An Open Letter to Manny Pacquiao

"This fight is for my country and my people", before and after a fight, this is what you say. Although there is some truth to that, I believe that primarily you fight for your own good; for the money and recognition. It is natural and I understand. After all, you are the one who fight, who trained hard, and who made the necessary sacrifices. Probably, we are secondary reason, or even third; it does not matter, for you already had given us so much. You gave us hope; you restored our pride; you showed us humility and simplicity; you even remind us to pray. In return, we gave you our hearts, our love, our prayers.

Now that you are one of our congressional representatives; and you are about to fight your toughest opponent, we never been this excited and worried. Floyd Mayweather is not only bigger, fast strong and undefeated; he is also cunningly shrewd. He wants to psyche and break you before the fight, and picture you to the world as a man who will do anything for the money, up to the point of swallowing his pride. A poor man, even a decent one, will do that; as most of us would: for his family, for his life, for his uncertain future. But anything beyond those reasons is greed; and greed is not only an opponent within but also a man's worst enemy. Greed has many forms, it has full of tricks, and it destroys a man. 

It appears that the simple average person does not have to learn logic and philosophy to perceive the underlying truth. From what I heard, in their hearts resides a subversive element that helps them classify what is right from wrong. Perhaps that is why when I brought out about a possible continuation of your bout against Mayweather, their immediate reactions were, "Why should still fight Mayweather?" and then added, "it's all for the money". And they say it with sadness and disgust.

Fame is more important than wealth and the most famous man who walked on this earth does not even have a place to rest. I believe that you knew Him well for I have seen you many times kneel asking for His mercy. You had proven your worth as a fighter, and your fame will not be easily forgotten in the boxing world. But give us one more reason to be proud, give us a legacy of a man who was able to refuse and to submit to anyone's will. One who defies the allurement and challenge of a large amount of money  which is time proven to be too much for anyone to overcome.

You have accumulated more than enough riches, and politics is a lucrative field if you want some more. However, this time, do not do it for the money. Rather, fight for your country, as you would always say. This time fight for us by not fighting. Do not bend to his will; rather show him your own will. Let him know that your will is as strong as your fist which is stronger than his is. Besides, if you do not fight him in his term, the opposition will switch to his side and it will be his turn to test his strength against his own greed, which I believe is stronger than yours.

In chess, a player wins not by attacking prematurely but by waiting for his opponent to make a mistake; Mayweather commits a blunder at the opening and he should not get away with it. My advise to you is; do not fight him on his proposed condition. But if you would, by all means, fight to win. And If you can't win, don't let him go unstained. At least break a part of his face, put some marks; because if you do, even if you lose, you had won. 

 

ArlenKaliFuentes 07/01/2010 

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