THERE’LL BE a whale of a welcome, another tidal wave of adulation when a disappointed, if not totally disappointing, Manny Pacquiao returns home this weekend.
He will be back in the arms of fans who, although themselves disappointed, shrugged off the rotten dish served in Las Vegas and agreed to charge everything to experience.
It’s not Manny’s fault, in the first place, that the promised fight of the year slipped instantly into a stinking farce.
* * *
To the accompaniment of Bob Arum, Mosley had sung to high heavens how he would spring an upset and shock the world.
No, Mosley did not openly declare it, but his prefight brags were enough to make people believe he was capable of tripping not only Pacquiao but inescapable Father Time as well.
Robust and aglow, Mosley indeed appeared like a ticking bomb at the first bell—until he got decked by a blazing left hand late in the third round.
* * *
From thereon, Mosley suddenly lost heart and instead wrestled desperately with turbulent nerves.
He also shifted to reverse gear in order to avoid confrontation.
Mosley backpedaled incessantly and, as could only be expected, finished with his record of not being KO’d intact.
* * *
In the process, he also ended up with a shattered reputation.
He next got called many rotten names.
“He’s an undisputed shame, the one and only Sham Mosley,” cried a sharp-eyed cable television executive.
Naturally, Mosley had to nurse his hurt.
He meekly explained he suddenly felt helpless upon realizing he was up against the best boxer in the world.
It couldn’t be helped, Arum explained, because Pacquiao was just an incredible whirlwind of a fighter.
* * *
That was right after the horrible mismatch.
Then yesterday, Arum started to change tune.
He said Mosley could have prevented the farce had he attacked and engaged.
Of course, that was impossible, Arum declared quickly, trying to take the blame from Mosley.
Pacquiao just happened to be monstrously strong and good.
* * *
So who’s to blame?
Who cooked this up?
Everybody is to blame except the cook?
As could be expected, countless fingers were next pointed at Bob Arum.
There were, in fact, suggestions it could have been prevented if not for very fat, anomalous financial factors.
“That Mosley bout was never a fight from Day 1,” says sharp-eyed columnist Billy Esposo, a favorite social commentator.
“Everybody knew he was a 39-year-old has-been,” he continues. “The only way Pacquiao could’ve lost was to rig the fight.”
So who’s to blame?
“This was pure highway robbery; Bob Arum should be made to account,” Esposo declares.
* * *
It was not a mere mismatch, but a painful parody inflicted on the gullible public.
There was senior citizen immaturity that bordered on delinquency.
“It was not fair,” rues cinema master Dik Trofeo. “Manny fought a cardboard cut-out placed on a skateboard.”
This cinematic dig takes the cake.