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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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NEW YORK–Referee Kenny Bayless could have counted to 100 and still Mancunian slugger Ricky Hatton wouldn’t have beaten it. Hatton was hit by a mammoth of a left cross unleashed by the best boxer in the planet, Manny Pacquiao, right on the chin knocking the brave Brit unconscious and sending shockwaves to the thousands in attendance at the MGM Grand Las Vegas and the millions around the world who tuned in on television last Saturday, May 2.
It was a left cross that created an impact on Hatton’s head like it came all the way from Saranggani province, Philippines at 11,000 miles per hour. If that punch missed and hit the ground, it would have created a crater. Unfortunately, it didn’t hit the ground and instead created a crater in Hatton’s boxing career and in every heart of the thousands of British fans that came to cheer the man from Manchester.
It was over as soon as the punch landed. Hatton lay unconscious, his back flat on the canvas, and his eyes glassy and hard on focusing. Many of the spectators feared the worst. Some thought he died on the spot as a result of that savage Pacquiao left hand. Not since the era of the young Mike Tyson that a singular punch has created such fear and at the same time, admiration from boxing fans all over the world. And the fact that the punch came from a Filipino who started his career at 106 pounds further astounds every mind that follows the sweet science.
As for Manny Pacquiao, his overwhelming win over Hatton erased any doubts about his capability and confirms his status as probably the best boxer in the modern age. Pacquiao’s name is now among the few boxers that transcended the sport: Ali, Armstrong, Robinson, Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, Duran, Tyson, and Louis. Manny Pacquiao is now immortal.
Ricky Hatton was completely dominated by the smaller Pacquiao. In the first round, Pacquiao floored Hatton twice: First with a blinding fast right hook then with a powerful left straight amidst a hundred more punches towards the end of the round. Pacquiao’s mastery over Hatton was so evident it was almost cruel. The second round came in, and it was evident that Hatton would not last. He was being manhandled by Pacquiao all over the ring. Right hooks, left crosses, right jabs, left uppercuts - almost every punch in Freddie Roach’s catalog of the Manny Pacquiao collection landed on Ricky Hatton’s head and body. It was so lopsided, it would be a mistake to even call it a fight. “I didn’t even need to count,” said Referee Bayless.
Pacquiao’s knockout win made him only the second man to win four titles in four different weight classes. The first one who did it was none other than Oscar Dela Hoya, the fighter whom Pacquiao fought and battered last year forcing the East LA legend to retirement.
“He(Pacquiao) is definitely among the greatest of all time,” said Gerry Reyno, a boxing historian and former fighter. “He is now the main attraction in boxing and the idol of many.”
Pacquiao’s long-time trainer Freddie Roach has nothing but accolades for his most prized fighter: “They say
I am the best trainer in the world. They say that because I train the greatest fighter in the world. Manny makes me look good.”
Manny Pacquiao has now come to a point where people will watch him regardless of whom he fights. Whether he fights Miguel Cotto or Bozo the Clown, the tickets will sell and the pay-per-view receipts will be in millions. He has become the new face of boxing, the rightful heir to a thrown held recently by Dela Hoya, and previously by the likes of Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Muhammad Ali.
On the day of his fight with Hatton, Nike released a limited issue of Manny Pacquiao signature boxing shoes as well as other “MP” apparel. Among the boxing fans in attendance at last Saturday’s match were A-list Hollywood celebrities who were not disappointed with Pacquiao’s furious onslaught on Hatton; Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, Mariah Carey, Mikey Rourke, Mark Wahlberg, Jay-Z, Sean “Puffy’ Combs, to name a few.
Meanwhile, as Pacquiao further boosts his claim as one of the greatest of all time, Ricky Hatton’s future is suddenly up in the air. Some boxing writers, including his own trainer, Floyd Sr. advised Hatton to enjoy the money and retire - like Dela Hoya after suffering the same fate in the hands of Pacquiao. Others, like Pacquiao himself thinks Ricky can still go on: “30 palang naman sya at malakas pa. Pwede pa syang lumaban( He’s only 30 and still strong. He can still fight).”
