I wrote my six predictions for the Pacquiao-Margarito bout. I think I got a decent 4 out of 6. Sure, there was no traffic congestion is the streets of Metro Manila during the entire duration of the fight. Zyrene Parsad sang the Philippine National Anthem with some minor deviations (pause near the end and the slight slang :)) but I think its all OK (and it seems the National Historical Institute is not complaining too).
Pacquiao-Margarito related topics was a trending topic in Twitter with some topics like #Pacquiao and Filipino Pride stayed there for the next 12~24 hours. Pacquiao and Margarito related topics were in Google Trends and I even tweeted at one point that 8 out 20 topics related to the boxing match are in Google Top 20.
On the other side, I am not hearing any prominent black hat SEO campaign abusing the Pacquiao and Margarito related searches. Major AV/security blogs did not mention anything noteworthy (or maybe the crooks just stayed low profile). Although I have not diligently watched the post-fight interviews, it seems I am not seeing scene stealing moves from the chicken boxer KFC (Kentucky Floyd Chicken). Maybe we will hear from him and his camp on the coming days.
I admire Margarito. He is a very brave boxer and he got my respect. I put all the trash talks behind the game since I understand that these trash talks are part of the grand marketing plan for boxing fights like this.
But I admire Pacman more for showing his speed, skill and class in and out of the ring. A true boxer and a true gentleman he is even quoted saying, “Boxing is not for killing“. As I have not thoroughly observed the post-fight interviews, when I read about this quote from Manny I was smirking. But reading a bunch of articles I now understand that he genuinely cared for the safety of Margarito. Manny is really a great boxer and a great person.
What’s next for Manny? He mentioned that he is not scared to fight anybody and it will be up to the promoters. Yes all eyes are on the other party now (yup KFC). But the KFC’s camp seems to be on forever evasive mode but I am afraid they will run out of reasons not to fight Pacman soon. If I was Floydie, I might think of be evading too. Seeing the Tijuana Tornado in a deep mess after that 12-rounder definitely sent effective chilling effects to KFC and its clear that he doesn’t want that kind of punishment from Pacman.
But enough of that speculations. Lets savor the victory of the moment! Congrats to Manny Pacquiao!!! Mabuhay ka Pacman!!!