“Renaissance man,” the sheer mention of it is without much effort reminds the majority of people the world over as to how marvelous the personhood of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Leon Battista Alberti, and a relatively later than them, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were. Da Vinci for one was renowned for his criss-crossing variety of talents whose primary works remains intact in significance to humankind. Best known though for having painted the ageless “The Last Supper,” da Vinci is widely credited for having conceived for the first time the idea of the predecessor of the modern helicopter, thus the engineering of flying. Michelangelo for his part was equally superb at painting and sculpture. He did the famous Statue of David and the world renowned painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at Vatican. Exuding equal greatness and versatility, Alberti was a swimmer, poet, architect, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer, while Goethe in Germany did not only excel in the literary arena, but an outstanding marksman at the same time. He was amazingly sharp that he could literally print his name on a wide firing target, albeit at a relatively closer firing range.
To the sizeable multitude, those who could hardly identify a left hook from a fish hook in particular (thanks to the witty and amusing line by Michael Marley), it might appear blasphemous to intermix Pacquiao among these people who could perform a wide array of jobs, but a little closer look with which he ransack the world, he could emerge with greater chance to be one among them. To substantiate this claim, Pacquiao is an excellent billiard player that he even managed to qualify in one of the national tournaments in his native Philippines, and having achieved it is certainly no easy feat for he had to contend against world class players with which the Philippines is plentiful. For another, Pacquiao is not bad at the hoop; the way he moves and handles the big ball is good enough that a serious opposing team could not afford to take him lightly. His passion for the sport is evidenced by him having owned a basketball team that competes across central and southern Philippines, and on occasions he plays along side his fine cagers, to the delight of the watching crowd. On one hand, while at the thick of his trainings in the United States with old time and world – renowned trainer Freddie Roach, Pacquiao provides himself relaxation from the grueling and physically demanding gymnasium routines by pushing woods in the game of chess; to enhance his punching precision, he tries his hands at darts and reports has it that he has little trouble hitting the bull’s eye.
Outside the sports field, Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2 (38)) popularly known in the boxing world as the “Pacman,” enjoys plucking and strumming the six strings of his guitar while singing to the tune of his favorite standard songs, while at one of the cozy and posh spots in his imperial and regal house in his hometown of General Santos City in southern Philippines, lies a grand piano in which he plays a number of classical piano pieces. His voice is mediocre, but his music album did manage to sell out pretty well, earning him a double platinum award. Nevertheless, his musical success is largely hinged on his being a boxing superstar, but in the current musical trend – local and abroad – many are making livelihood in the industry whose singing voice are even beneath the Pacman’s. To add to his extra- curricular activities, Pacquiao also dabbles at acting. At first he was apparently appearing a lousy actor but in due time he keeps on getting better which is evident in his recent movie outings.
In da Vinci’s era, time flashbacked between the 14th and 17th century, the literal Renaissance period, evoking an air of versatility was an adored human enterprise but in today’s context it is seen as an act of arrogance, “Jack of all trades, master of none,” the mainstream opinion would declare. Without question, it makes a lot of self-evident sense when viewed from the standpoint of today’s ever fast growing and ramifying fields of human endeavor especially within the intellectual university atmosphere – anyone has to be doggedly focused on his chosen field in order to become safely expert on it. Grounded on this factual and popular premise, there are plenty of people out there, mostly Pilipinos themselves, punching Manny Pacquiao with adverse remark on his penchant for singing, acting, and sports outside boxing. Sure, for lesser being, relative excellence is acquired only at the serious expense of stanch concentration on a solitary and well-chosen arena of life, but Pacquiao is no ordinary being. “He is not a jack of all trade and a master of none,” you know. He is currently the number one pound – for – pound fighter, the prestigious title notifying everyone that he is the finest among contemporary active boxers across divisions and across the world, an unprecedented feat for any Pilipino. To further advance his claim to the throne, he made a truthfully unusual and beyond ordinary triumph by becoming the first prize fighter ever in the entire boxing history to have ever won seven world championships in seven different weight divisions by wiping out the gritty Puerto Rican champion in Miguel Cotto (34 – 2 – 0 (27)) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 14. In the event, he captured Cotto’s WBO world welterweight crown, Pacquiao’s seventh.
Now many pundits of boxing, the sport largely regarded as the sport of kings for having the participants saw themselves placing their lives on the line, believe and find no predicament putting Pacquiao in the list of the greatest competitors to have ever laced the gloves.
After all prior to winning this historic fight, Pacquiao have been giving us so much pride and joy with his previous but equally prideful boxing exploits, and now that a rare piece of world boxing history in his hands for our delight, what more do we have to demand for? Anyway when “it’s time to train he trains hard,” to quote Michael Koncs, his Canadian adviser. For sure and to reiterate, Pacquiao being a unique human being is seem to have a touch of a renaissance man; so what’s the whining all about? “He is not a jack of all trades and a master of none.” But he is a phenomenal world champion. And to tell him to just do boxing all the time – avoiding such extracurricular activities as singing, acting, playing darts, etc. which he equally love – can be perceived as an indication of the prevailing culture of crab mentality which by all means should be minimized if cannot be completely shun out – it is called progress.
