PACQUIAO. New—and improved?
A new—and hopefully improved—Manny Pacquiao greeted televiewers last week, immediately after he lost his much-touted championship bout with Timothy Bradley. While the Filipino nation and boxing fans all over the world agonized over and raged at the shocking split decision, the ex-champ himself was surprisingly stoic and accepting about his stunning defeat.
Was this the same Manny Pacquiao who, only a few hours ago was the crowing cock of the walk, a self-styled, self-obsessed Renaissance Man from the masses who could get anything and anyone due to his blinding wealth and influence, and thought he could be anything he wanted to be, even if the evidence pointed to the contrary? —What was going on?
Decision
The decision that went against him was palpably questionable and controversial, so the tumult of opposition began—but Pacquiao himself stilled the raging waters with his benign admonishment for his supporters to cool it—and move on.
Why the transformation from king of the hill to a veritable guru of humble acquiescence, even as he saw his kingdom crashing down around him?
His newfound religion is a likely explanation, of course. But, even here, there was a surprising disconnect. Heretofore, his much-publicized sermons on the mount were generally predictable verse-quoting, bible-thumping clichés—but, immediately after he lost, his utterances became softer, simpler, and came from the heart.
Experience
It was as if defeat had knocked the wind out of the windbag—but, instead of fainting, he took a deep breath—and a new, more enlightened voice was heard, this time with the convincing hush of bruised experience.
Manny’s most telling and affecting statement after the bitter fact was: “Something good will come out of this.” He said it with such simple and yet forceful truth that the raging multitudes were stilled into meditative silence.
How in blazes could defeat be a boon? What good could possibly result from such an official humiliation?!
And yet, in the next few days, that good did clearly manifest itself in Manny’s subsequent statements and actions. The fact that he could be defeated, in itself, emerged as the “something good” that he spoke of—a stunning, humbling discovery for the man who, up to this breaking point, could seemingly do no wrong.
The fact that he did taught him a lot about who he really was—and was not.
Discovery
We trust that, in the coming weeks and months, more good things will flow from Manny’s belated discovery of his flawed humanity. Yes, let him work even harder to reclaim his lost glory in the ring—but, more than that, make him focus on his similarly important work as legislator, and downplay his “gifts” as an entertainer, which are limited. Knowing what you can’t do well—that’s another definition of wisdom.
It would also help if Manny realizes that money and fame aren’t power, and thus stop acting so smug and all-actualizing. For the champion reeling from his first defeat in a long while, it’s time to let go—and let God.