Manny Pacquiao

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Manny "Pac Man" Pacquiao
Statistics
Real name	Emmanuel Dapigran Pacquiao
Nickname	Pacman
Weight	Super Featherweight
Nationality	Filipino
Birth date	December 17, 1978
Birth place	Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines
Style	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	48
Wins	43
Wins by KO	34
Losses	3
Draws	2
No contests	0

Manny Pacquiao (born Emmanuel Dapigran Pacquiao on December 17, 1978 in Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines), also known as the Pacman, is a Filipino professional boxer and the reigning WBC International Super Featherweight defending champion. He is a former world champion at IBF Super Bantamweight and WBC Flyweight divisions. Pacquiao has a record of 43 wins, 3 losses, and 2 draws, with 34 wins coming by way of knockout. His brother, Bobby Pacquiao is also a Super Featherweight boxer.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early career 1.2 Pacquiao's rise 1.3 Newfound fame 2 Pacquiao in popular culture 3 Politics 4 Recent fights 5 See also 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early career

Pacquiao started his professional boxing career in 1995 at 106 pounds. His early fights were usually in small venue were shown on Vintage Sports' evening boxing show Blow by Blow hosted by John Ray Betita. He became an instant star of the program.

His weight increased from 106 to 113 pounds before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third round technical knockout (TKO). During the fight as commented by well-known sports newscaster Joaquin "Quinito" Henson, Pacquiao clearly did not make the weight so he was forced to use heavier gloves than that of Torrecampo which served as a disadvantage.^{[citation needed]}

Shortly after the Torrecampo fight Pacquiao settled at 112 pounds, winning the WBC Flyweight title over Chatchai Sasakul only to lose it in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, or Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third round knockout on a bout held at Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales by surpassing the required weight of 112 lb (51 kg).

Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew, this time stopping at the super bantamweight division of 122 lb (55 kg) where he picked up the WBC International Super Bantamweight title, defending it five times before his next world title fight came.

Pacquiao’s big break came on June 23, 2001, against IBF Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement and walked out of the fight as the newly crowned IBF Super Bantamweight champion on a bout held at MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada.

[edit] Pacquiao's rise

Pacquiao went on to defend his title four times before the match that many consider to have defined his career, against the Mexican boxing idol, Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico. Pacquiao defeated Barrera via a TKO in the 11th round at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas.

Only six months removed from his win over Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge another respected Mexican brawler, Juan Manuel Márquez, holder of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Featherweight titles. The fight held at the MGM Grand ended in a controversial draw after he knocked down Márquez three times on the first round, but lost most of the latter rounds.

In a bout held at Taguig City, Philippines, Pacquiao fought against Fahsan (3K-Battery) Por Thawatchai. Pacquiao sent Por Thawatchai to the canvas three times en route to a knockout in the fourth round. A left uppercut to the jaw knocked down the Thai fighter that lifted his two feet off the canvas and ended the fight.

Pacquiao once again tipped the scales at 130 pounds in order to fight another Mexican fighter, three-time division champion Erik Morales on March 19, 2005 at the MGM Grand. However, Pacquiao lost the 12 round match by a unanimous decision from the judges.

On September 10, 2005, Manny Pacquiao knocked out Hector Velázquez, capturing the WBC International Super Featherweight title in the process on a fight held at Staples Center, Los Angeles, California.

Pacquiao defeated Erik Morales by TKO in a much-anticipated rematch on January 21, 2006 in Las Vegas at Thomas and Mack Center.

[edit] Newfound fame

After the Morales bout, Pacquiao was in the limelight again during the first week of February 2006 when a prostitute working in a Manila night club claimed that he was the father of her son, born out of a whirlwind affair with the boxer. Allegedly, the boxer was not giving her child financial support, prompting her to sue Pacquiao and demanding P250,000,000 ($5,159,958) in child support.

On March 21 Pacquiao was sent to the hospital due to liver problems, brought about by his bar-hopping, womanizing, various product endorsements, and billiards playing (Pacquiao even qualified in the final stages of Philippine 9-ball Open). Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach had commented earlier about his concerns of Pacquiao's late night lifestyle and warned that the boxer is in danger of losing both his edge and his focus. Roach noted that there are too many distractions surrounding Pacquiao in the Philippines, including sponsorship deals, personal appearances, nocturnal activities as well as his circle of friends. ^[1]

On July 2, Pacquiao defeated another Mexican, Oscar Larios, a two-time super-bantamweight champion. Despite his camp's big promise of an early knockout, the fight went the distance with Pacquiao knocking down the Mexican two times during the 12-round bout for the WBC International Super Featherweight title held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines.^[2]

In September 2006, Pacquiao signed a major deal with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), headed by Oscar de la Hoya, which is good for seven fights ^[3]. This development was confirmed by coach Freddie Roach. Under the deal, Pacquiao is guaranteed a prize money of US$5 million for each fight. With regard to profits made on each fight, Pacquiao will be receiving at least 90% while the remaining 10% will go to Golden Boy Promotions.

