They don’t make them anymore but a Filipino action picture with a hero, guns, fistfights, a love interest, a comic sidekick and a catchy title always had its loyal followers. Whether it be FPJ, Joseph Estrada, Lito Lapid, Ronnie Ricketts, Philip Salvador or Robin Padilla starring, Pinoy movie fans would watch to escape the ennui of life or to imagine, even for an hour and a half, what it would be like to be a hero.
There was always that moment, the “trailer scene” if you will, where the star would blurt out the title of the film just before the final gun battle (won of course by the hero). Pinned down under a hail of gunfire, the hero snarls at the antagonist to surrender or to come out fighting.
The lines isang bala ka lang (all it takes is one bullet), puno na ang salop (the bag is full) and di pa gawa ang balang papatay sa akin (the bullet with my name on it hasn’t been made) are staples.
To cast Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez in the same vein, the line tapusin na natin ito (Let’s finish this!) is most fitting. A fourth battle is not being imagined even if it may be stipulated in the contract because a trilogy is the most compelling way to enter boxing’s history books.
The third fight in November is it and both fighters have more than enough reason to want to finish this rivalry.
Marquez will buck age and talk about the current superiority of Pacquiao in a heavier weight class. If there is one fighter of this era who can absorb Pacquiao’s blows, it is Marquez and he has proven this in the first two fights. He has never been intimidated by Pacquiao and knows what to do each time he fights the Filipino champion.
As always, Pacquiao will not trash talk in the fight build-up. Like your Pinoy action hero, he will let his fists do the talking, refusing to predict the round he will end the battle and avoiding any opportunity to taunt Marquez.
If FPJ had that stare when he was being harassed by longtime film nemesis Paquito Diaz, Pacquiao has that disarming smile. Now that he is a congressman as well, expect Pacquiao to be more politically correct than ever and answer every question with a smile.
But Pacquiao wants to end this Marquez business and all doubt about his mastery of the Mexican. Intelligent and passionate Filipino boxing fans, many of whom have approached me in coffee shops to even discuss their personal scorecards, felt that Pacquiao lost the second fight.
They idolize Pacquiao no end but relish their ability to break down a fight to its minute details. I disagree with their conclusion but our discussions have always been lively and informative.
But it should be quite a battle. The three months of waiting will kill us no doubt because we will tire of speculating and trying to spot any wrinkle in the Pacquiao camp. We will even tire of Marquez saying how ready he is for this fight of his life.
But such is the way of the blockbuster: The hero has to go on a journey to go through a few trials so that his eventual triumph will be worth the wait.