The Fight of the Century by David Christenson
I’m not a boxing fan these days. I did watch a lot of that sport when I was growing up back in the 1970s and I had become a big Muhammad Ali fan. I didn’t know much about him and his personal life and probably didn’t really care. I just liked watching him ‘float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.’ He was fun to watch as he was entertainment in the ring.
The “Fight of the century” was being bantered about in the media these past days and that is the Mayweather-Pacquiao match. I find it quite interesting in comparing these two. Mayweather is sometimes thought of as a thug. Many of us probably think boxers in general are thugs but Pacquiao’s trainer calls the Mayweather and Pacquiao fight as “good versus evil” because of the domestic violence history of Mayweather and the good guy image of Pacquiao. I will tend to gravitate more towards Pacquiao in this based on his statements.
Mayweather is from Michigan and Pacquiao is from the Philipines. Pacquiao was asked what he would do with the money he would earn should he win. Pacquiao said, (paraphrased) He said he’d take part of it and build houses in the Philippines for some people that don’t have housing or ample housing. He’s a Christian and would do some great things for people with the money. Then Pacquiao then made the statement that he wanted to beat Mayweather and then he wanted to share the Gospel with him after the fight. He said, “I just want to send this message to him – nothing personal,” soft-spoken Pacquiao said. “We’re just doing our jobs. And after the fight, if I could talk to him, I want to share the gospel of God. I want to share to him about God, why we need God.”
I can see where this might be a reach for me to say this but I can kind of compare Pacquiao’s way of thinking to our own in regard to our jobs and choices of career. He is a professional boxer and he wants to sit down and share the Gospel with one who he shares the same career with but also one who is his own competition too. Do we want to sit down with those who are competing with us? One who is trying to take business away from our own livelihood?
Pacquiao was asked about his introduction to the sport, and he recalled his very first fight – a neighborhood boxing show when he was 12. Anyone could enter. The loser was guaranteed 50 pesos – one dollar. So he signed up. He won, and got 100 pesos – $2. He spent it on groceries for his mom.
On May 2, he could have earned more than $100 million. These days, he spends the crazy money from boxing on his family, relatives and a number of needy families in the Philippines. “I’m not a materialistic person,” he said. His ability to help people financially, he said, “is a grace that God has entrusted to me. I’m just a steward of that grace.” Mayweather gets the larger share of the 60-40 split, so he doesn’t need help from Pacquiao. Whether he accepts Pacquiao’s offer of spiritual guidance remains to be seen.
Yup, I was in Pacquiao’s corner. I see him as more of a man of God than Mayweather and I was a bit disappointed to see that he lost. He might have lost that boxing match but I feel that with what I have learned about him in light of this huge bout with Mayweather is that he has his heart in the right spot. My hat is off to you Manny Pacquiao.
“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” ~ Jeremiah 17:10
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. ~ Matthew 5:8 +++
Picture of Manny Pacquiao is from Wikipedia
Read more about the life of Manny Pacquiao
About David Christenson: He is a lifelong resident of South Dakota, grew up on a farm north of Claremont and attended school in Amherst and Britton, graduating from Britton in 1977.
David married Gretchen Tisher in 1984. Gretchen is also a graduate of Britton and teaches math and drama at Britton-Hecla high school. David and Gretchen have two children. Zach is an engineer for Continental Ag in Norfolk, Nebraska and his wife Amanda is a nurse. Margo lives in Denver and works as a Marketing & Outreach coordinator for MyLifeLine.org, a cancer support not-for-profit entity.
David started a cow/calf operation in the 1980s and farmed on the family farm after his high school graduation until December of 1994 when he accepted a sales position at the John Deere store in Britton. David left the John Deere sales position in March of 2006 and became a licensed crop insurance agent in May of 2006. David also started a rental business in 2010 and remained in the cattle business until January of 2012.
David, age 55, has had some extraordinary circumstances in his life. He was run over by a farm tractor before age 6 and had three heart attacks a few months before turning 40. Then he suffered life threatening injuries a few months after turning 50 in a hit and run incident. David was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012 and skin cancer in 2014.
David started writing his recovery experiences on Facebook in December of 2009. Over the next four years those Facebook notes became what would become chapters in his book, “Why Are You Here?” which was published in December of 2013.