I miss the real People’s Champ.

As Filipinos go gaga over Manny Pacquiao, I suddenly miss my favorite sports hero since I was a boy.

I was only 10 years old when Muhamad Ali beat George Foreman on Sept. 30, 1974. Foreman was my favorite then, all because I hated Ali’s braggadocio.

Little did I know that in the few months to come I would become a fan of Ali and fall in love with him. Ali was funny; he made his most dangerous fights seemingly worry-free by his comic antics in the ring. And yet his confidence actually worried his legions of fans, all the more because Ali, for all his physical strength, evoked some kind of vulnerability.

First, his punching power was underrated, even though he knocked out Foreman, Sonny Liston and many others besides. Second, he did not have a killer’s instinct; he himself said this in a television interview in the 1960s. Third, he had this tendency to take pity on his opponents such that he would not knock them out even if he could.

Of course, he had superlative skills: he had the fastest hands and feet not only for a heavyweight—many a lightweight boxer at the time would marvel at his speed. He could be rightly called the fastest boxer of all weights. Besides, he could evade punches by a simple move of the head to the right or to the left, or back. And he was one of the very few boxers who could throw punches while retreating.

And yet all this is not the reason I came to admire him. I came to admire him for his outspokenness on the human rights of blacks and other minorities in America. I came to admire him for his principles; for opposing the Vietnam war, as a result of which, he was stripped of his title in 1967 and was not allowed to box for three years up to 1970. During which he lost nearly all his earnings and became one of the most hated men in America. But look at what happened: Ali’s conviction was overturned by the US Supreme Court in 1970. And Ali is now a veritable icon these days.

In contrast, the boxers and other sports heroes that came after him were only concerned about becoming rich and thus kept quiet on social issues. I would not name names, but they would include some very prominent NBA basketball players since the 1980s.

So far, Pacquiao has shown his ignorance of social issues, and thinks he can enter politics by means of popularity and money. Therefore, here in our country, and at present, even as we are all excited about Pacquiao, let us not forget the intelligence and courage that Ali showed inside and outside the ring. That made him the true people’s champ of the world.

—JAIME ESCOBER JR.,
Block 16 Lot 49 Sugartown Homes,
Barangay Batasan Hills,
Quezon City