The “Manny” Punch The left cross that Pacquiao threw and ended Hatton’s pound for pound dreams became the most analyzed punch in modern boxing history next to the mythical “phantom punch” that then Cassius Clay unleashed and knocked out Sonny Liston in the rematch back in the 60s. While most boxing fans know that Pacquiao’s left hand is his bread and butter, few are convinced that it had the lethal one punch power akin to that of heavyweights. Floyd Maywheather Sr. was shocked with its power and is clueless as to where Pacquiao gets that snap that sent his ward (Hatton) to slumber land.
Watching the replay of the now romanticized left cross, one can see how Pacquiao executed the punch in perfect form– with the full weight of his body thrusting his swing. Likewise, one can see the unfathomable impact– Hatton’s hair, back, nape, and face all shook upon impact like a mean convulsion, while his legs sagged like bad spaghetti. It was a perfect punch landing at the perfect time. It is the punch of modern day boxing.The punch that will revive the sport and render Manny Pacquiao the respect that will never die.
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CHICAGO – Some participants to the May 1 Immigration Rally last Friday must have some wrenching dilemma to deal with. As if taking a line from Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Last Waltz,” “I wonder should I go or should I stay,” about half of the 15,000 who turned up last year decided to go and joined the annual nationwide immigration rally last Friday to ventilate their immigration advocacies amidst the threat of the spread of H1N1 swine flu. The rally was participated in mostly by Mexican immigrants, who could have been fertile source of the influenza that has claimed many lives in Mexico. But the May 1 rally was one of their biggest days to ventilate their demands for passage of immigration reforms that had stalled in the U.S. Congress during last few years, so they were left with no option but to join the rally.
A press release issued by Jerry B. Clarito, an official of Chicago-based Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE), said among the reforms Filipino participants want inserted in the new comprehensive immigration reform law would be introducing in the U.S. Congress following:
•Family Visa Backlog Relief Act that will add new visas per year to eliminate long years of backlogs;
•Exempt from Immigrant Visa Limit for Certain Veterans from the Philippines;
•Exempt from numerical visa limitation of unmarried or married children of naturalized US Citizens, who were born and raised in the Philippines and served in United States Armed Forces in WWII;
•Add more visas to the RN (registered nurses) petitions, or even better, exempt them from the visa quota. This will be the faster and more practical solution to obtaining faster visas for the RNs; and
•Pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (The "DREAM Act"). This is a piece of proposed federal legislation that was introduced in the US Senate and the US House of Representatives in March 26, 2009.
This bill would provide certain immigrant students who graduate from US high schools, are of good moral character, arrived in the US as children, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment, the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency.
A busload of Filipinos and Filipino Americans joined some 7,000-rally participants last May 1 (Friday) in solidarity to support common issues affecting all immigrants, including the 12-M undocumented aliens. Led by AFIRE), the Filipino Americans joined such other advocacy groups as the Asian American Institute(AAI), the Korean American Cultural and Resource Center (KRCC), the Korean American Community Services (KACS), the Korean American Senior Center (Hanul Family), Pintig/ Circa, Committee on Philippine Issues (CPI), Bagwis, National Alliance of Filipino Concerns (NaFCON), Albany Park Neighborhood Council (APNC) and the Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European and Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAAAELII) during the rally.
According to AAI, the US Congress should include in the legislation the following immigration concerns:
•Resolve and fix the family immigration backlogs without making cuts to the current family immigration system;
•Ensure that all individuals have the protection of our civil rights laws and human rights when our immigration laws are enforced;
•Ensure prospective flows of immigrant workers have the protection of our labor laws and civil rights laws;
•Ensure our citizenship process is accessible for everyone, especially elderly, disabled, and child immigrants; and
•Legalize unauthorized individuals in a workable and realistic manner;
•Ensure that new Americans are able to access English classes, integrate, and participate fully in American civic life.
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