The February 2010 issue of The Ring Magazine has none other than Manny Pacquiao on its cover. On page 28 a piece titled Manny Pacquiao: The Roots Of His Legend And The Secrets Of His Success can be found. The Ring’s Editor In Chief Nigel Collins penned the article and took a look at the past, present, and future of the star from the Philippines. Here are some of the highlights below…
From Tennessee to the Mandalay Bay
The article started out by taking us back to June 24th, 2001, a day after Pacquiao had made his debut on American soil by thrashing Lehlohonolo Ledwaba to capture the IBF Super Bantamweight title. Inside of the Memphis International Airport sat Pacquiao, freshly into his second stint as champion of the world. Despite breaking through with a knockout performance on HBO’s pay-per-view airwaves, Manny went relatively unnoticed as he sat amidst the madness of the travelers.
Flash forward over eight year later, to the early morning hours of November 15th, 2009 and Pacquiao was greeted by nearly 5,000 partisans at the Mandalay Bay Event Center. Just hours after defeating Miguel Cotto to claim the WBO Welterweight championship of the world, Pacquiao followed up with a post fight celebration where he sang eight songs, as he had promised, to an adoring crowd of supporters. Singing joyfully, Pacquiao drove the crowd wild just as he had inside of the MGM by dismantling Cotto.
From an unknown to an icon over the course of roughly eight years. It hasn’t been easy for Pacquiao and his road has seen him overcome formidable obstacles both in and out of the ring. To this day there are those that still suggest Pacquiao has yet to fully adjust to his star status.
The foundation for everything
Pacquiao is to a point in his career where he has achieved international stardom. His every move is watched by millions and anything that is said of him is dissected in a completely positive or negative way. Pacquiao’s star status has grown almost ridiculously, unlike any fighter in recent times, but Collins pointed out that none of it would be possible if Pacquiao wasn’t simply the great fighter that he is.
Collins went on to state that Pacquiao has a ‘what have we got to lose’ mindset that can be attributed to the harsh upbringing he endured in his native Philippines. Pacquiao is many years and millions of dollars removed from his childhood days of hustling cigarettes on the street just to get his next meal but it seems as though the man has never forgot where he came from.
Perhaps that is why Pacquiao has been able to remain so humble throughout his journey. In the post fight press conference following the Cotto fight Pacquiao went on to even state that he was an ‘ordinary fighter’ by his own standards. That statement was quickly shot down by his trainer Freddie Roach, who insisted “You’re not ordinary”.
(For a closer look inside the February 2010 issue of the Ring Magazine, featuring Manny Pacquiao, click HERE)
Commercial success
Collins also pointed out how remarkable Pacquiao’s success has been, both in and out of the ring. His free time is taken up mostly by his sponsorships and forays into the entertainment field. While Pacquiao’s singing career is relatively small on the scale of his normal activities, his commercial obligations run rampant. The Filipino endorses Nike, San Miguel Beer, McDonald’s, Talk ‘N Text, Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo, Magnolia diary products, and a plethora of others.
Pacquiao has also gotten his feet wet in the acting field as well. He has appeared in seven movies since 2000, going from secondary roles to eventually garnering the status of the leading man in 2005’s Lisensyadond Kamao. In that flick he played a familiar role, as he was cast as a boxer whose mother and sister had been kidnapped while in preparation for a big fight. In his latest effort, Wapakman, Pacquiao plays the role of a superhero gifted with endless superpowers as well as sporting a corny looking red costume to boot.
Despite all of his out of the ring involvements and whispers in the past that his hectic lifestyle may lead to his undoing in the ring, Pacquiao has found a way to keep everything together in producing a legendary run of success of the past few years. That in itself is pretty impressive.
Cotto clobbered and Mayweather awaits
A side story in the article takes us back to the night of November 14th, the night of Pacquiao’s drubbing of Cotto inside the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Collins’ pointed out the fact that the supporters amidst the 16,000 present inside of the arena seemed equally divided between Pacquiao and Cotto. The Puerto Rican contingent seemed to chant louder during the early rounds, when Cotto had his most success, but were all but quieted over the second half of the fight when Pacquiao seized full control.
Collins went on to state that Pacquiao would most likely return to the Philippines for the customary post-fight victory parade throughout downtown Manila and then throw himself back into the daily whirlwind routine of his life as today’s best prizefighter. Many would love to see Pacquiao face Mayweather next, and Collins himself pointed out that an ‘unseen force’ seems to be at work towards making the contest a reality. Still, at the moment both men seemed destined for separate opponents and if they don’t meet on March 13th we can only hope it is sometime later this year.
