The Final Score: The Tao of the Pacman Pompyang

After 1,630 punches, before 50, 994 fans, in a $ 1.2 billion stadium, during a bout between the great one and fortunate antagonist, only one moment rocked the senses and one blow caught our imagination. In the middle of the fourth round, after Manny Pacquiao’s six-punch combo collided mostly with Joshua Clottey’s arms, Pacquiao departed from convention and let loose the punch-line of his legendary career.

Pacquiao, feeling like he was trying to topple Mt. Apo, abandoned the game plan for a split-second. He knew the crowd wanted action. He knew his constituents wanted blood. Clottey, however, refused to cooperate. The best showman in boxing had no other recourse. It was time to improvise. Digging deep into his consciousness, past the television hosting, album recordings, dart-playing, late-night partying and national politicking, right in the heart of his simple beginnings, straight into a memory bank that remembers how dreams were made while watching FPJ action movies whenever he could afford it, Pacquiao plucked a gem of a move. "Pacquiao and FPJ are larger than life and they cause riots whenever they lose," Quark Henares, filmmaker and pop-culture savant, says. "Only difference is FPJ doesn’t get reprimanded when he does his double punch combo." "Pompyang!" Someone blurted "pompyang" amidst the laughs. Pacquiao had the nerve to execute Fernando Poe, Jr.’s signature move in the middle of a million-dollar fight. "Pompyang" is cymbals in Filipino. Hence, FPJ’s Pompyang is the motion of clapping his hands on an evil henchman’s head like a pair of cymbals. So when Pacquiao launched his Pompyang Punch, referee Rafael Ramos looked like he just saw someone do the moonwalk for the first time. Moxie is either "kapal ng mukha" or "lakas ng loob" in English. The audacity to display both in an effort to mimic FPJ and mock Clottey made Pacquiao national action star and sporting icon in one.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV "There a lot of actors and boxing champs but what separates Pacquiao and FPJ is that they project a humble image in spite of their celebrity status," Bianca Catbagan, a film major in UP Diliman, says. "They have this endearing charm that’s magnetic." There lies the soul of Pacquiao’s Pompyang Punch. It presents the Yin and Yang of Pacquiao in one comedic blow. He amuses. He mauls. He is funny. He is lethal. He is a real-life punisher but does it with action-star bravado. He is an entertainer. He is an executioner. And like FPJ, Pacquiao is subject to the push and pull of eminence. It must be a surreal experience for Manny each time he fights, bordering on fantasy, but to the throng that depends on Pacquiao’s fists for existential validation, even hope, it all feels real. Thus, the punch that defined Pacquiao vs. Clottey is the same punch that helps define the great fighters of our generation. It matters little that the Pompyang punch hardly hurts. It matters a lot that only chosen ones are allowed to utilize a sacred, albeit humorous, weapon fit only for kings. -- Mico Halili/OMG, GMANews.TV