LAS VEGAS ? Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao is the biggest Asian fighter in the history of boxing, garnering huge pay-per-view buys and being listed in Forbes magazine as the No. 4 most influential athlete in the world.
In the Philippines, Pacquiao is the most recognizable international figure.
Currently, Pacquiao holds an office in Congress and has ambitions to run for governor, and in a few years, president of the Southeast Asian nation.
?Everyone in the Philippines knows Manny Pacquiao,? said Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank, the promotion company putting on the fight against Cathedral City’s Timothy Bradley on Saturday. ?He is their Michael Jordan or their Muhammad Ali. He will go down as the most recognizable figure in the Filipino community, and that carries with it so much weight.?
What has made Pacquiao so compelling is he’s become one of the largest international figures in boxing that is not an American.
Pacquiao and American Floyd Mayweather are the two biggest pay-per-view attractions, attracting more than a million buys for their fights.
From a historical standpoint, Top Rank founder Bob Arum said Pacquiao has a level of greatness that is unique.
?I compare him with Muhammad Ali, who I promoted 25 fights with. I put him on that level,? Arum said. ?The important thing is that Americans would take to their bosoms, so to speak, a foreigner from the Philippines and support him, and would want to watch him. I think that says a lot for this country.?
As a fighter, Pacquiao is one of the most respected and feared boxers in the world, earning himself the boxer of the decade honors from the boxing writers.
Pacquiao has won an unprecedented eight world titles in different weight classes, starting with the 112-pound WBC flyweight title to today’s WBO welterweight title at 147 pounds.
While most fighters can struggle to lose weight before a fight, Pacquiao has a completely different dynamic, where he needs to put on weight to compete against the bigger fighters. Pacquiao typically comes into his welterweight fights weighing around 144 ? three pounds light.
