.
“Naawa nga ako (I even felt pity for him),” said Pacquiao, who tried to help Diaz up when the bout ended.
Although Diaz couldn’t pick himself up after the fall—like he usually does in his fights—the former lightweight king believes he can pick his career up after the devastating defeat.
“The beauty of this sport is that you have to go through all of it, even some of it that will kill you.”
Diaz will take a two-month break before mounting a comeback.
Except for the hurting knuckles also caused by the 230 punches he landed—mostly on Diaz’s face and ribs—Pacquiao was virtually unscathed and in high spirits.
He honored an invitation to appear as a special guest in Imelda Papin’s concert at The Orleans on Sunday night.
Pacquiao rendered a song, cracked jokes with noted composer Lito Camo and then announced that he is donating a $50,000 dialysis machine to the Philippine General Hospital.
