A fight to remember

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This article was published 01/05/2015 (4015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Manny Pacquiao takes on Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday in Las Vegas for what’s been dubbed “the fight of the century,” Filipinos around the world will watch.

None more closely than Winnipeg’s Jim Agapito.

“This is as big as Independence Day in the Philippines,” said the amateur boxer, a welterweight, which is the same weight class for the superfight. “I’m going to wear Pacquiao shoes, a Pacquiao sweater and a Filipino flag if I can find one.”

The Philippines’ fighting phenom lovingly referred to as Pacman has boosted the confidence of his countrymen and women as “underdogs” around the world, Agapito said.

“I started boxing because of Manny Pacquiao,” said the 34-year-old, who stopped competing a year ago but still trains four times a week. “Before I spar, I watch Manny Pacquiao fight videos.”

Agapito is one of about 65,000 Manitobans who self-identify as being of Filipino heritage. His parents came to Canada in the early 1970s from the Philippines, where people are riveted to TV screens whenever Pacquiao enters the ring. “In the Philippines, the entire country stops to watch the fight. The crime rate goes down to zero,” Agapito quipped.

Tonight in Winnipeg, the Philippine Canadian Centre of Manitoba (PCCM) will be bursting with Pacman pride, said past president Lito Taruc. All 400 tickets for the $20 Pacquiao-Mayweather fight and Filipino feast were expected to be sold by fight time, he said.

“This is the big event,” added Jomar Guaring, president of the Winnipeg chapter of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity, which organized the screening at the PCCM to raise money for the fraternity’s scholarship fund.

“We’re expecting viewers of all ages — entire families, grandparents — everyone,” said Guaring.

“It’s not that we’re into fighting,” he laughed. “Filipinos love sports and Manny Pacquiao. We support each athlete who represents us and show our support and love to our fellow kababayans (countrymen).”

The fight is being shown at bars and clubs around the city, said Ron Cantiveros, publisher of the Filipino Journal, which is hosting a Bud, spud and steak-night screening at the Canad Inns Garden City.

“It’s like a Canada-U.S. gold-medal hockey game,” said Cantiveros. “It’s a big deal. The fight’s been talked about for about eight to 10 years, and there were all these controversies about Mayweather backing, out but now it’s actually happening.”

During the main event, “nothing is going to happen in any Filipino community,” Cantiveros predicted. The only question for many will be deciding where to watch it and with whom.

Agapito, a filmmaker who planned to rest up for the late-night event, said he’s going to his family’s fight-night feast then heading with members of his Winnipeg Elite Boxing club to the Shark Club to watch the bout. “I’ll be white-knuckling it and analyzing it with my coach in between rounds.”

During the fight, there will be no chit-chat, he said. “It’s going to be pretty intense. It’s going to be so nerve-wracking.”

He said his family gets together for a party every time Pacquiao fights — a scene that plays out among Filipinos all over the city and around the world.

“Anywhere you watch a fight, every punch Pacquiao throws and nails, you’ll hear everyone erupt in cheers. He’s a hero to all Filipinos. He represents the mentality that you can do anything.”

Agapito’s parents immigrated to Canada in the early 1970s. Their first home was on Magnus Avenue at Main Street.

“(Pacquiao) was a poor person who came from the streets. He was able to rise up to be a national icon.”

Pacquiao was elected to Congress in the Philippines in 2010 and hasn’t forgotten the place he came from, said Agapito.

“Because he was so poor, he helps out the community. He’s the national health-care system in his province,” Agapito joked.

Learning the sweet science can be transformative, said Agapito, who has worked with kids in Winnipeg’s inner city, helping them to make movies and teaching them to box.

“If you’re a kid and have a lot of fight in you and the only thing you know how to do is hustle on the street, then boxing will really take the fight out of you. It teaches discipline and how to outclass and out-think a person. Boxing does a positive thing for youth — especially in the inner city.”

Pacquiao has inspired kids in the Philippines and around the world, said Agapito. “He’s this little Filipino guy who takes on gigantic giants.”

Now Pacquiao is taking on his most formidable boxing opponent. Mayweather is considered the greatest technical boxer of this era. His record is 47-0 and he is favoured to win.

“I respect the skill he has, but if there’s a guy who can de-throne him, it’s Manny Pacquiao,” Agapito said. “He can throw punches at a ridiculous speed and from all different sorts of angles.”

If he does win?

“It will be like joy and partying for days.”

If Pacquiao loses?

“I might cry — I’m serious.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca