2 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 INQUIRER SPORTS TELLING THE FILIPINO STORY TO THE WORLD

EVER SINCE that December morning in
1985, when the INQUIRER first hit the
streets to denounce a dictatorship, the
newspaper has chronicled the country’s
stints in six Olympics, seven Asian Games
and 12 Southeast Asian Games.
It has accompanied Manny Pacquiao as
he emerged from the anonymity of the
light flyweight ranks to the top of box-
ing’s pound-for-pound throne.
The INQUIRER has told the story behind
each of the three Olympic medals (one sil-
ver, two bronzes) the country has won,
celebrated the 19 gold medals it took
home from the Asian Games and meticu-
lously detailed every one of the 600 SEA
Games gold medals national athletes had
captured since the paper’s birth to put
faces behind the victories.
And the INQUIRER has followed Pac-
quiao’s climb from one weight class to the
next and how he devoured titles along the
way to reach a historic eighth world
crown in as many divisions.
In between these and other accomplish-
ments of international flavor, there were
stories of PBA championships, collegiate story as it happened.
crowns and countless other victories that No detail was spared.
the paper made sure would reach its As the paper cele-
readers the following morning. brates its 25th year,
And there were the defeats. the INQUIRER Sports
Losses that added to the country’s long- desk revisits the
ing for that first Olympic gold; buzzer- biggest stories throughout the paper’s
beating defeats that sent the world’s most young history, not in any particular or-
rabid basketball fans to tears; controver- der.
sies that rocked the Philippine sporting And with this walk-through down mem-
universe. ory lane comes this promise: We will be
Even when it meant international with you through the big sporting events to
shame, the INQUIRER went out and told the come in the next 25 years and beyond.

Pacquiao’s greatest hits

Taking out Mexico’s ‘Baby-faced Assassin’
AFTER HIS sixth-round destruc-
tion of South African Lehlohonolo
Ledwaba in his United States de-
but, Manny Pacquiao’s name be-
gan seeping into the stream of
boxing talk.
Clearly, though, Team Pacquiao
needed a big fight—and a big victo-
ry—to cement his status as a cult
star, at least
among hard-core
fight fans.
On Nov. 15,
2003, the oppor-
OF tunity presented
THE itself before Pac-
BEST quiao.
Marco Antonio
Barrera, the
renowned Mexican slugger known their ward to more punishment. There was a second bout with
as the “Baby-faced Assassin,” was Pacquiao’s destruction of Barrera Barrera years later, but that was
ready to take on the Filipino punch- was his announcement as the next largely forgettable as the Mexican
ing machine at the Alamodome in rising star in boxing, and started looked more content to simply earn

The eighth San Antonio, Texas.

Pacquiao was relentless and clini-
cal against the Mexican hero, pick-
opening doors for the Mindanao na-
tive. Memorable bouts against Erik
Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez
a paycheck and remain standing at
the end of round 12.
Despite the laughable rematch,

wonder of ing Barrera apart until the latter’s

corner threw in the towel in the
11th round, unwilling to subject
followed, raking in more fortune
—and sporting acclaim—for the Fil-
ipino.
though, Barrera will always be re-
membered as the first major step to
Manny Pacquiao’s road to greatness.

the world Turning the Golden Boy to Olden Boy

AFTER MAKING history, it would only
become a matter of time before Manny
IF MARCO Antonio Barrera opened doors, But in a stunning display
Pacquiao would add to it.
Oscar De La Hoya broke down the flood- of speed and power, Pac-
The bout against Antonio Margarito,
gates. quiao battered De La Hoya
however, was not as historically signifi-
By 2008, Pacquiao had established him- so badly the unthinkable
cant as it was viciously brutal. OF
self as a cult star, a favorite in the fight scene. started cropping up in his
For 12 rounds, a smaller Pacquiao THE
But he had yet to establish a crossover corner: Would De La Hoya
peppered Margarito with an unending BEST
mainstream appeal that every ath- have to surrender the fight
deluge of combinations that grossly
lete needed to become a legiti- to keep his greatness intact?
disfigured the Mexican’s face.
mate sports superstar. Of course.
The key statistics that made this
For that to happen, Pacquiao Under the masterful guidance of Freddie
bout memorable: Margarito was al-
needed a big event against a big- Roach, Manny Pacquiao had been whipped
most 20 pounds heavier, nearly half a
name star. into a havoc-wreaking machine that the
ruler taller and had a reach advantage
He got that in “The Dream Match” choice was obvious. Before the start of the
of six inches. Margarito was over-
against “Golden Boy” De La Hoya, the face of ninth round, the Golden Boy, looking every
whelmingly bigger in
the sport at that time. bit his age, sat on his stool and called it a
that super welter-
In December 2008, Pacquiao made his ini- night.
weight battle last
tial foray into the 147-pound ranks and The victory not only forced De La Hoya’s
November.
many felt the fight with De La Hoya, who retirement, it also sent Pacquiao’s popularity
Pacquiao did not
was a natural welterweight, would be a mis- soaring, opening the floodgates for literally
OF seem bothered at all. match. bigger fights.
THE With a performance
BEST that left even seasoned
boxing journalists who
thought they had seen
it all stunned, the Filipino ring icon sub-
jected the Tijuana Tornado to a seeming-
ly improbable punishment.
This was no longer just a surgical
showcase of speed, precision and pow-
er. This was a horrific violation of the
natural law: A smaller man beating a
bigger fighter to near senselessness.
How much Manny Pacquiao took out
of Antonio Margarito’s career remains to
be seen. But going by two of his five
greatest performances, it would seem
that Pacquiao left another marquee
fighter forever changed en route to an-
nexing a historic eighth weight crown.

It was the knockout heard all around the boxing world

BRITISH fight star Ricky Hatton thought
he had Manny Pacquiao all figured out.
His trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., was
confident that was the case.
Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach
not only scoffed at the idea but mocked it
with a devastating performance in Las
Vegas that sent yet another fighter to re-
tirement.
From the opening bell, the Pacman
buried the “Hitman” under an avalanche
of combinations that Hatton completely
forgot his corner’s game plan and
slugged it out with the Filipino—and
paid dearly for it.
With time burning out in the second
round, Pacquiao caught Hatton with a vi-
cious left that knocked the British junior
welterweight star out cold.
It was a spectacular punch that
Miguel Cotto would later de- OF
scribe as one that could’ve THE
knocked even Mike Tyson BEST
out.

Ascending sport’s seventh heaven

IN THE nipping winds of piece of the welterweight kingdom?
Las Vegas, history beck- Pacquiao answered the question with a
oned. methodical, thundering beating of Cotto in
It called out to Manny November 2009, forcing the referee to
OF Pacquiao to establish a lev- wave off the fight before further damage
THE el never before reached by could be inflicted on the Puerto Rican by
BEST the greats that came be- the relentless Filipino machine.
fore him. Seven titles. Sev-
en weight divisions.
Boxing scholars were counting.
In his way stood Puerto Rican Miguel
Cotto. The welterweight king ready to halt
Pacquiao’s raid of the heavier ranks.
Cotto had reason to be confident.
After all, how could a former light fly-
weight even think that he could own a