By: Robert "Blaze" Belen
As a fan of boxing, the internet and Twitter have been my main source of boxing information and news. It's great to know that most boxers have Twitter accounts and actually do the tweeting themselves.
It's actually a double-edged sword. The pros of it is that it gives boxers and fans a tool to interact with each other and get the latest news.
A few weeks ago, Floyd Mayweather, Jr.'s tweet made mainstream news when he called out Manny Pacquiao to fight him and even labeled him a "punk".
Twitter gives fans a place where they can voice out their opinions, dismay and suggestions to boxers and promoters as well.
The drawback of having such a tool, is the lac of censorship. UFC fighter Miguel Torres was booted out of the UFC for tweeting what was a tasteles joke about having a "rape van". Many NBA and NFL players have caught flack from controversial tweets, which has led restrictions to be mandated by the respective leagues with their players.
Last night I was scrolling through my Twitter timeline when I saw the back-and-forth Twitter exchange between Wilfredo Vazquez and Nonito Donaire and their wives. I only read through this issue on dSource's write-up, but after the blow-up during the press conference between the two fighters, it intrigued me enough to check out what was really going on.
Majority of the tweets were the usual Twitter bickering you will see between people from time to time. No big deal. I even thought that it was good for the fight, which otherwise wasn't being hyped up too much.
But then I saw Mrs. Vazquez's (@Iyameraliz) tweet about the Philippines when she used the hash tag #stupidphillipines (sic).
Hyping up a fight and trash talking is normal, but there's a line that you don't cross. I, together with several Filipinos on Twitter that saw the tweet, certainly feel Mrs. Vazquez crossed that line when she tweeted "Stupid Philippines". I am Filipino, so naturally this is something that's offensive to me. Not because it makes my blood boil, but because something like this is uncalled for and classless.
Filipinos have love and appreciation for not just Puerto Rican boxers, but Puerto Rico as a whole. For those who are old enough to remember, Puerto Rican Miss Universe Dayanara Torres even became a popular celebrity and actress in the Philippines. Mrs. Vazquez just did Puerto Rican women a disservice, not just by tweeting that tirade against the Philippines, but by also starting this whole Twitter war in the first place. After all, it is not her that's going to fight inside the ring.
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