EDITORIAL - A fight to see without stomach cramps

Filipinos addicted to pay-per-view boxing have something going for them when they watch Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez slug it out tomorrow in what many believe is an eliminator for the right to face Manny Pacquiao, provided he also hurdles Miguel Cotto later.

What Filipinos will have going for them is that they will be watching the fight without the threat of spontaneous diarrhea, a condition that often attends those who watch the fights of Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao may be big in the eyes of Filipinos. And they may have supreme confidence in his ability to beat his opponents. But a Pacquiao fight is more than just boxing. It has, over the years, become a test for Filipino pride.

And that is why everytime Pacquiao fights, we cannot help but feel our guts getting all knotted up. The ring is such an unforgiving place, we know deep in our hearts there is always that chance Pacquiao will lose. There is no greater inducer of stomach upset than that.

But without Pacquiao in the ring, all Filipinos are after is a good fight. And a good fight we expect the Sunday bout to be. Mayweather and Marquez are two of the best boxers in the world today. And both have the pride and the mouths to go with their skills.

Mayweather, though, is the more arrogant and condescending of the two. But what can one expect of the son of Floyd Mayweather Sr., who learned to talk trash straight from the gutter, from which he has never managed to rise over. What the father is, so the son should be.

Marquez, too, has his own arrogant streak. But that is understandable, especially among Filipinos. Of all the name fighters Pacquiao has fought, it is only Marquez who can validly claim to have not really lost convincingly to the Filipino.

While it is true that in their first fight, Marquez fell to the canvass three times, all in the first round, the fact remains Pacquiao never managed to capitalize on that, thus allowing Marquez to salvage a draw.

The more open-minded would say Marquez won by recovering from those knockdowns to force a draw and Pacquiao lost by failing to finish Marquez after those knockdowns. In their second fight, Pacquiao won only by split decision. It is likely Filipinos will go for Marquez.