Manny Pacquiao, boxing’s Mr Excitement, returns to the ring this weekend in Texas, USA. The Filipino super-featherweight dynamo takes on Mexican Jorge Solis at the Alamodome over 12 rounds in a fight that will be shown live on Truevisions on Sunday morning.
Pacquiao is one of a select few fighters who are bigger than the belts and he can pretty much call the shots as he wants.
Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton enjoy the same position because of their swashbuckling styles.
Floyd Mayweather is probably more talented than all three but his defensive style _ while technically brilliant _ turns many fans off.
In contrast, Pacquiao draws massive crowds whenever he boxes, as well as huge viewing figures across the world.
His all-action approach is perfect for television as he takes big chances to win and also carries fearsome power that can end a contest at any second.
Last November he destroyed Mexican legend Erik Morales in three rounds in a fight that was also shown on Truevisions.
It was a magnificent performance that further cemented his place in the history books and helped him to be selected by The Ring magazine as their number one fighter of last year.
‘Pacman’ knows how to play to the gallery and this week he has been busy promoting the fight with public appearances in Texas.
Large crowds turn up to watch him wherever he goes and that has to be good for a sport that seems to lack the characters needed to draw the attention of casual fans.
Aside from being held in high esteem in boxing circles, Pacman is also adored in his home country.
In fact he is so popular he has decided to run for political office next month.
One of his political rivals even tried to ban the live broadcast of this weekend’s fight because they believed it to be free advertising for his campaign.
That suggestion was immediately rejected by the boxing-mad nation and Pacquiao should be able to satisfy his fans with another electrifying performance.
Solis is unbeaten (30 wins and two draws) but he never been in with an elite fighter.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, has beaten Morales (twice), Oscar Larios and Marco Antonio Barrera in compiling a 34-3-2 ledger littered with big names.
He also drew with current WBC super-feather champion Juan Manuel Marquez in May 2004 after knocking him down three times in the opening round.
He has come a long way since being knocked out in three rounds by Thailand’s Medgoen Singsurat in Nakhon Si Thammarat in 1999.
That defeat relieved him of the WBC flyweight title he had won by beating Thai champion Chatchai Sasakul in the kingdom a year earlier.
Since then, Manny has moved through the weights and has only been defeated by Morales by a close decision in the first of their three meetings.
It is encouraging to see an Asian make such an impact in the USA, especially when Pacquiao has faced, and beaten, the names that have earned respect the hard way.
On the undercard of a great bill is Jorge Arce’s challenge for Cristian Mijares’ WBC super-flyweight title.
Arce and Thai WBC flyweight king Pongsaklek Wonjongkam failed to agree terms to meet at 112lb last year and so frustrated Arce decided to move up.
Now we get the chance to see if he is good enough to hold the WBC crown at 115lb, which is the division where Khaosai Galaxy made his name in the 1980s.
Arce is also a huge draw and is favourite to take Mijares’ belt at the first time of asking.
IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan is already talking of moving up to fight him at the higher weight.
Fight fans will have to pace themselves properly on Saturday night, because Truevisions are showing WBA heavyweight champion Nicolay Valuev’s defence against Ruslan Chagaev from 1am to 4am before broadcasting the Pacquiao card from 8am. It promises to be a great night.
