"THE EVENT" on March 13 is Pacquiao's day of judgment!

By Granville Ampong
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 20 Jan 2010

I must confess Pacquiao's reputation in the eyes of the American public has now reached the crossroads of trials. Of course, he has no tribulations at this time.

Nonetheless, his reputation has been tarnished on the charge of Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s camp in view of their allegation that Pacquiao may have been using prohibited performance-enhancement drug(s), which Pacquiao strongly denied and brought his personal standing to media and has filed a lawsuit against the former, as reported.

This, I must say most of my American friends whom I chatted early this week thought that their regard to the Filipino boxing hero, Pacquiao, has changed. They said they lost their enthusiasm in their prospect of praising him even more.

Michael Marley, my fellow writer at the Examiner.com, must be right in his suppositions. He's right that even before anything else despite negative results of Pacquiao's urine test from any level of prohibited substances last week, Pacquiao's stock price must have been affected, if not slowly devalued, as he implied.

Now, let us put this perspective in straight terms: With the advancement of technology and pharmaceutical experiments in the U.S., urine sampling is NOT A DEFINITIVE TEST to determine whether or not one is using drugs for such a time. Random sampling by blood draws should be the clear-cut identifier of any substances used in the body, at least according to the numerous medical doctors in the U.S.

While I still maintain my belief that Pacquiao is innocent of such allegation, I cannot blame the American public for entertaining such intimations. Even the best of evidence and the veracity of factual circumstances could render the innocent guilty, vice versa.

Marley speaks of the mind behavior in the formative introspection of the observer. And, he is right in his extrapolation that " de facto jurors", I must say it in this fashion, are the American boxing public, rhetorically.

Now, the first phase of judgment is relegated to the court of law.

Transcending such lengthy depositions, litigations, courtroom recesses and moving forward to the ring of sportsmanship, March 13 at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas , starts the second phase of Pacquiao's judgment, so to speak, to determine whether or not the boxing public really still magnifies the impression it has at first sight on another Asian hero whose invasion in America has put the millions of viewers around the world glued to their respective television sets each time he fights.

Pacquiao vs. Clottey is nothing less than a validation of the few who put Pacquiao's ascendancy on suspect in the foreign land.

Will Pacquiao drop his own bombshell after 3/13?

Just as Bruce Lee, who was accused of the same even after his death, Pacquiao will have to face the same destiny in the eye of the American public...yes, even to the point of jeopardizing his honesty and sincerity. To which, of course, I must consider my case closed!

Note: You may send your comment(s) to granvilleampong@aol.com

Top photo: Filipino ring superstar Manny Pacquiao (2nd from left) and welterweight contender Joshua Clottey (2nd from right) of Ghana pose with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders during the press conference announcing Pacquiao vs Clottey dubbed as 'THE EVENT' on March 15, 2010 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Photo by Reiver Rodriguez / PhilBoxing.com.

Source: PhilBoxing.com