THE TRAGIC news of the death of the distinguished poet and teacher Ophelia Dimalanta came as a big shock it could be no less stunning as a brick-hard nightmare punch stopping Manny Pacquiao in his duel against Antonio Margarito on Sunday.
At least, that was how fellow poets and loving colleagues, led by the gifted, multiawarded Alfred Yuson, reacted to Dimalanta’s unscheduled departure.
Ms Dimalanta, or Beloved Ophie to countless literary souls whose path she had lit with her quiet brilliance and care, slipped away last week after fruitful years of saintly dedication to poetry.
The poet-novelist Erwin Castillo swore his family deeply owes Ophie, who gave his two sons, Carlos and Gabriel, scholarships at the University of Santo Tomas, while his wife “Nita also studied under Ms. Dimalanta at St. Scholastica’s.”
Losing dear Ophie Dimalanta was indeed a nightmare.
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Actually, that fear about Pacquiao walking into a monster punch came in a dirty dream.
Tall Tom Diaz, a Pacquiao fanatic and boss at a corner newsstand in the old Gabby’s around the Mandaluyong Market, said that nightmare could become a reality if Pacquiao and his handlers don’t watch out for an underrated Margarito weapon.
Tom singled out the left uppercut which, he says, could explode and maim like a land mine.
Well, that fearful punch was never mentioned in the times Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach ticked off the many Margarito weaknesses, like his horrible slowness and the flawed footwork.
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In fairness to Pacquiao, that invisible Margarito uppercut, finally described as decent, saw print yesterday.
Tom Diaz noted that the Margarito left upper could prove a tougher cousin of that Miguel Cotto left shot that visibly hurt and stunned Pacquiao in his bout against the rugged Puerto Rican.
That vicious shot should be considered covered by now.
But Diaz has one remaining fear.
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He says the Pacquiao they have in California now could only be a little better than the Pacquiao who suddenly huffed and puffed after losing steam in the fifth round of a bout against a Thai journeyman at the Fort in Taguig City years back.
Diaz also remembers how, after visibly cutting corners, Roach announced Pacquiao was perfectly ready for the unheralded Thai who, by the way, was eventually knocked out cold.
Concerned Pacman critics have a point.
You can measure speed and strength, but how perfectly—or imperfectly—they have filled and sealed a boxer’s oxygen tank could never be aptly determined on the road or during sparring, but only during the moment of truth inside the ring.
They say that the fact that Pacquiao had to cram in order to stock up on necessary oxygen could make his system susceptible to nightmare tank seal leakage.
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Now, from premier poet Krip Yuson:
“Last Thursday night, an hour before midnight, right at the long bar at Oarhouse did I receive the shocking SMS, from fiction writer Susan Lara, that our good and deep friend Ophie had passed away. Igan D’Bayan had just walked in for Red Horses and propped himself at the other end of the bar. He was just as instantly devastated upon hearing the tragic news. Igan is from UST, where Ophie was lady of the manor, for decades the dominatrix who whipped into shape legions of literature and creative writing students, producing countless fine Pinoy writers and poets … My freshly wounded memory can’t get up from that Oarhouse bar quite fully yet. And tonight after I write this eulogy for dear Ophie, on a Friday, I will pass by for Jimmy Abad so we can join the many other Ophie lovers at the wake in Floresco Funeral Home on Letre Road, Dagat-dagatan, Malabon …
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