Paquiao

Watched Paquiao vs Morales at my cousin's house. Unanimous decision for Morales 115-113. Actually, Morales by the numbers was the favored of the two. Morales who had been in 3 championship matches in his career, who prepared by watching the Paquiao/Barrera fight eight times on video, who was much bigger and was used to this weight and size level than Paquiao who was having his first fight at this weight class.

Unlike Paquiao's knockdown bouts previously, one to Berrera, where he came out swinging, Pacman stepped out more cautiously, seeemed tentative. But I'll give it to Paquiao, he stayed swinging for 12 whole rounds and had the endurance to get through despite a cut over his eye for 7 of those rounds that kept him from seeing well. Morales was just more accurate with his shots.

There was a bit of controversy about Paquiao's promoter signing a contract that required him to use a specific kind of glove when the Athletic Agency of Nevada allows boxers to use whatever glove they want within regulation. Also, too, in coming to the States Paquiao's corner had changed. He had this American trainer in his corner. And though could speak English, when your head is getting pounded for 7 rounds, the last thing you want to do is go to your corner and translate a foreign language. After his American trainer spoke, you could hear his Filipino trainer try to say stuff to him in the closing seconds between rounds. I know enough Tagalog to get around, but when I'm stressed or tired, the brain just shuts down extra translation functioning. You could see Paquiao turn to the Filipinos in his corner as if saying, "what did he say?"

The language issue was also apparent when the doctor checking up on Paquiao's cut over his eye was asking him if he wanted to keep fighting. Paquiao in an interview afterwards said, he said "yes" to the doctor. What Paquiao described was a 10 second interaction. They stayed in the corner for half a minute. My guess is that while the doctor was waiting for a verbal answer, Paquiao was giving the Filipino answer with the head nod and showing it with his body.

In the end, Paquiao is still young and shows a lot of promise. He still needs some time to develop the added power for 130lb weight level. And if he's going to stick around for a while, say be around 5 years from now, he'll have to transition to a more paced and strategic battles that allow him to retain power through the 12 rounds and set himself up for better shots.

My favorite Paquiao moment. The referee goes to the locker room and explains the rules to Paquiao. The referee tells them that he is not allowed to hit the other guy while the other guy is down. If he does, he'll be disqualified. Paquaio asks a follow up, "So, if only his knee is down, can I hit him?" Referee, "oh no, if one knee is touching the ground, he is down. you can't hit him then." And you know, that Filipino sensibilities of fighting (not boxing) are such that a guy ain't down til he's flat on his back. One knee down, ain't down, for a Filipino.

He might have lost, but there wasn't any shame in it. He's a good fighter with the endurance to go 12 rounds. He'll be back. For sure.