November 14, 2009

Manliness is a sport.

Watched Manny Pacquiao's fight tonight against Miguel Cotto in my aunt's house across the street. Both guys were amazing! I loved how Manny smiled from the moment he walked to the ring to the moment he was saying his thanks to his supporters. I liked how he got me excited about the fight, even though I'm not a big fan of boxing, and I liked rooting for him. He was favored to win but there were doubts, and in the end it wasn't about winning or losing anymore, or who had a half-inch more in arm length, or who was faster, or even stronger. I admired Cotto's desire to last til the last round. 12 rounds of heavy beating does not sound fun, but Cotto stood up after every time he was knocked down, even after being bludgeoned and bloodied. Both of them had fighting spirit. Some people might say that there was a disadvantage of speed and strength, well of course there is; for everything there will always be someone lesser or greater.

Personally, I thought that it was a great match; I enjoyed how they both hang on, Manny for stepping up and showing that "Yes, I challenged you and I intend to prove to everyone that I deserve to win this title", and Cotto, for not backing down in all the twelve rounds even when it was going south for him. I thought that was a "I accept your challenge, let the best man win." Of course, I'm totally putting so much emotion (mushy stuff) in their fight when boxing is such a manly sport. I just admired both of them that I'm gushing over this, which is weird since I was yelling "Just punch him!!" and "No! Just stay still and get punched! Stop moving around" repeatedly earlier. My aunts were saying that we (my uncles, my tita, my lola, and my uncle's kids who were visiting) were a bunch of bloodthirsty people. I don't quite agree. Yeah, there's all that blood and violence, but it's more athleticism and skill, like any other game or sport out there. Although, I guess I'm a fan of more contact sports since I also like football. I think I like the rush of having people play together, be a team, and play a good game. And in boxing, well my dad used to box during his academy days, but more than that, I admire boxing since it is kind of vulnerable. I mean, the fact that a person has to put them self out there and say "Yeah, I can do this. I can defeat this person". You really have to be sure, you really have to train, and you really have to get hurt in order to claim, that yes, you did indeed prove yourself as a person and as a boxer. It's very emotional, I tell you. (Yeah, whatever, you're a total girl). What, I'm just happy, I'm allowed to be mushy when I'm happy, ok?

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