manny, the boxer

He is, I think, our first billionaire Filipino athlete.

There was a time when someone tells you that there will be a day when there will be a billionaire Filipino athlete seemed ridiculous. It's like hearing, now, that there will be a day when we will have our first Filipino astronaut. Not that it will not happen but... catch my drift?

And he is truly a pride of the Filipino race.

But the one thing that made me admire Manny Pacquiao, aside from his physical genius, is his discipline in preparation.

Think, Manny trains and prepares, physically and mentally, for at least eight grueling weeks, or 11,520 minutes for a 48-minute fight, granting, it goes the full 12 rounds. I mean, the actual fight is simply 0.4167% of the whole preparation. That's not even half of a percentage point = )

Talk about preparation!

Here's a quote from Joe Frazier, a former heavyweight champion, on preparation: "You can map out a fight plan. But when the action starts, you are down to your reflexes. That's where your roadwork shows. If you cheated in the dark, you're getting found out now under the bright lights..."

No shortcuts indeed!

Trials are food of faith - Streams in the Desert.