Pacquiao's Stunning Loss is God's Glorifying Win

Philippians 3:7-8

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

Every time there's a Manny Pacquiao fight, traffic stops, crimes go down and Filipinos are excited and more hopeful. Young, old, men, women, the poor and the rich come together to watch Pacman bring glory to the Philippines. We are so used with Pacman winning game after game after game. We get to a point where we bet not on who's going to win but on which round will Pacman KO his opponent. 

But yesterday was a different story. In a stunning, shocking and an unbelievable twist, Pacman was caught off guard by Juan Manuel Marquez's winning counter punch. The People's Champ fell down. He was KOed at round 6. With Pacman's stunning loss, it seemed like we, as a country, also felt that brutal punch from Marquez. What just happened? It took a while longer for reality to sink in. People were crying, shouting in dismay and some just fell silent. In the cyber world, we all have something to say about the fight. Some were sad, angry and very disappointed. Thankfully, most people are still behind Pacquiao win or lose. 

Most of us could not believe that our champion was defeated. We thought Pacman was invincible. He's supposed to be the "Fighter of the Decade" and we expected him to win this one. This time around, our hero failed to meet our expectations. Why did he lose? Is it because he changed his religion? Or it could be that he did not train enough? Maybe Marquez trained harder than Pacman that's why he seemed leaner and stronger. Or was it just lucky punch?  We can speculate. We can justify. Or we can move on. 

In any kind of sports, there's always a winner and a loser. For this specific fight, Pacman is the loser and Marquez came out victorious. But does life ends when one loses? Does Pacman stop being the People's Champ because of one defeat? Is his legacy ruined because of this? I don't think so. The Filipino pride is intact. He still made us all proud when he accepted defeat graciously. He knows his story doesn't end here.      

Instead of walking out, Pacman smiled and congratulated Marquez. He got up with his honor and faith intact because despite his loss, he managed to give praise to God. He surrendered the results to God knowing that his loss is God's gain. When Pacman gave thanks to God and honored him on international television, he won the biggest battle ever. He may have lost some fans and supporters after this fight but he surely won God's stamp of approval.