MANILA, Philippines – As Manny Pacquiao turns 31 today, his fans from all over the world are wondering how many more years he’ll campaign in the ring.
There’s very little left to prove in Pacquiao’s storybook boxing career. He’s etched in history books as the only fighter ever to capture seven world titles in seven weight divisions – from flyweight to welterweight, a feat that almost defies Mother Nature.
No Filipino fighter has come close to matching his global popularity, not to mention his drawing power at the turnstiles. He’s considered the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter today, a recognition that had never before been bestowed on an Asian.
But despite his glowing achievements, Pacquiao isn’t closing the book on boxing. Not yet. Loud-mouthed Floyd Mayweather Jr. looms in the horizon as the only credible opponent left with a chance to upend the Filipino and their fight is expected to be the decade’s biggest grosser on March 13.
Even as Pacquiao has agreed to stake his WBO welterweight crown against the unbeaten Pretty Boy, he is setting his sights on a career beyond boxing. Pacquiao has filed a certificate of candidacy to run for congressman in Sarangani province in the May elections.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said Pacquiao would be a fitting icon as a fighting congressman. He remarked that Pacquiao might still be able to take in two fights a year even as a congressman. That would mean allocating about four to five months to boxing and leaving the rest of the year for Pacquiao to legislate in congress.
It would be a dream come true for Pacquiao to be introduced before a fight by Michael Buffer as “the fighting congressman from Sarangani, Philippines.”
Pacquiao might just hang up his gloves after battling Mayweather although his contract with Solar Sports is up to 2013. The consensus, however, is he’ll fight two or three more years if there are viable opponents and in Arum’s hit list, Sugar Shane Mosley comes immediately to mind. Jumping to the superwelterweight division is an option but Pacquiao’s conditioning coach Alex Ariza may not be too comfortable moving him to the 154-pound class. Still, the lure of facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or Yuri Foreman sometime in the future can’t be easily discounted particularly if the price is right.
How Pacquiao has managed to nurture a career from his debut as a 106-pounder in 1995 is almost like a fairy tale. He was born poor and finished only up to Grade 6 before looking for ways to make a living. Boxing beckoned as Pacquiao built a reputation as a hard-hitting slugger in town carnivals.
Pacquiao was eventually shipped from his General Santos City hometown to Manila where boxing manager Polding Correa took care of the skinny kid with an awesome upside. With promoter Rod Nazario as business manager, Pacquiao slowly rose from the ranks. He became the Oriental flyweight titleholder by stopping Thai veteran Chockhai Chokwiwat in 1997 and a year later, captured the WBC flyweight crown in a sensational come-from-behind knockout over Chatchai Sasakul in Bangkok.
To be sure, Pacquiao’s road to glory wasn’t a bed of roses. He encountered bumps along the way, losing by knockout to Rustico Torrecampo and Medgeon 3-K Battery. But Pacquiao never lost his sense of direction. He knew where he wanted to go and was determined to get there.
In 2001, Pacquiao went to the US, searching for greener pastures. He had run out of opponents in Asia and figured the next step was to invade the lucrative but discriminating American market. That year, Pacquiao hooked up with Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and took a fight against IBF superbantamweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba on two weeks’ notice in the undercard of a main event that featured Oscar de la Hoya at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao stopped Ledwaba and began his ascent to the top. He went on to claim the Ring Magazine or “people’s” featherweight title by halting Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003, the WBC superfeatherweight crown by outpointing Juan Manuel Marquez in March 2008 and the WBC lightweight belt by stopping David Diaz a few months later. Before the year ended, Pacquiao forced De la Hoya to surrender in a monumental battle in Las Vegas.
This year, Pacquiao made history by claiming the IBO lightwelterweight diadem by knocking out Ricky Hatton and the WBO welterweight title by blasting Miguel Cotto into submission.
Two of Pacquiao’s last three fights registered over a million pay-per-view buys. And it is expected that when he finally engages Mayweather, the fight will surpass the record 2.14 million pay-per-view subscriptions posted by Pretty Boy and the Golden Boy in 2007. The estimate is Pacquiao will earn as much, if not more, in the Mayweather fight than from his last three bouts. He has been guaranteed $25 million for the Mayweather encounter and with the pay-per-view revenues kicking in, his take could reach up to $50 million.
It’s no wonder that boxing author Thomas Hauser recently named Pacquiao as his choice for “Fighter of the Decade” over Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe and Mayweather.
“On Jan. 1, 2000, Pacquiao was 21 and virtually unknown outside of the Philippines,” wrote Hauser. “During the course of the past decade, he has fought 26 times and become the most famous fighter in the world. His opponents in that 10-year span included Erik Morales (thrice), Barrera, Marquez (twice), De la Hoya, Hatton and Cotto. In 10 fights against these six Hall-of-Fame caliber opponents, Pacquiao amassed eight wins against a loss and a draw.
“Moreover, unlike Hopkins and Mayweather – both of whom fought many of their biggest fights against smaller men, Pacquiao has consistently challenged naturally bigger fighters. He has hurdled every major obstacle in his weight class and then some.
“Unlike Mayweather and Calzaghe, Pacquiao has a less-than-perfect record for the decade. But when a fighter fights the best again and again, sometimes, he loses. When Sugar Ray Robinson was young and great, he lost to Jake LaMotta. Muhammad Ali lost to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton before he got old.
“History judges elite fighters in large measure by their record against other elite fighters and how they perform in their most difficult challenges. Mayweather has talked the talk. Pacquiao has walked the walk. And Manny has out-of-the-ring intangibles as well. In that regard, he’s similar to Muhammad Ali, a great fighter, a good person and an important symbol for his people.
“’I’m just doing my job to be a good fighter,’” Pacquiao said after beating Cotto. He’s doing more than that. Manny Pacquiao deserves recognition as ‘Fighter of the Decade.’”
