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Philippines, 23 Apr 2024 |
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MANNY PACQUIAO: A LOOK BACK (PART II) By Eddie Alinea PhilBoxing.com Sun, 08 Mar 2015  LOS ANGELES, Cal. -- Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao might no longer be the best pound-for-pound fighter, an honor accorded him for more than two years following his demolition of American Olympian Oscar DeLa Hoya who quit on his stool in 2008. The now 36-year-old whose who is celebrating his 20th year anniversary as a pro this year, continues to gain though the respect and adulation of people, both in the higher and lower echelon of society until the present time. The eight division and four lineal world champion, a pair of legacies no fighter on planet has and will never duplicate in the near future, proved that once more in the three weeks he navigated key cities in the United States and the United Kingdom later last December up to early February. The entertainment world in Los Angeles and New York where he attended the premier of his movie ?Manny?, people from all walks of life surrounded him, egging to have a picture with him. So was in Miami where he acted as one of the judges in the annual Miss Universe Pageant. In between promoting his movie and judging the winner of the Miss Universe, the Sarangani Congressman went to London to honor a dinner invitation from Prince Harry at the majestic Buckingham Palace, resident of no less than Queen Elizabeth, England?s reigning monarch. But it was in Washington, last leg of his five-city sojourn where the three-time Fighter of the Year and Fighter of the Decade showed why he, unquestionably, is the ?Face? of Boxing? not only in his country but the entire universe as well. Pacquiao and his wife, Sarangani Vice Gov. Jinkee, not only came face-to-face with U.S. President Barack Obama for the second time, but met as well, state leaders, lawmakers and other high-ranking government officials of the countries that grace the 63rd Annual National Prayer Breakfast. ?It was a very amazing experience,? Vice Gov. Jinkee muttered when chance upon during Team Kia?s game some three weeks ago in the PBA where the ?Pacman? is a playing-coach. ?Amazing, kasi nakita ko kung paano nire-respeto si Manny, minamahal at ina-idolize ng hindi lang ng mundo ng boksing kundi pati na ng mga matataas na tao. Dinumog siya ng lahat nagpapakuha ng picture, nagpapa-sign ng autograph,? Jinkee blurted out. Many of them mga prime ministers, lawmakers, even presidents, church leaders. Basta lahat ng nandoon, malalaki at matataas na tao,? she said. ?And the reason why I was overwhelmed was Manny is a Filipino na galling sa mahirap na sector ng lipunan, pero nakuhang maigalang ng halos buong mundo.? Of course, Jinkee, too, was a living witness, too, when the Boxing Writers Association of America accorded her husband the honor?Fighter of the Year? (FOY) Awards thrice (2006, 2008, 2009)and by ESPY twice(2009 and 2011). He was also named ?Fighter of the Decade" (2000-2011), also by the BWAA. Pacquiao was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential people for the year 2009 and by Forbes Magazine in its 100 lists for the same year in the company of Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, and fellow athletes Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant. He was also in the list of Highest Paid Athletes from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009 with NBA superstar LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson and a few years ago and baseball player Derek Jeter. A street kid born in Kibawe, Bukidnon (not in General Santos City that wrongly appeared in several books and articles written about him), Pacquiao grew up in the ghetto of Barangay Labangal, known as the Tondo of General Santos City. As a four-year-old kid, now a father of five (Jimwell, Michael, Princess, Queennie and Israel) gathered fire woods from the mountains and sold to help mother Dionisia raise him and five other siblings. He is not a high school dropout because he stopped schooling after finishing elementary education at the Saavedra Elementarsy School in General Santos City. He took and passed a high school equivalent exam in 2007, making him eligible to enter college. He was awarded a high school diploma by the Department of Education, enabling him to enroll for a college degree in business management at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University in hometown General Santos City. 
Pacquiao was conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by the Southwestern University of Cebu. Two years later, he was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by the Southwestern University in Cebu City in recognition of his achievements in the field of boxing and humanitarian work. Pacquiao enrolled in the Certificate Course in Development Legislation and Governance at the Development Academy of the Philippines to prepare himself for the job as a lawmaker. As an amateur fighter, he fought in the streets during fiestas, in regional meets and earned slots in the national training pool but never made it to the national team. His father abandoned him and his family when he was only six years old. Poverty forced him to leave the city and his mother at age 14 to try his luck in the Big City where his pro-career started two years later in January 1995. Pacquiao is the current World Boxing Organization welterweight belt-holder he re-claimed at the expense of American Timothy Bradley last April and defended only last Sunday against another unbeaten American Chris Algieri in Macau. The world looks up to him as the best pound-for-pound fighter of this era with his punching power, speed, determination and dedication to vault back from one adversity to another on the way to a 57-5-2 win-loss-draw record with 38 KOs, thus, becoming the only man on earth to win eight-division world championship Pacquiao filled the Araneta Coliseum, The Alamo Stadium in Texas, The Dallas Cowboys, also in Texas and the Mandalay Bay and MGM in Las Vegas and Cotai Arena in Macau. Whenever and wherever he takes on a rival mano-a-mano, the entire country of 100 million comes to a virtual standstill with rival military and rebel forces going an undeclared truce to watch and celebrate their hero?s victories and cried over his every loss. He was also in the list of Highest Paid Athletes from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009 with NBA superstar LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson and a few years ago with baseball standout Derek Jeter. Pacquiao admitted to this writer that one of the most memorable moments in his career which he cherishes most was when he merited an invitation from President Obama to be the latter?s guest in the White House, becoming one of the very few athletes received by a sitting American Chief Executive in his Oval Office. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.  |
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