As a boy born into poverty, Manny Pacquiao left a family that could no longer afford to feed him, spent homeless nights sleeping outside and days scrounging for food, But years later, the 31-year-old Pacquiao is a seven-division boxing champion, a congressman in his native Philippines who was assigned to his own private airplane (pictured at right) by American Airlines, and is often mobbed by countless fans much like a rock star whenever he is in public.
“For me, that’s a blessing from God,” the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) king told Elie Seckbach of FanHouse on Monday in Los Angeles. “Because of the support of the people, that’s why I’m Manny Pacquiao right now.”
Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) will pursue his eighth crown in as many different weight classes in Saturday night’s HBO pay per view televised, Top Rank Promotions clash at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington against former world champion Antonio Margarito (38-6, 27 KOs) of Tijuana, Mex.
Considered to be the smaller of the two, the nearly 5-foot-7 Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, expect the 5-foot-11 Margarito to weigh 160 or more. Pacquiao said that he weighed 147 pounds at the time of the interview, but that he expected to be at “149, or, “150,” by the time of Friday night’s weigh-in.
Take a peek inside of Pacquiao’s private airplane, and, also, hear what else the fighter had to say in this video.
