Ricky Hatton?s opponent for the richest fight in boxing history earned just 50p the first time he stepped into the ring.
Manny Pacquiao was 12 then, eating one meal a day and sleeping in the back streets of the Philippines. He gave the money to his mum for food.
On May 2 in Las Vegas, he will bank around ?25m in a 50-50 split purse when Pacquiao and Hatton bid to become the world?s best pound-for-pound fighter.
Hatton?s World Junior Welterweight Championship belt is also up for grabs in a fight billed as the biggest of the year and called ?The Battle of East and West? ? the Pacman against the Hitman.
Pacquiao, 30, has come a long way from being a street kid.
In 10 years, he is expected to be the President of his country and is such a star back home he has had a No.1 record called This Fight Is For You.
He stages one-man shows singing Beatles and Bee Gees songs and plays the piano. He is also a top actor and at yesterday?s launch at London?s Imperial War Museum, hundreds of Filipinos lined up to meet their hero and have their photograph taken with him.
He said: ?When I get in the ring I am fighting for these people. I represent them. Every fight I dedicate to my people.
?I have known poverty. I have gone from a nothing to a something. My motto is never surrender. I am not shy to tell people I have come from nothing.?
He loves England so much he named his daughter Queen Elizabeth and made a special visit to see Buckingham Palace before flying to America yesterday to start intensive training.
Hatton said: ?This is the fight I dreamed of ? to be known as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.?
He took on Floyd Mayweather Jnr for that title and lost for the only time in his 45 fights. He is now back to 140lbs.
Both fighters are guaranteed ?12m, and when pay-for-view money kicks in, their takings are likely to go over ?50m.
Already there are only a few $1,000 seats left for the showdown at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
In the Philippines it is also sold out with Pacquiao?s fans paying $10 for a seat at the cinemas. When he fights, the country?s 90 million people stop everything and crime drops to zero.
At one stage this fight was off as both sides squabbled over the split.
Pacquiao?s promoter Bob Arum said: ?Even in these times of recession there was always plenty of money for both fighters and I never thought it would not take place.
?It will be the richest fight of all time. Certainly the biggest purse of both fighters? career.?
Pacquiao got a surprise taunt in England when Hatton?s trainer, Floyd Mayweather Snr, broke into a one-minute poem that ended with: ?North, South, East and West, this will be no contest.?
Pacquiao countered by breaking into a broad Scottish accent, saying: ?I?m William Wallace, my middle name is Burns, and I am going to fight for Freedom against an Englishman.?
