24-7 NON-STOP PACMAN CELEBRATION CONTINUES
San Francisco, CA-The party continues in the Philippines, and all over the Internet, over the success of icon Manny Pacquiao. It’s close to three weeks since Pacquiao extracted revenge over the granite chinned Erik Morales after losing their initial encounter in March 2005. Losing this fight after six rounds, Pacquiao came on and dominated Morales to the point that in the tenth, for the first time, Morales was stopped. Since the Las Vegas win, Pacquiao has made stops in Los Angeles, Manila, General Santos City, and Cebu City within three weeks. At each stop, he’s spent hours entertaining the political elite and millions of fans, who stand united for the first time in a long time.
LIKE THE TIME JOE LOUIS BEAT SCHMELING!
It’s difficult to comprehend the impact of his win to an entire country if you’re not a Filipino or Pacquiao fan. In the past twenty years, two Philippine Presidents have been removed from office. In the last major election, controversy arose concerning the fairness of the vote count. After referee Kenny Bayless ended Morales’ night, all Filipinos in the Philippines cheered together, proud to be Filipino. The only comparison close to the impact of Pacquiao’s win is when heavyweight champion, Joe Louis, extracted his own revenge in 1938, when he knocked out Max Schmeling in Yankee Stadium in New York. Before the knockout the German TV station cut the feed, as the Louis win was a moral defeat for the Nazi regime.
PACMAN-MANIA UNCERTAIN WITHOUT SANCHEZ
Paclanders should send an early Christmas card to former WBA jr. featherweight champion, Enrique Sanchez. When Manny Pacquiao first arrived in the United States, in May 2001, he had difficulty finding a promoter. The stereotype was that Pacquiao was a fighter who built an impressive record, mainly in his homeland, and wouldn’t amount to much against world-class competition in the States. Calls were made to many promoters, including Top Rank, but none were returned.
MANNY FOUND OUT FRISCO IS NO FIGHT TOWN! Manny and his handlers left San Francisco and moved down to Los Angeles, one of the top boxing cities in the world. Freddie Roach was hired to train him to appear on the undercard of an Oscar De La Hoya show in June of that year. The fight wouldn’t be televised, but it would put some much-needed U.S dollars in Pacquiao’s pocket. On that same bout was an IBF jr. featherweight match between champion, Lehlo Ledwaba and challenger, Enrique Sanchez. Ledwaba, now 35-5-1 (22 KOs), made an impressive April 2001 HBO debut on the undercard of Hasim Rahman’s upset KO over Lennox Lewis in South Africa.
SLAYING LEDWABA “IGNITED” PACMAN-MANIA! Ledwaba was promoted as the biggest threat to stars Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. Sanchez, now 30-3-4 (21 KO’s), was seen as a good name to pad the record of the future star Ledwaba. However, three weeks before the fight, Sanchez had to pull out because of an injury or illness, which left a vacant opponent for Ledwaba. The De La Hoya card was lacking from top to bottom, and the possible cancellation of the title fight would’ve impacted PPV buys. Pacquiao, ranked # 4 by the IBF at the time (with the first two spots vacant), was willing and ready to fight Ledwaba. The Ledwaba camp refused Pacquiao as an opponent, because he was a southpaw, and the fight was too soon, leaving Ledwaba little time to prepare. However, the Pacquiao camp cited that Sanchez was a southpaw as well, and Pacquiao was the highest ranked available contender for Ledwaba. The IBF then forced Ledwaba to defend against Pacquiao, and thus the Pacman was born.
BOXING LESSON FROM CUTMAN JOE CHAVEZ
Pacquiao fans may not have seen him during the telecast, but Joe Chavez was in Pacquiao’s corner ready to spring into action should Pacquiao get cut. In the first fight, Pacquiao suffered a huge gash over the right eye, which was a major factor in the fight. Prior to Pacquiao’s arrival, Chavez was waiting in the locker room and a discussion arose about the art of prize fighting. The topic was the jab, as we were watching a sloppy display of boxing technique by Jose Luis Zertuche and Marcus Primera. Chavez explained that the jab was like an automobile steering wheel, in that you can’t drive without one.
DISCUSSING PACMAN ARSENAL WITH TEAM MEMBER!
Chavez credited the use of his jab to extending his career longer, and keeping him from suffering devastating knockouts. He also said that Pacquiao was one of a few fighters who hurt opponents with a jab. He pointed out that after Pacquiao lands that vaunted straight left, he comes back with a jab that is as hard as a cross. Pacquiao only received a small swelling underneath his right eye, which Chavez worked on after the fight. He said the abrasion was caused by Morales’ only successful weapon, a left jab.
NON-STOP INTERVIEWS FORCE MANNY TO IMPROVISE!
Once Manny Pacquiao hit his locker room after the victory, a TV crew was waiting for his immediate post fight reaction. The Philippine commentating duo of Quinito Henson and Brian Viloria were the first to get the in depth interview of Pacquiao. With his team behind him, Pacquiao concluded the interview by leading the team in singing his theme song “This Fight Is For You”! The interviews did not stop after the press conference, as Pacquiao’s limo was forced to park at the back parking lot of the Wynn Hotel to give interviews to his many sponsors.
IS “THE PINOY” IN NEED OF PHONY ID?
The interviews took place in the back of a shuttle bus, and Pacquiao only had limited bits of a pastry in between each interview. There was a celebration awaiting Pacquiao at Club Lure inside the casino, which every Pacquiao fan was welcomed to attend. Unfortunately, at age 20, “The Pinoy” could not attend! Pacquiao finished his interviews just before mid-night and rushed to his suite. He eventually attended the after party some 45 minutes later.
FANS SWAMP MANNY’S SUITE AS ENFORCER LOOMS!
The next day, Pacquiao fans were seen everywhere in the hotel, trying to gather as many collectibles as possible, from posters and ads throughout the hotel. Manny’s suite was no different as Pacquiao was forced, at times, to seclude himself in his bedroom as seemingly most of Manila was in the reception area, in front of his door, or in the lobby near the elevators. Some even waited when Manny wasn’t in his room as he continued the interviews with the Philippine media. Pacquiao tried his best to entertain all his fans all day, and the fans were very considerate to Pacquiao as well. Rob Peters was forced to send many fans away, which they did without complaint. More on Team Pacquiao’s enforcer Peters in a later piece!