Pacquiao and Morales fought for a third time (with the "series" tied 1-all) on November 18, 2006. Witnessed by a near-record crowd of 18,276, the match saw Pacquiao defeating Morales via a third-round knockout at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. ^[4]

After the Pacquiao-Morales rematch, Arum announced that Manny returned his signing bonus check back with Golden Boy Promotions signalling intentions to stay with Top Rank. This resulted in GBP's decision to sue the famed fighter over contractual breaches. ^[5]

After a failed promotional negotiation with Marco Antonio Barrera's camp, Bob Arum chose Jorge Solis as his next opponent among several fighters that Bob Arum offered him to fight as a replacement. The bout is scheduled to be held in San Antonio on April 14, 2007. He was lately named by both HBO and Ring Magazine as the fighter of the year, with HBO also naming him as the most exciting fighter of the year.

[edit] Pacquiao in popular culture

Manny Pacquiao is currently one of the most visible figures in Philippine media and is considered a household name.

A movie based on his life has been produced and was released on June 21, 2006. The movie is titled Pacquiao: The Movie featuring Filipino actor Jericho Rosales as Manny Pacquiao and is directed by Joel Lamangan ^[6]. Despite its huge P50,000,000 ($1,031,991) budget, wide distribution (80 cinemas) and strong marketing, the movie flopped in the box-office grossing a total of only P4,812,191 ($99,322) confirmed by Lamangan.

Shortly after winning his rematch with Erik Morales, Pacquiao produced the song "Para Sa 'Yo Ang Laban Na 'To" (Tagalog: "This Fight is for You") which became a hit single all over the Philippines. It expressed a nationalistic theme as well as Pacquiao's struggles in the ring. The release of the song came weeks before his second bout with Morales, leading up to the promos to the fight. Although "Para sa 'Yo" is his first attempt at professional music recording, Pacquiao's victory against Morales greatly contributed to the song's popularity.

Pacquaio and Morales recently appeared together in a San Miguel Beer commercial filmed for the Filipino audience. In the advertisement, Pacquiao is at a party and joined by Freddie Roach. A woman guest at the part asks, "Manny, kaya mo ba daw ang isang round?" (Translation: "[Someone is asking] Can you go one more round?") Roach says in English, "Who's asking?" The crowd silences as Erik Morales enters the party and makes his way through the crowd. Pacquiao walks toward Morales and both boxers engage in a "staredown". Morales then says "Wala kang katulad, Manny," (Translation: "There is no one like you, Manny.") and gives him a bottle of San Miguel Beer. Pacquiao replies, "Parang San Miguel Beer." (Translation: "Just like San Miguel Beer.") The next scene shows Morales and Pacquiao sitting together with the rest of the party guests, holding their beers in their hands. Morales proclaims, "For me, this is the best beer!" Pacquiao replies, "O, straight?" The commercial ends with Pacquiao and Morales toasting their friendship with San Miguels. This commercial has been parodied in the comedy show, Bubble Gang, with Michael V. playing Pacquiao, and Ogie Alcasid playing Morales.

During her sixth State of the Nation Address on July 24, 2006 in Quezon City, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited Pacquiao as one of the nation's modern day heroes. "Mabuhay ka, Manny", said Arroyo. ^[7] In return, the champion delivered his own speech endorsing Arroyo. "The President said many good things in the SONA." Pacquiao remarked. ^[8]

It is not widely known that professional wrestlers The Undertaker and Christian Cage were actually a part of Pacquiao's entourage during the Pacquiao vs. Velázquez fight in 2005. An avid boxing fan, The Undertaker was the person who carried the US flag while leading Team Pacquiao to the ring. This was also confirmed by another fellow wrestler, Batista. Batista revealed this during a televised interview in the Philippines while promoting an upcoming WWE promotional tour which was set to be shown in this country.

Pacquiao owns a lottery outlet for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Pacquiao is the owner of the Pac Man Gensan of the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association. The team based in his hometown of General Santos City. Pacquiao even suited up for the team for a few games during the first conference of said league.

Pacquiao is the first ever non-fictional Filipino featured in a video game. He is featured in the video games Fight Night: Round 2 and Fight Night: Round 3.

Pacquiao is an avid supporter and endorser of PBA team Barangay Ginebra Kings.

