MANILA—The ‘Golden Boy’ next door got his statue at the Staples Center last week. And then he took the buzz from Hollywood to Vegas to meet the ‘Pacman’ who would be ‘King Kong,’ so he told the press in jest. Just like the movie on his mind.
The ‘Pacman’ got the Oscar, and that Nike shirt too, in the greatest performance of his life.
In a blaze of glory, the ‘Pacman’ swept the boxing world off its feet. And, like a bad movie, Oscar De La Hoya became an emperor who wore no clothes. He had nothing left. Perhaps, he might even have seen Paris burning or Caesar’s Palace from where he sat, or was he just seeing stars?
The ‘Pacman’ was fast and, in fact, curious. Where was the ‘Mexicutioner’? He never showed up. Even the gladiator himself, Russell Crowe, was in the audience. Yes, ‘King Kong’ got the real Oscar in style at the MGM Grand in front of Hollywood royalty. Mark Wahlberg, James Caan, Eva Longoria and Marc Anthony to name a few. Deja view! It was like a scene from the golden days of MGM Pictures when ‘there were more stars than the heavens’. For the longest time, like Louis B. Mayer, everything Oscar de la Hoya touched turned into gold.
But all that glitters is not ‘golden,’ The ‘Pacman’ reigned on Oscar’s parade that night at the Arena and took away all the luster from a golden era. Pound for pound, the ‘Pacman’ was worth his weight in gold. The force was with him.
It was like watching the fall of the Roman Empire live on HBO. The little man the ‘Golden Boy’ had called ‘King Kong’ was suddenly taller than the Empire State. He was in fact the Lion King.
It was the ‘Olden Boy’ who showed up for the fight. The lion was asleep that night.
It’s time for Oscar De La Hoya to walk into the Florida sunset. And enjoy the ‘Pay-per-view.’
History was clearly on Manny Pacquiao’s ringside. The legendary boxing historian Burt Sugar was right on the money when he told The Asian Journal’s Joseph Pimentel last week before the fight in Vegas that ‘it has happened’ before. And it did.
It was written in the stars, and the Asian Journal. Just when we thought we were pushing our luck too far, we hit the jackpot. ‘King Kong’ got the Oscar. And how. Another story repeats itself.
But, whatever happened at the MGM Grand that night did not stay in Vegas. The world stood still for the ‘Pacman’ who would be king of boxing.
Next stop, ‘the Battle of Britain’.
Manny Pacquiao just fired the first shot.
( Published on December 8, 2008 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A1 )
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