When Manny Pacquiao fights, crime in the impoverished Philippines drops to zero. Police say even the criminals don?t miss TV coverage of any of his bouts.
It was no different when his home country shut down early to root for Pacquiao as he went head to head with Oscar De la Hoya in one of the most memorable fights in 2008.
It is a classic boxing story.
Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao dropped out of elementary school when he was 12. He found himself on the streets, selling cigarettes to motorists.
Now the boy who was born into a family of vegetable farmers in a remote part of the southern Philippines, owns homes in Los Angeles, Manila and the southern Philippines, a cockfighting farm, a resort, a boxing promotion outfit and a basketball team.
He has just invested another $15 million (almost R150 million) which he earned for beating up De la Hoya.
His popularity has won him endorsement deals with international sporting goods, liquor and fast-food companies and medicine manufacturers.
He has appeared in movies and has recorded an album. Back home, he is known as a big spender, with a penchant for fast cars and sports utility vehicles and for enjoying cockfighting in his spare time.
He loves the night life but to his millions of fans in the Philippines Manny Pacquiao is a working-class hero from humble beginnings.
The World Boxing Council lightweight champion, generally considered to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, is known for the speed and power of his hands and his blind refusal to quit even when he is down.
Having the whole country behind him is a major boost for ?The Pacman?.
“I feel their strength behind me,” Pacquiao said before the bout. “Whenever I fight, I fight for my country.
“This is the fight that people won’t forget in the next 50 years.”
A professional fighter for almost 14 years, Pacquiao won four titles before facing De la Hoya. The latest was the WBC lightweight crown he took from David Diaz in a ninth-round technical knockout in June.
In March, he won the International Boxing Federation international junior featherweight title and the WBC super featherweight title in a split-decision rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico.
His 48-3-2 record includes 36 knockouts against some of the world’s best.
He made his professional debut a month after he turned 16, and two weeks before his 20th birthday he was world champion, seizing the WBC flyweight title in Thailand from Chatchai Sasakul in a one-punch knockout.
Part of his folk hero charm comes from wearing his heart on his sleeve and being known to give generously to charity.
Pacquiao has won the praises of Philippines president Gloria Arroyo, who paraded him during her election campaign, lauding the 29-year-old for showing “the sterling quality of excellence of a Filipino at his best.”
His own political ambitions have been less successful. He lost to the incumbent when he ran for a House of Representatives seat in 2007.
He is likely to make another run at politics, saying he intends to run for Congress again in 2010.
