Pacquiao - Clottey The Un-Event

The Pacquiao-Clottey fight was dubbed 'The Event' but it was uneventful. The only highlight of the bout was the illegal pompyang punch thrown by the frustrated pound-for-pound king in the fourth round. He must have seen a lot of FPJ and Lito Lapid movies in his youth.

The cinema where I watched was packed full. When I bought my ticket about 3 weeks ago, there was just a handful of seats taken. Unlike the previous Pacquiao fights in the same mall where they had three cinemas for the fight, this time they used just one. But in in the fight venue at Arlington, Texas, they sold out all tickets, and more.

And unlike the previous fights staged in Las Vegas, there were few Hollywood celebrities present. Though they showed a lot of presumably Texas sports celebrities who are obscure to Pinoy fans.

The highlights were not from the fight. The Texas Cowboy cheerleaders really look good. They evoke memories of the Debbie Does Dallas movie and its copycats/sequels of my youth. Their rendition of the US national anthem is surprisingly simple but good. Their skimpy outfit and singing of the anthem should make Americans stand erect.

Which cannot be said of Arnel Pineda's version of the Lupang Hinirang. After the controversy about Martin Nievera in the Pacquiao-Hatton fight, the non-controversial version of La Diva, and the general perception that Kyla's version (in Pacquiao-Barrera 2) is the best, I thought Arnel will follow tradition. After all, he said so himself. But it seems the tradition now is to not follow tradition. So after following the standard arrangement in the first few verses of the anthem, Arnel Pineda decided to show the world the a la Steve Perry version. For that expect him to get the flak in the coming days.