[edit] Politics

For some time, many have speculated that Manny Pacquiao will enter politics after he ends his boxing career. While boxing is far from over for him, Pacquiao admitted that he is thinking about starting a career in politics. In fact, he quietly visited the Commission on Elections , escorted by Arnold "Ali" Atienza (son of current Manila Mayor Lito Atienza), to transfer his residence from General Santos City to Manila^[9]. This fueled speculations that he may seek an elective post in the nation's capital, which even gave him the title "Adopted Son" when he was winning his earlier bouts.

His name was once floated as a possible vice-mayoralty candidate to the younger Atienza when the latter seeks the city's highest post in the 2007 elections, but backed-out after Sen. Panfilo Lacson, then the leading candidate for Manila mayor, did the same after there were threats from his opponents to dig the issue of his residency. (Similarly, Pacquiao also had such issues).

Being known as an Arroyo supporter, his name is also being floated as a candidate of Lakas CMD for the mayoralty race of General Santos City against incumbent Mayor Pedro Acharon. Instead, he was recently sworn-in as a member of the Liberal Party under the Atienza wing, thus further fueling his political ambition.

On February 12, 2007, the famed boxer announced that he was running for congress representing South Cotabato. [1] His decision however easily turned off both his fans and the general public. [2] [3] Election experts stressed that as Pacquiao insists on participating in his next professional boxing match, he will immerse himself into a legal conflict regarding campaign exposure, especially since the match will be televised nationwide. Aside from that, COMELEC commissioner Ben Abalos mentioned a possible legal entanglement could ruin Pacquiao's candidacy since he already registered himself as a Manila resident months prior.

Numerous sports personalities and analysts around the Philippines expressed that Pacquiao should think seriously and deeply about his sports career, which could potentially be destroyed by the dirty world of politics. Popular columnist Randy David mentioned that Pacquiao allowed himself to be used by selfish and desperate politicians. [4]

A potential disadvantage for Pacquiao is his alleged "mental immaturity". [5] The incumbent congresswoman he's challenging is a member of one of South Cotabato's political dynasties.

On February 24, 2007 in Cebu City, Pacquiao, for the first time ever, was booed by thousands of spectators as his presence was acknowledged by the organizers of The Battle of Cebu, a WBO-sanctioned boxing festival. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]The embarrassment compelled the fighter to withdraw his political bid, according to Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. [11] [12].

The negative sentiment among Cebuanos over Pacquiao's political aspiration was felt even before the The Battle of Cebu was held as at least one citizen's comment got published by local newspaper Sun Star. [13]

[edit] Recent fights

Date	Opponent	Result	Location	Title belt/s win
November 18, 2006	Erik Morales	KO R.3 Win	Las Vegas, United States	Retained WBC International Super Featherweight Title
July 7, 2006	Oscar Larios	UD R.12 Win	Quezon City, Philippines	Retained WBC International Super Featherweight Title.
January 21, 2006	Erik Morales	TKO R.10 Win	Las Vegas, United States	Retained WBC International Super Featherweight Title.
September 10, 2005	Hector Velázquez	TKO R.6 Win	Los Angeles, United States	Captured Vacant WBC International Super Featherweight Title.
March 19, 2005	Erik Morales	UD R.12 Loss	Las Vegas, United States	--
December 11, 2004	Fahsan Por Thawatchai	TKO R.4 Win	Taguig City, Philippines	--
May 8, 2004	Juan Manuel Márquez	R.12 Draw	Las Vegas, United States	--
November 15, 2003	Marco Antonio Barrera	TKO R.11 Win	San Antonio, United States	--

[edit] See also

• List of flyweight boxing champions
• List of male boxers
• List of WBC world champions
• Reigning boxing champions
• Ring Magazine pound for pound (#2)

[edit] External links

• mannypacquiao.ph Where Pacman Fans around the globe congregate
• Manny Pacquiao Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Manny Pacquiao's boxing record
• Manny Pacquiao's Photo Gallery
• mannypacquiaofan.com - Fansite
• manny-pacquiao.net - Fansite
• People's champ no more

[edit] References

Preceded by Ricky Hatton	Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year 2006 - Present	Incumbent
Preceded by Chatchai Sasakul	WBC Flyweight Champion December 4, 1998 - September 17, 1999	Vacant Title next held by Medgoen Singsurat
Preceded by Lehlohonolo Ledwaba	IBF Super Bantamweight Champion June 23, 2001 - March 25, 2004	Vacant Title next held by Israel Vázquez
Vacant Title last held by Erik Morales	WBC International Super Featherweight Champion September 10, 2005 - Present	Incumbent