Manny Pacquiao already had appeared in several Filipino action movies, so he had a fairly high level of popularity in his native Philippines before he knocked out Marco Antonio Barrera in the 11th round last Nov. 15 in Texas.
That astonishing victory over the man then considered the people’s featherweight champion, however, made Pacquiao as popular as any athlete can be in the Philippines. The Presidential Medal of Merit and Congressional Medal of Honor awarded to him afterward stood as proof.
According to Pacquiao, it was the first time those awards had been bestowed upon an athlete.
Pacquiao estimated that 60 percent of the population in the Philippines knew him pre-Barrera.
