Opulent Odyssey: December 2012

In My Dreams

By charline - Monday, December 17, 2012

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I was in awe and I was in total shock while I was watching the PPV of Pacquiao and Marquez fight. “Was that a real knockout?” I suddenly thought to myself. Trying to deny it, I just came closer to the fact that a defeat is something that we cannot avoid.

Photo taken from HBO Boxing

Pacman was in good shape. In fact, the moment I saw him entering the ring, I could already notice his tough fighting shape. He’s ready to face his nemesis, Juan Manuel Marquez for the 4^th time. Then the sudden knockout in the third round came.

Whoah. That shook him a bit. But I was still confident that he would fight back. The next rounds showed good signs until the 6^th round. For a moment, all of us were stuck on a timeless still. “Pacquiao is down. Marquez won by TKO!” said the boxing commentator.

Boxing will always be one of my favorite sports. Im not a boxer but I surely know how to appreciate a good bout. This match is far by one of the best bouts Ive ever seen. Just as Ali has Frazier, Barerra and Morales, Mike Tyson and Hopkins, Pacquiao has Marquez. But never in my wildest imagination will Pacquiao ever get beaten up like that.

From by observation, there are various things that emerged in this bout:

Suddenly I thought of the law of diminishing marginal returns. Sometimes, when we idolize someone, we tend to put the person on a pedestal not realizing that the person is still human and there are still limitations.

1. Preparation is the key.

No matter how good you are, without strong and diligent preparations, all of your efforts are futile. You should never forget that if you are good enough, there are other people better than you. There are people who are more equipped, more skillful and adept than you. There are other people who want to have a piece of what you have now. In this bout, Marquez fought hard and he prepared hard just to win the bout.

2. Divine Intervention

I don’t know if I can categorize this factor in the bout but from what I can see Marquez was able to snatch some luck when Pacquiao turned to his left side and where he was able to have his right hand landed straight on Pacquiao’s jaw which led to a knockout. Seriously that time I was thinking, what the heck is Pacquiao thinking of moving close to Marquez side on the left and leaving his jaw open?

We all know that the jaw is the trigger point of every boxer. Once someone lands a solid punch in either your left or right jaw, you will definitely hear the angels singing. Right there and then, I felt somehow there is another force that determined the fight.

3. Even the best fall down sometimes.

The recent bout between Manny Pacquiao and Marquez shows us that the law of diminishing returns applies. What goes up will inevitably go down. All of the strong leaders, warriors, legendary figures that we have known in history or even other fields, experience their greatest downfall.

We witnessed how Julius Ceasar, dubbed as one of the greatest Roman generals, was stabbed by Cassius and Brutus which led to his death; Hannibal, another great general who was eventually defeated by Scipio Africanus; Napoleon Bonaparte, even Andres Bonifacio and Jose Rizal. The rest of the list goes on.

This rule also applies to Pacquiao and to all of us.

Just sharing some thoughts…

When we come to think of it, the thoughts of defeat come to mind. Are you willing to set sail and move to a direction you haven’t not yet known? Do you still want to attempt soar high even if you know that you will eventually fall?

This bout has made an impact on me not just a boxing fan but also as an ordinary individual who is fighting in this battle called life. Fear of falling into the unknown, into a shameless defeat would somehow titillate and to some point even torture my mind.

Sometimes, I just want to be complacent. But which is better, doing nothing and just remain exactly where you are- safe, steady, no motion or are you willing to take your chances and go beyond your inner fears?

Applying these thoughts to myself, I personally don’t know what awaits on the other side. Striving hard to get there, to be on that summit, I know my journey will never be easy.

What if I fall? What if I fail? All of these questions start to circle around my mind. But my inner clamor to achieve far beyond what my mind tells me is making a loud resonance. My heart and my mind is urging me to fight and get back up whenever I stumble.

Pacquiao, like the rest of us, has experienced failures, defeat and disappointments. It does not matter how many times we're knocked down or how many times we have faltered.

But it is in how we rise up, learn from those mistakes and conquer our fears that we ruly emerge victorious in the different battlefields that we all facing.

And so, I say never be afraid of stumbling or of failing. What goes up must come down and once you are down there is no way but up.

Life goes around in circles. It is continuous.

When you are still alive, you need to keep on fighting. You have to keep going.

"In boxing, one punch can change everything... in any weight class. No matter how bad you're losing, you're always a single punch from winning."

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